Dangerous drivers

Agreed. 100%. We are on this stretch all the time.

Culprits are usually -

California plated.
Van trailers.
Foreigners.
No CB. No English reading or speech skills.
Duct taped DOT number on cardboard on side.
Using hand held cell phone. Texting.

I often see them wrecked, over the side, in the median. I no longer have sympathy. They are a stain on the industry.

The safer ones ? Usually the ones that get bashed here often. Prime, Swift, Stevens etc. At 60-65 mph they're not tailgating anybody. I KNOW. I drive 65 all day and pass almost NOBODY.

To the OP. Call state police. Follow them on Bluetooth until authorities pull them over.

I'm sick of the behavior too. Sick of driving on the shoulder while their stupid, raggy trucks swerve into my lane. Sick of having them tailgate me with lights out of kilter or on high beam.

Stay safe. B.

 

About every state has signs that say, "Slower traffic keep right" or "Keep right except to pass". None of them say anything about "unless you're at the speed limit". If faster traffic comes up behind you, regardless your speed, you are REQUIRED BY LAW to move over. White sign, black lettering=mandatory instructions like a speed limit sign.

OTOH, if you're in the right lane and I come up behind you, even at the speed limit, you must move to the shoulder or immediately exit. According to the Smith System, changing lanes increases risk so get out of my way. Remember, I spent money on fuel to get up to speed and anything you do to slow me down costs me hard earned money. You can climb on a plane for your coast to coast; I cannot.

 

^^^^^lmao^^^^ ..yea right !! your behind me..I DONT CARE WHAT HAPPENS BACK THERE !! I cannot hit you,I only worry about what's in front of me..

 

I'm guessing he'll be back to respond sometime in 2016.

 

It's a long post but it's about tailgating and in the Questions From New Drivers folder and worth the read. I got a few miles in the rearview.

I don't worry about people tailgating me. I just make sure I don't tailgate. I do my deal my way. Fuel economy and space management. I run a little slower than the rest of the traffic in "traffic situations" (and almost always slower than most in cruise situations). It's both a fuel economy, steadily moving (versus stop and go) and space management thing. Because I am slower I'm in the right lane and if anyone doesn't grasp the concept of "safe following distance" and for some reason I have to get into the brakes a little hard and they run into the back of me . . . that's their problem. Sucks to be involved in any accident and lose that time, but I'll drive away not much worse for wear in a typical moderate to heavy traffic rear end accident. They're gonna get ticketed and towed and one way or the other; I promise you I will be fully compensated for my entire repair (if any), lost time and money. [Ricky Ricardo voice]: "Lemme splain jou sometin Lucy."

We hear about controlling our vehicles and situations all the time. I'm here to tell you right now, control is only an illusion in this life. The only things I can "control" in this life are my own actions, behaviors, beliefs and attitudes. Everything else is a matter of management of the situation, utilizing the resources available, for the best possible outcome for all involved. Period. Management of a situation. Not control. This means I can't control what any other driver does. I can only manage the situation. I can, however, control what I do. In this case we are talking about space management. It's the infringement on our space that upsets so many. Rightfully so. It's the lack of sufficient space that leads to accidents of every type. Pause a second to three and really think about that as relates to our (trucking) accidents. It ALWAYS comes down to insufficient space. Though there are various reasons for that insufficient space, it's still a lack of space. Well maybe a jackknife rollover or rollover in a curve not so much space related but pretty much all the high frequency accidents are space related. So are big backups at merge points. Sufficient space between the straight moving vehicles allows merging vehicles to move in one at a time and everyone stays steadily moving. Like two cogs synched. One tooth fitting into its space, then the next, then the next. Slower but steadily moving on both sides.

In trucking it's all about what? Time, space and speed management. The three are inextricably interconnected not only in trucking but in the reality of our Universe. A smart old guy named Einstein did a crap load of math based on some works before and others followed him and they now have a ton of NASA math for something us professional drivers have known about and dealt with since the days we were driving mule teams, and still deal with with every single minute and mile of every day. They call it the Space Time Continuum (they call it continuum because they have time set at a fixed rate for the entire universe and never beginning or ending but continuum is just their fancy way of saying speed).

We call it Speed, Space and Time Management. We didn't need a whole wall of weird symbols, numbers and letters to tell us: "Ole Sal and the team aren't gonna make it under that low bridge (space). Gonna have to take the longer eastern path. That's gonna delay us (time). Girls, you're gonna have to kick it a little faster to make Buffalo on time this trip (speed)." Where is this crazy Aminal going with all this foolishness? How does that relate to tailgaters?

Speed and Space are the big "affecters" in most things we do and that affects time and unfortunately for us; to gain more space we need less speed which takes more time. Speed affects the space around you and your time to react and for your truck to react to the effects of the Laws of Physics. Given the human propensity for racing to get to a place you're gonna have to stop and wait anyway - it causes others to increase speed which reduces space. All you can do is control your own actions and reduce your speed to compensate for their increased speed, which is IMO; Frankly, quite inappropriate and futile attempts to beat whatever clock they are racing. You can't beat time. It is what it is. You can NOT make up with the pedal what you lost hitting "snooze". It won't work. Just be a Pro, call in your oops, take your lumps and let them adjust. That's all you can do. That's the ONLY way to stretch time enough to make it. The rest is just smoke, mirrors, self-delusion and an accident waiting to happen.

You need more space? Slow down. You'll get it. Backing too. It gives your wheels more time to bite and turn and you more time to turn the steering wheel which gives the wagon wheels more time to react to the turning. You need more space on any of your sides, slow down. Yes they will jump in front of you, but they are going faster so the space opens right back up and doesn't slow you down a bit. They wont hang out on your sides very long because they are going faster. They won't hang out behind you very long because they want to GO! You didn't control anything or anybody else (because you can't anyway so don't get your blood pressure up trying to). You managed your space because you controlled what you CAN control; Your own actions and behaviors. If it goes wrong and they hit you; it's not your bad and you can sue them to the hilt for every minute and dime they cost you.

If you need more time because you needed more space? Make the phone call. If other people don't do that then THEY run into YOU and its THEIR bad - not yours. Boy oh boy I could go on about this for a big long time. But I have space on the server to consider. So I'll speed up and end it:

Be safe and think less is more when steering but more is more with space and with space . . . no such thing as too much space. Danged sure such a thing as too little. How you get your space? That's up to you. Last question to ponder: Who won the race in Aesop's fable? The Tortoise or the Hare? Aristotle said: "Time is simply the measurement of movement and change."

Them ancient Greeks were pretty smart. Huh? So when your "movement" changes . . . simply change the "time" to coincide with the "space" you need. Your Space Time Continuum is entirely under your control because you can control your own actions and behaviors. If you can't then:

Why are you behind the wheel? Isn't that what you wanted? A measure of control in your life?

Just sayin'

Nite all!

 

When 4-wheelers tailgate, it's usually for innocent reasons such as using you as a reference to stay on the road, or drafting. I typically pay these drivers no mind.

 

And yes, when I'm in my personal 4-wheeler I draft trucks all the time.

 

I've seen a few have close calls from following too close and have to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid a collision. And you think they would learn from it, but nope, right back to doing it again.

 

For reference why tailgating a truck in a 4-wheeler is a bad idea, Google "truck rear end decapitation".

Not before or during dinner.

 

You guys think that YOU have problems ?? ,I can't even drive down the highway with my window open anymore. I keep getting smacked in the head by Professional Drivers Handbooks that people keep throwing out their windows. and yes they hurt, wanna see the bruise huh huh????