Respecting TRUCKS OTR (am I right?)

I'll answer this one:

It's no flashes of the brights, especially at night. Turn your lights off then back on again. Once, twice, that should do it. I never acknowledge anyone trucker or four-wheeler who brights'es me in my mirror. Today's headlights are not like the old ones we had before. They are much brighter and our mirrors do not have glare protection like many four-wheeler mirrors do. They are highly reflective.

At night, I will be about ready to come back into the right lane after passing someone and look in my mirror to see where they are...usually about the time they hit those brights. It is painful and it destroys any night vision I had a couple seconds ago. This happens most often with four-wheelers, but truckers who should know better do it too...because they are too lazy to lean forward and flip that light switch on the dash. It's easier to just grab the brights on the turn signal stalk.

If you don't feel like you have enough energy to lean forward and turn your lights off and back on again, don't do anything. I'll figure it out for myself.

And thank you for asking.

 

Well, at least you're concerned with your driving behavior around big trucks, and that's a start...

FOLLOWING BIG TRUCKS? Not a good idea... metal components break, disengage from the truck and come bouncing back in your direction, and no truck driver likes lights in his mirrors at night. If you doubt me, talk to those boys in the Yuma Chickenhouse (D.O.T. scale); one of them had a broken leaf spring from a truck come sailing through his windshield---it impaled the shotgun seat, but fortunately nobody was sitting in that seat at the time, otherwise he or she would have bled out on the spot. No lie, give 'em a call---I saw the picture of the impaled seat (spring clear through it) on the wall of the chickenhouse.

PASSING? Do it on a straightaway, as opposed to a blind curve or narrow bridge, especially where oversized vehicles are concerned, and smoothly accelerate past the truck, keeping to your left as you do so (I assume you know enough not to pass on the right, where blind spots are larger---then again, you know what they say about the verb "assume?"). If you have multiple lanes from which to choose, don't pass in the lane next to the truck... a lot can happen in a short time out there, and I've seen deaths result from flying debris, including "airborne gators" (exploding truck tires at 100 p.s.i.---picture yourself on a rice rocket alongside the rig when this happens).

FLASHING? If you don't know how to do it right, don't do it at all... whenever you flash a truck, you should momentarily be killing your lights, not hitting the high-beams, which merely blind a driver at night. It's okay to use high-beams in daylight hours, especially if the weather isn't so hot, but if you have any sense you'll be running with lamps or lights on 24/7 (not to aid your own vision, but so that other drivers can see you in their mirrors as you roll up on 'em, 10?), and you'll be momentarily killing those same lights as a matter of habit while giving the truck driver plenty of room so he or she is certain of your intentions. Some fools think it is wise to flash high-beams at a truck while rolling up on it at speed... not only stupid but downright dangerous. If you flash a driver in or out and nothing happens, wait a second or two and do it again while holding your position... that driver may have been checking an opposite mirror and didn't catch your flash, and we all know that PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.

WARNING OTHER DRIVERS??? Now where's your sense of patriotism? Don't you know these cash-strapped states need all the money they can get to sponsor more healthcare and education for our friendly neighbors to the south??? Not to mention jail housing and feeding of inmates... flash twice at oncoming truck drivers, and let the rest pick up the tab, "10-FO'???" If you really wanna be a Pentagon Hero, buy a CB for your vehicle and figure out how to use it, that way you can make those Hollywood chumps look like second-raters as you fly down the interstate...

One last thing, since you seem sufficiently intelligent to be concerned about road safety: learn to "RIDE THE GAP" between vehicles or packs of vehicles, because open space increases your odds of surviving freeway or highway mishaps. I know you can't always do this in the city: however, you can teach yourself to MAXIMIZE TIME SPENT IN THIS SAFEST OF ZONES. Back off or mash on it accordingly, and hold that position for as long as you can. This from a hand who used to haul Hazardous Waste clear across the United States in the dead of winter... "Good Luck to You!!! I respect your request for more information regarding the topic of safety---do your family and friends a favor by sharing these tips. ADIOS!!!"

P.S. I'll add something else: in really bad weather, where you have no choice to exit and ride it out, staying some distance behind big trucks can be somewhat advantageous, and not bother the driver so much if it's daytime. In heavy rain, with water collecting on the roadbed, the passage of a big truck will thin out that standing water and possibly reduce the likelihood of your vehicle hydroplaning if you pass over that same ground within so many seconds (doesn't mean ride up and tailgate the driver, remember the flying debris). In winter, with snow and ice on the road, the truck may ease your passage by crushing or breaking up icy patches ahead of you... sometimes truck drivers will see a "convoy" of four-wheelers behind them at a respectful distance (10 or 15 seconds trailing time) during inclement weather. By the same token, be extra careful when passing big trucks in high wind, as empty wagons tend to make lane changes by themselves, and woe to any four-wheeler who happens to be alongside when that happens... A 4-wheeler means anything with 4 wheels, just as a motorcycle is a 2-wheeler, "Roger???" Okay, that's enough schooling for now, good luck to you, and as "Injun" says: "THANKS FOR ASKING."

 

A quick flash of the bright is actually saying "Do not Come over I'm Passing you", two is don't come over theres something in your way.

To tell a another driver to come over dim (turn off) your light a second, But please really limit your use of high beams......

 

Hey, Injun, I should've known you'd beat me to answering this one, and I don't see the "Thanks" icon, so here goes: "THANK YOU... THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!" Said like Elvis, of course, right down to the truckload of prescription pills and at least a pound of bacon a day... hey, they didn't call him "THE KING" for nothin', and I have all his hits, including those Christmas tunes!!! I toured Graceland a long time ago ("Platinum Tour"---cost a whopping $18.50 at the time, if I recall correctly, and worth every penny). I actually took a... oops, gotta watch myself here, I'm on probation, "10-4?" But I have a funny story about Graceland which I will someday relate to you, concerning unauthorized photography in the mansion itself. "Adios!!!"

 

Just had a trailer spring replaced today, lost half of a spring somewhere between Salt Lake and Barstow. I would est. thats about 30 lbs of steel, 3" wide and about 18" long. I would really hate to find that with the front of anything let alone a 4 wheeler.

 

Hey, "Powder Joints!!!"

That's EXACTLY what was STICKING CLEAR THROUGH the shotgun seat of the D.O.T. Bear's cruiser in that picture, AFTER the sonofagun came blasting through the windshield.............................

No lie, call 'em and ask 'em... the D.O.T. Bear himself told me the story, and I think he left early that day to go home, pour a stiff drink, and change his drawers, 10???

Hey, check out the Civil War Ironclad in my photos, if you're into the same "Powder Joints" I reckon you are...

 

Sounds like you're a good driver. Here are my thoughts:

1). Nothing is more unsafe than a car that tailgates a truck to the point that the only way a truck driver can tell that someone is behind him is by the car's shadow from the sun. The cabs of trucks don't have rear-view mirrors.

2). Slowing down on grades near trucks; I guess that it doesn't matter.

3). That action of driving all the way to the left when passing a truck is annoying. I get the message from the passing vehicle that I'm an unsafe driver, or that the trailer will either drift into the left lane or simply tip over (not possible except in extreme wind conditions.)

4). You should never signal to trucks when to merge. I usually get a little nervous, especially when the car still looks like that it's too close. It's hard to judge the distance behind a 53 foot trailer through a side mirror, especially when the car looks like it's too close.

All in all, I'm happy to know that there are actually safety-conscious drivers such as yourself on the road. Just wish that there were more like you!

 

Give her credit for asking, 10?

 

dcpentagongirl, if only more people were as aware, and respectful, towards truckers and other drivers, the highways and byways would be a much safer, and BETTER, place!!

Thank you!



Judi Kay