Six people killed by Truck in Chattanooga TN.

I'm all for truckers holding fellow truckers to the standard of the professional they're suppose to be if it saves the lives of not only themselves but others also. So if I gotta put my foot in your ###, it's because I love you, brother.

 

Me too , brother. There's no sense in it. They raise Cain about all of the restrictions placed upon us and a few pencil heads keep making life harder for us all.

I drive a half to 3/4 mile down the road or farther if I can see that far. There's no excuse for this.. barring a medical occurrence rendering him unconscious.

This makes me sick to my stomach. Almost apologetic for being in the profession with so many morons that I have to call "equals".

 

amen brother....... about 3 months ago I was in VA just cruising in the right lane when I get passed by this jack wagon with his nose up the tailpipe of the car in front of him, come over a rise in the freeway and BREAK CHECK.... he can't stop in time..... I can because I always keep a space in front of me..... he's about to do the same thing this guy did so he does the only thing he can..... locks um down and cuts from the left lane across mine across the shoulder and 20 FT out into the grass.....!! the only thing I could do to keep from hitting him was to go for the grass..... went about 70-90 ft. out into the wet grass, powered out of the jackknife and back around him to the shoulder..... the low life s o b drive off when I was checking my truck... $3,800 damage to my truck

 

The question is: "What, if anything, can be done to make the Tailgaters back off?"

 

I think we may be on the verge of seeing lots of states implement new task forces that focus specifically on tailgating and driving/texting, failure to move over/slow down for other safety vehicle on shoulder, etc ... targeting both cars and trucks. Would see lot's of unmarked cars with cameras. They could pay for the cost of these extra cars and cops with heavy tickets and video to prove the case.

Tailgating can sometimes be subjective, but there are plenty of instances we all see every day where there is no question is is unsafe and unlawful.

A $300+ ticket is all some will respond to. Hopefully a cop can ticket them before they kill somebody and hopefully the ticket will change their attitude about safety and common sense.

 

I just gradually slow down and eventually it baits them to go around me

 

I got pinned in behind another truck in Oregon coming south on the 5 on Wed afternoon and he started berating me on the CB for tailgating him.

At first I kinda was wondering "is this guy talking to me?" , but from signal strength I ascertained it was the only logical exanation.

So, I observed where I was and I was about 100ft from the rear of his trailer and was continuing to slow while awaiting a break in the 4wheeler parade in the left lane. A hundred ft is as close as I ever was and this guy went off. That's about 1.5 truck lengths or more , so I thought we were ok.

He didn't. So, I backed off farther , and resisted the urge to key my mic and start a verbal battle that so often end with a drive by ### whoopin' .

I just kept my cool and eased on along my way. Maybe I did get a tad too close for his comfort. I wasn't that close. I was aware of the situation and was attempting to ratify it. Maybe he has bad depth perception. I dunno.

What I thought was odd was when I eased past him I noticed that he was tailgating the truck in front of him MUCH closer than I had ever been to him. MUCH CLOSER.

He still gave me the stink eye and shook his head.

He got pissed when I just laughed at him.

 

In this case, it wasn't tailgating, it was NOT STOPPING for a line of stopped traffic, half the driver's out there look 50 ft in front of them, that's it and then we wonder why these accidents happen.

BTW, that stretch of road is a 55 mph zone coming down a slight hill , so visibility shouldn't of been a problem.

 

But then... Who would drive for the bottom feeder companies?