Husband got 2 tickets on top of Grapevine in CA- question? Please read!!?!

Well, the first time he was pulled over and cited BEFORE the 35 MPH zone. (I was mistaken in my first post, the first ticket was for 51 in a 45, it's the 2nd ticket that was from the 35 MPH zone; he's been dealing with the lawyer since late last week & thats when I realized my mistake). He actually hit the shoulder & pulled over not 500 yards past that 35 MPH sign.

In his defense, the 1st time it was at NIGHT and he was EMPTY, in the 2nd lane (not the far right lane).

There was a line of bogged-down trucks crawling up the hill in the right lane, so he jumped out in the second lane to pass....and THAT, I believe is how he missed the 45 MPH sign the first time- the trucks were blocking it. Had he been loaded, he would have already been crawling UP the hill at 20 mph & would have never missed the signs. It wasn't until he was already in the process of pulling over, that we passed that 35 MPH sign in the picture and MY exact words to him were "Oh F- it's a 35 mile per hour zone, d'mmit".

I have no idea how it happened the 2nd time as I WAS NOT WITH HIM. I do know it was ALSO NIGHT and he was ALSO EMPTY....he may have been out in that 2nd lane again. Like I said, his DUMB MISTAKE.

Honestly.....most of the people who have chimed in on this thread have been helpful & I thank you. Smart remarks....not so much. We are pursuing the matter with an attorney & my husband plans to be present at the hearing WITH the attorney, in hopes they'll at least reduce the 2nd charge to something minor enough to allow him to keep his job. Shelling out $1000 plus saving for the potential court costs has quite literally caused us to "cancel Christmas" this year. So forgive me if I am a little sensitive, but the snide remarks really aren't necessary.

I already SAID he made a mistake (he has as well, he just doesn't "do" the computer thing so I am speaking for him). He KNOWS he SCREWED UP....rolling EMPTY up Grapevine in the middle of the night. No need to take potshots, please. Obviously there are plenty of folks who make the same mistake, otherwise it wouldn't be such a profitable speed trap.

It's not like he hurt anybody, he got pulled over BEFORE the downgrade, he wasn't flying down the hill & obviously he's learned his lesson before anything bad could have happened. In 5 yrs this is the first time anything quite like this has happened to him. Yes, he's had speeding tickets in the past, but he's always been one to admit when he was "deliberately speeding" and taking a reckless chance. I have reason to believe he wasn't being deliberately reckless in this case. My husband drives over Vail every week fully loaded & is *usually* very conscious of his speed on downgrades...heck, he crawls down Vail at 15 mph because the jakes on his truck aren't very powerful.

Nobody is perfect, ya know.

 

hang in there....

 

Grapevine ain't nothing. There is no reason other than the piss-poor SoCal drivers that the speed limit is that low.

The Grapevine and that hill on I-15 are almost as overrated as MountEagle grade in Tenn. You flatlander know it's true. Heck Wheeler Ridge is boring now.

 

I won't say who, but I know someone very well who got a ticket just at the top of that mountain, in the second lane, passing trucks, with his truck empty, traveling north.

This was 28 years ago, and it was a money maker then, I belive my, err, I mean his, ticket was for 57 in a 45, if memory serves me correctly, which it does not always.

 

That's your opinion.
And knowing what your opinion is, I wouldn't want to ride in a Big truck with you.

Being a SoCal driver, --- should I be insulted?

Again, that's your opinion.

.Now, that right thar is a scary comment.

Personally, I've been over the 'Vine' hundreds of times, and I can honestly say I was NEVER "bored" while climbing OR descending that mountain. But I WAS on my toes and alert for potential dangers EVERYtime.

The subject of this thread was not the severity of the Grapevine, but rather speeding on it. But you've raised an interesting point. You seem to be sayin' that you have NO fear of the areas you've mentioned. And, by the way, that "hill" on I-15 is known as Cajon Pass --- and can be just as deadly as ANY mountain highway.

IMO, when ANYone develops a that ain't nuthin' attitude, it's time to hang up their drivin' boots because they're a danger to ALL of us who maintain a healty respect for up and down hill grades.

Are there worse descents than the Grapevine?
I think there are.
But I still treat 'em all the same.
With extreme CAUTION.
And I'll bet there are others out there just like me.

One thing California mountains have that some other's don't have, is more traffic. Three Sisters, Cabbage, to name a few, don't have near the traffic volume that the Grapevine or Donner Pass have --- and that can make things more deadly. I know MY abilities, I'm just not sure what the ability of other's is. Therefore, I drive a Big truck accordingly. If I'm feelin' tired and/or fatigued when goin' over the Vine, I'll stop at the Flying J in Frazier Park and sleep before attempting to descend the north side of the Vine. And when I'm southbound, I'll park and sleep at Wheeler Ridge before attempting the climb. Those areas, and others like them, IMO, demand total allertness.
HaiL!

I've even had, what I assume, were lightly laden Big trucks almost drive into my trailer on the UP hill side, as they race up the mountain while not paying attention to their closing speed. Forty-miles an hour catches 15 MPH pretty quick, and swerving isn't always an option, as 4-wheelers sometimes drive right along side of the Big trucks, --- leaving no out for Mr. Smith.
(I make reference to the SMITH SYSTEM. Learn it -- Live it -- Love it.)

IMO, ANY mountain is NO place to become complacent. Missing speed limit signs IS a big deal. Reasoning that because one is runnin' light and/or empty so it's time to pass other Big trucks that are runnin' slower can be a recipe for disaster. Often, doing the unexpected is what leads to crashes. Many Big truck truck drivers don't expect an empty, 600 HP Big truck to suddenly decide they can go faster, and jump out of a lane with slower Big trucks.

I'm willing to bet that you've never had to climb on the binders while descending a steep grade, and feel the brakes fading.
I have.
And through no falt of my own, other than I was there when a four-wheeler decided to pass me (on I-17 out of Flagstaff, southbound to Phoenix) only to realize that the rest area they wanted to pull into was comin' up fast. But that didn't prevent them from passin' it up.
Nope!

The driver climbed on his brakes and slowed down enough to make the turn-off, leaving the trailer he was pullin' partly out on the highway --- dead ahead of me, causing me to have to throw out the anchor and pop the chute as I applied the airbrakes harder than I've ever had to do that.

It's a sick feelin' in the stomach as I felt the pedal sink toward the floor, and not slowin' down all that much, as I was runnin' heavy with a load of gaming devices -- slot machines --- valued at over a million bucks.

I credit being ON my toes and ALLERT for avoiding what could EASILY have been a disaster. Had I been "bored", I don't even want ot think about what might have been.
Expect the unexpected at ALL times, ESPECIALLY in the mountains.

Exactly HOW I avoided a Big truck BIG crash that day, I'm not sure. But I suspect I do know the answer.
Have y'all ever seen those license plate frames that read,
God Is My Co-Pilot?

Well, ........ not in MY Big truck, He ain't.
NopE!
In MY Big truck, by golly, God is my PILOT,
and I'm the co-pilot. HIS co-pilot that moment.
And just like footprints in the sand, I suspect He was doin' the drivin' then, although He wasn't listed on my log as my Co-Driver.
That'd be hard to convince a D.O.T. officer, unless they wittnessed the event. If they had, there'd be no question.

Another thing about California, and the drivers found there, is that many of the cars I see, especially during summer months, have out-of-state license plates, and a lot of them drive like tourists, --- lookin' and gawkin' at the sights. California is a beautiful State to see, after all. Those out-of-state car drivers who come from flat-lander states, and have never encountered mountains before, don't always realize the hazards encountered in the mountains. Watching out for them is ANYthing but "boring".

I've seen TOO many crashes on the Grapevine, Cajon Pass and Donner Pass, in California, --- some resulting in death(s), --- in my truckin' career to EVER allow myself to become "bored" in those places. Actually, being "bored" sounds a LOT like over confidence, and scares the HaiL outta me.
And I think it ought be of concern to you, as well.

 

Aftershock well said, I have been down the Grapevine and Donner Pass many times in my one yr OTR, and yes the both scared the hell out of me. And unlike our bored poster I used extreme caution and watched my speed because I know Cali is real tough on truckers.. And not only because of speed, but I have heard a lot of stories about drivers who ignored the signs and possible dangers and ended up either seriously hurt or dead..

 

It's ok to change the names to protect the innocent.

If that area was a "money maker" 28 years ago, and is opined to still be such, that sure doesn't speak highly of the Big truck truck drivers who receive citations there, IMO.

How many times have we heard, or heard ourselves sayin',
Y'all can go down a mountain too fast, once.
But y'all can go down a mountain too slow, MANY times?

ALL that California is askin' Big truck truck drivers to do is practice y'all's preachin'.
SLOW DOWN!
For SAFETY's sake.
Is that TOO much to ask, dare I say demand?
Is it not better to be safe, than sorry?

How do y'all think a C.H.P. Officer feels when they receive a radio call to respond to (another) crash scene? Do y'all think that doesn't effect them? And when they get there, and view the carnage, how do y'all reckon THAT makes 'em feel? I bet some of them have nightmares as a result.

I have an image permanently etched in my memory of the expression on a trooper's face, as he carried the lifeless body of a young child from the wreckage after a crash.
Seeing a strong man crying is something I'll NEVER forget, nor do I think I should.

Perhaps we should try to imagine what a driver of a Big truck without brakes might say, as they exit their Big truck, with brakes ablaze --- at the TOP of an escape ramp.
Ask 'em, 'if you had that to do over again, what would you do differently, if anything'?
Whatta ya bet they'd elect to do SOMEthing different?

I realize that, once over the north side of the Vine, I-5 is flat and straight. And a citation for doin' 60 or 65 MPH in that area might be considered a chicken-poop ticket. But on the Vine, I consider speeding citations, and other citations for unsafe practices, or even brain-fade episodes, to be a WAKE-UP call.

Quite frankly, as a professional driver, I'd be embarrassed to receive a citation there.

Even if I FEEL I could SAFELY go faster, SOMEtimes it's better to just fall in line, gear down, and take my time. I may be in a hurry to get where I'm goin' --- but I'm not tryin' to get to Heaven before my time. And I SURE wouldn't want to be the cause that sent ANYone else there, early or late.

SAFETY is NO accident.
And patience is a virtue.
Do the RIGHT thing ----
even when NO one is lookin'.

I mentioned this already, but I think it's worth mentioning again. Of ALL the monies collected in citations on the Vine, how does that compare to how much it costs in material damage and manpower and time lost for others due to road closures, to clean up just ONE Big truck BIG truck crash?
Enter injury/injuries and/or death(s) into the equasion, and tell me, do you really think it's worth it?
How would Y'ALL feel if y'all were the cause of someone's death? Could y'all live with THAT on y'all's concience?
Personally, I don't want to find out.

A extra few minutes of being safe is, IMO, well worth the expense.
Call it an investment in the future.
Mine, and EVERYone else's.
I CAN live with that.

 

Did I say that I was bored? Nope, just said that it was "nothing" Wheeler Ridge the TRUCKSTOPS there are boring. I heard they were all scary and all that back in the day but nothing, just boring boring.

Heck the only reason I have to touch the brakes on the Grapevine is to keep my truck that slow! I wish I could split the top box and get into a gear that was better for holding me at that low speed.

But let's face it, it's a wide flat road with little non scary corners. As for going down a grade and feel the brakes fading, you are right, never had to do that in a big truck because you get into the gear you need on the way down and you let that engine do all the work for you. Heck just went over that one on 58 into Bakersfield with a heavy load of cotton.

Setting yourself up to crap your pants because you are going down a hill is just about as bad as popping it into Georgia Overdrive and going down.

FEAR IS THE MINDKILLER

Most the time I don't use the service brakes at all going down a grade, just get it set up right and putt-putt down the hill. But those two grades I have to use the service brake more because of the speed limit on it. So the speed limit causes me to use the brakes more and well warms them up.

Have I ever had my brakes get hot going down a grade?

Nope!

Not in a big truck anyway, but back in the days of open wheelers I've smoked my binders more than once, which is why I don't overuse them on grades.

 

Thank you, sir.

You DO know that that's NOTHING to be ashamed of, ....... right?
Fright can be a healthy thing.

Whether California is tough on truckers, or not, --- what is expected in the mountains NEEDS to be enforced. With all the reports we're hearin' about citations issued on the Vine, can y'all just imagine what that stretch of highway would be like if there was LESS enforcement?
I'm thinkin' it'd be a wreck-fest, with crashes just lookin' for a place to happen.

.YuP!
And I'm here to tell y'all that, I, Shakey AfterShock have seen a few --- a few TOO many.

Example:
When I was a driver trainer, and on the first leg with a new trainee, I was drivin' down the north side of the Vine, and explainin' what descending a grade is all about.

I had the CB tuned to the proper channel for the Vine, and heard other drivers warning of a run-away Big truck, comin' down waayyy too fast. I looked in my mirrors, and saw whisps of smoke behind us, but couldn't see it's origin, ...... yet.

When I could indentify where it was comin' from, I was AfterShocked to see a flatbed Big truck, heavily loaded with tar paper --- comin' up, or rather down, FAST --- right behind me in the slow lane.

To avoid disaster, I moved over and into the next lane to my left to allow that driver to remain in the slow(?) lane, rather than join my load in the trailer I was pullin' behind me.

As that driver passed us on the right, we could plainly see a look of terror on his face AND his passenger.
We heard no engine sounds, and I assume it was blown from twisting the tach waayyy past 2,100 RPM.
About all we heard was the wind whistlin' as they sped past us, --- at about 100 MPH with a long ways to go.

My trainee and I watched as that Big truck disappeared in front of us, billowin' smoke BIG time. And saw that smoke intensify in the distance.

When we got to where we could see the escape ramp, that Big truck was nearly at the top, with brakes and tires engulfed in flames, as the shaken driver attempted to extinguish them with his fire extinguisher, --- to no avail.
His passenger was just sittin' there, most likely glad to still be alive.
It COULD have been worse. MUCH worse.

Listen to this ------
I didn't actually SEE what I'm about to relate, but I saw the aftermath (no relation) of a run-away Big truck BIG crash, in the median of I-5, at the BOTTOM of the north side, --- after a LONG, high-speed trip for that driver.

Now, you may be wonderin' why that Big truck truck driver didn't take the escape ramp, and that would be a good question.

Well, it seems that a couple of RV's decided that the enterance to the escape ramp would be a nice place to pull over and fire up the barbie for lunch, --- complete with kids in lawn chairs just sittin' around enjoying the day.

The frantic Big truck truck driver was heard shoutin' over the CB that he couldn't justify endangering them, especially with kids there, --- so, instead, he elected to continue that wild ride to the bottom. His speed was estimated at over 130 MPH.

But, he actually, ALMOST made it to the bottom, when a U-Haul truck pulled right in front of his speeding Big truck. And when he swerved to miss that Y'All-Haul truck, it caused his Big truck to roll, over and over and over --- several times in the median --- killing him.
To that driver's credit, he didn't take anyone with him.

The Grapevine is "nothing"?
It's "boring"?
If that's so, LET me be "bored".
That's better than "nothing".
Ya reckon.

Drive SAFE folks.
Safety saves lives.
Besides, the life y'all save
just might be MINE.
And I appreciate that.
YeS I do.

 

Yes, there would be less junky trucks on the road, and a nice large junkyard by Lebec.

That runaway truck ramp story reminds me what I saw the last time I was headed into Vegas on I-15, you know that last grade, with all the construction going on northbound right before Primm NV? I saw a CHP guy parked right in the runaway truck ramp opening.

What the guy was thinking was beoynd me.