The Philosophy of Driving PERFECTION... what is your secret?

All my years of riding have made me a FAR better driver.....

 

That's a true statement if safety is something you have to think about it will get you. If its your everyday routine its a reflex makes sense. Also never thought about riding a motorcycle helping handle a truck but that makes plenty of sense now that its been presented. Guess it shows I've never ridden a bike huh? Not against it I may yet.

 

You watch everything and everybody all the time. You assume they are all out to kill you.....because a lot of them are. You always prepare for a defensive tactic. Not so much about that bike as it is awareness.

 

Trucks are like women. When you get into a strange one you need to learn the switches and how sensitive they are. You know what they say," If it's got &^%@ or wheels it's going to give you trouble.

 

I love this thread! I wish it was longer and made into a book. I too learned this when learning to ride my motorcycle and when I taught my self to drive a car.....I will for sure transfer these ways and all the ways that have been brought up in this thread to good use once I get on the road!

 

I have been an Entertainer Bus Driver / Part time truck driver since 1986 and in my business you have to drive easy all the time. My clients can be anywhere from 1 to 12 on the coach at one time and I never know what they are doing. Are they sleeping? If so drive smooth,stop easy,dont sling them out of bed going around corners. Are they up walking? If so dont throw them down or up against the furniture in the coach and hurt them. Are they cooking something to eat? If so dont cause them to spill it on them,it may be HOT! or I will have to clean up the mess if they make one!

If you drive like there is people on board moving around all the time and you keep that in your mind it will cause you to pay attention to your surroundings so you dont have to make any sudden moves to keep from hitting somebody or something! Or to have to make sudden stops and throw them down! Truck Drivers always get mad at me for going so slow in truck stops when entering or leaving but I am doing that for a reason,Not to wake up my sleeping passengers or throw them around while they are up walking. Carrying people that are worth Millions of Dollars is a lot different than carrying toilet paper and the people will tell you if you are not driving the way they like unlike freight.

I have been fortunate to drive over two and a half million miles accident free and without hurting anybody or throwing anybody out of bed or down on the floor. It all comes from being steady at the wheel,not jerking around and changing lanes fast and from watching your surroundings. I in my younger days used to spend 300 plus days a year on the road,I have driven in all the lower 48 states,Canada,Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in all types of weather year round. The best advice I can give a driver is what I live by and that is to be calm,pay attention,dont let anything going on in your life affect your driving,be courteous,allow plenty of space between you and other vehicles you share the road with,dont tailgate,dont race other vehicles,stay in control and in your lane. These are just some of the things that have got me by for 26 years on the road,Hope it helps. Big Dog

 

You can't teach safety from a book, a CD, DVD or some dumb buzz phrase or catchy slogan pummeled to the QualComm. I'm at a point where I'm sick and tired of the safety dept whining and ragging on and on about safety.
Look, just let me get on with it, I'm in the zone. Me and the truck are in unison. We've got it down pat. It's as if safety are hoping you'll have an accident just so they can say, " I told you so"
as a previous writer said, we just "are"
what more do you want ?

 

Good advice from most and I especially agree with robertcadams drive smooth, I haven't hauled cattle or ran double in a while but I always drive like theres something back there that I don't want to sling down or roll them out of bed. I go through the gears nice and easy like picking grapes and step on the brake as if it were a rotten cantalope. I've driven fast trucks most of my accident free career and some will say fast trucks are dangerous, but it's the slow minded that's dangerous. I've always tried to keep me an escape route and ask myself constantly "if something happens right now where am I going", it might be down thru the woods but I will do my level best to avoid hurting anyone.

 

Speaking of braking softly, I've seen on other threads that drivers complain about EOBR's tagging them for "significant braking events" and whining about how they just had to stand on the brakes to avoid a 4-wheeler "cutting them off". I don't get it. Although I'm showing 0-1 years experience, that's because I have less than one year recent experience. All told going back to '77 I have over 300,000 accident free miles. In all those miles I've never had to brake hard. If I get the braking PSI over 15 lbs that's rare for me.

Anticipate what's going to happen and don't go "sticking your nose" up into heavy traffic. Lay back. Watch other drivers and predict what they intend to do.

Here's an example:

You are approaching an exit, cruising along about 1-2 mph slower than the rest of traffic in the right lane. A 4-wheeler is slowly passing you and another 4-wheeler is tailgating the slow 4-wheeler and you can see a look of frustration in the tailgater. You can bet that tailgating 4-wheeler wants to take the exit. Solution? Slow down and let them pass and let that tailgater "cut you off" and make their exit. What did that cost you? Maybe 100-200 yards of "time"? By the mile you just gave up the equivalent of a mouthful of Dorito's. BFD.

Help out other drivers to get to where they are going and you never need to stand on the brakes.