Don't play chicken with a Tractor Trailer

Huh? I lived in europe for over 16 years. I've driven through virtually every country except for Scandinavia. What shoulder are you talking about? Their roads are some of the narrowest I've ever seen

 

Yup. My thoughts exactly. If I yield and take the shoulder and end up in a ditch, does anyone think the other moron will stop to check on me? Call up my company and say it was their fault and ask my TM not to fire me? Sorry, this might sound cruel, but I will also take a head-on before I roll my truck. Not trying to be some renegade trucker that wants to use his truck as a battering ram, but I will use it to shield me.

 

Ever driven in Eastern Europe like Poland? The two lane roads with lots of traffic have extended shoulders for slow vehicles being passed to use and to make room for oncoming traffic that is passing.

 

Went to utube and searched "bad drivers". Thanks for the entertainment from all over the world. Got go with Asians for the best of the worst. Just say'n.

 

LOL but in all fairness American (especially big city) drivers are the worst. People across the pond take driving more seriously. They don't eat, drink, read a newpaper, or text while driving.

 

Hitting a shoulder is nothing but an out that can save a life. It's not running off the road which is a whole different story. One can still maintain control on a wide shoulder. It's no different than a lane change unless you whip her over in a panic.

 

I was at my local motorcycle dealer the other day. There was a guy there buying a motorcycle. He owns some trucks. He says a Harley with a guy and a little boy on it crossed the center line of the road. He said his driver went toward the shoulder. The truck and motorcycle hit head on. The owner of the truck said his insurance company paid out $100, 000 to the motorcycle riders family . ( I don't know why ).
I worked for a big fleet. In OK , a car hits another car . The car that got hit crossed the median and collided with our truck. The company got sued. The company lost in court. At the time I heard this story , the company was preparing to appeal the verdict. I heard this story directly from the the companys' insurance guy.
I also heard that if you are gonna get run off the road, you wanna have some damage from the other vehicle as proof that you didn't just run off the road all by yourself . If you have a dash cam, that would most likely be sufficient I assume.

 

I 100% disagree with this... Why should anyone of us risk our lives or jobs because someone is in a hurry or has a misjudgement call??? I am not going to risk killing myself so that I can save the life of the moron that is putting me in the risk of losing my life... And I don't think this sounds cruel at all... If you want to give your life up to save the person who put you in the situation then knock yourself out.. I for one will not..

Some people are talking about taking the shoulders to avoid an accident... No way in HELL will I take the shoulder to avoid a collision... Unless it's a paved shoulder.... How do you know you will not lose control on a gravel shoulder (either by the drop off from pavement to gravel or just the loose gravel in itself). How do you know the should will not give out because of excess rain or because it's a soft shoulder?? How do you even know going off into the shoulder will help, maybe the car will still hit you and if it hits you at the right angle you might just get airborne??? How do you know that even if the guy manages to escape hitting you, you haven't managed to keep control on the shoulder so now you have either A) lost your life or B) lost your job because of this now you are finically going to feel a hit.. maybe even lose you house because of it.. All because of one moron making a dumb move... I haul heavy loads (upwards of 130,000lbs) don't think for a second that I am going to take a shoulder with all the weight and hope that the should doesn't give out because of the weight... The only time I go onto shoulder is when I am going very slow (liking pulling over to stop) this way I can feel if the shoulder will take the weight of the truck and not give out or sink the truck.... We had a guy park on the should once waiting for a plant to open up and not long after stopping the truck started to sink and was on the verge of tipping.. Had to get a tow truck to yank him out...

I will slow down to buy the person some time, but I wil never take a shoulder that isn't paved and provides me with enough room for my truck...