Question...

B

Only way I'm swerveing is if its a bus full of kids or somthing...


American Trucker

 

Third option: be paying attention and going slow enough on a surface street to avoid the situation altogether. Don't like me taking my time? Tough. I like living on this side of the bars.

 

You can go slow all you want, theres always something that you cant inticipate happening.....and I do beleive thats what he was refeering too.



American Trucker

 

Try to not hit them as hard!
It's gotten to the point that if you go into the ditch and you have no video proof that someone wanted to get killed by a truck then you'll be the one with the DAC hit and a bad reference and maybe even a ticket!

Me, if some idiot pulled out in front of me I'd do all I could to stop BUT If I have to head towards a ditch I'm going to get a piece of him on my truck as proof that someone wanted to dance with a big truck! I am NOT taking a dive and a slam for some moron!

Seriously, get enough of them to make them have to stop and talk to the police with you! If they keep going then you KNOW who's going to get the ticket for leaving the scene of an accident! NOT YOU! They leave paint on your truck then you should be pretty much covered!

Back to that video statement.

It's getting to the point in this cesspool called trucking that every driver out there needs to get a video camera mounted to their dash to CYA!

Remember a picture is worth a thousand words and video is priceless!

There are systems out there with 1 to 5 cameras! You can get surveillance programs for money and there was one out for free to use just yesterday on Kim Komandos website. But with this law suit hungry society and these BFI ambulance chaser Lawyers why would any company NOT put these systems in their equipment to CYA!

Besides what if you happen to video a truck crossing the median in snow or a cow flying in a tornado or a tornado or a murder or that ever popular UFO think of how much money all of these news medias would pay for them! They just might pay enough to buy that new laptop or camera system you wanted or maybe even that motorcycle you've been wanting! LOL

 

How about this? ... http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/voyager-car-camera-gps-logger.html

 

So lets say your traveling 55 mph across US-54 in Kansas. The speed limit is 65, but your being cautious & driving slower.

Up ahead there is an intersection. Your watching and are prepared!!! About 1/4 mile from that intersection, you see a car pull up to the stop sign. Your watching & your prepared!!

The car doesn't move. But your watching & your prepared!!!

Your about 100 feet from the intersection & the car is still there. So now your thinking these are good people & are patiently waiting. But your watching & your prepared!!

Your now 75 feet from that intersection & that car hammers on it with the mindset that I'm going to beat that big ugly truck.... Turns right in front of you.

Your watching & your preparedness doesn't do you any #### good. Even a Swift truck won't be able to stop that soon....

So now what do you do? Swerve? Ditch it? Or hit the car?

 

I agree with this. And to take it a step further, using defensive driving. In this scenario, anticipating the car pulling out in front of you. When Im driving, and a car is planning to pull onto the road Im on, I look for eye contact. If I can't see the driver of the car actually looking at my truck, I assume they cannot see me and are about to pull out.

Being a step ahead, if the car pulls out, you would have had that second to check your mirrors and make a quick, but safe lane change.

 

And if your on a 2 lane road to where you can't make a lane change?

 

I try to look far enough ahead that hopefully I would be ready to get on the brakes soon enough to be able to slow down in time. Or if not, hopefully able to slow down enough to safely bail onto the shoulder.

Otherwise I guess I would just go with my instincts. Might have to put it in the ditch if nothing else can be done.

Theres always a "what if" for any situation. I just try to always remember the simple techniques of defensive driving. Sometimes its the little things that are easily overlooked that can really make a difference