Road Rage

Can't expect much more from a rookie....he's learning , albeit the hard way though. To the OP...you never ever "cut someone off" like that just to let traffic merge...hold your lane , slow down if need be to let the cars merge but what you did was way more dangerous. Try driving as far as you can see ahead of the front of your truck instead of at the bumper...that situation could have been avoided by doing that (looking ahead) , and using some common sense. That I...Me attitude is gonna cause you problems in the future if you aren't careful...if you are approaching a ramp that you see is crowded....move over before-hand (if it's safe) if not slow down give the cars room but hold your lane of travel. This ain't rocket science...learn to share the road..not own it just just you're bigger.

 

If I had $1 for every time a 4wheeler came down a ramp and thought that I was supposed to get out of their way I could retire.

I look at every ramp as I come up to it and I will get over if it is safe (and I feel like getting over) but I will never cut anyone off to do it. If I see a truck on the ramp I will do what I can to get over but im still not going to cut someone off.

 

I deal with traffic every day here in Detroit, sometimes it is really really bad with people on their phones, the sun in their eyes or the brats screaming in the back but I always can merge into traffic or allow traffic to merge with me.

YOU can slow down, you have brakes and flashers and more likely than not can accelerate better than I can with some of the trucks I drive - a couple of them are really really slow.

When I was on the road, I always could merge or allow people to merge, didn't matter if I was in NYC or LA. It takes skill to focus on what's going on around you and plan it out.

Maybe a good start for newbies is the Smith System

www.smith-system.com/‎

 

I just read all the posts prior to yours again and I did not read where anyone called four wheelers the enemy. The overall consensus is that the four wheelers are responsible for merging.They are.

OP-the main thing is to not panic and it reads as if you did,albeit remotely,when you decided to cut the other driver off.Had you clipped the vehicle that you cut off,you would have been charged with improper lane change at the very least.Had any of the vehicles that were attempting to merge,improperly so,hit you,they would have been charged.either or,the end results would have been nasty at highway speeds.your clip may have caused a chain reaction over multiple lanes while the failing to properly merge hit to you may have been less severe.who knows as it is all speculative now.you were lucky either way and i am thinking that you'll approach this type scenario differently next time.there will be a next time.

I would have opted to take my chances on them hitting me,slowing a bit to do my due part, but then per ridgeline,i am a mere steering wheel holder. maintaining the lane would have been the lesser of the two evils here imo. do you recall the length of the solid white line the merging cars had to cross over to have hit you?

 

Gallup.
Car couldn't get by me into a 1 lane merge.
He took the median through construction, got in front, SLAMMED brakes on, 1 finger salute etc.

Must of had a bad day.

I curled up in the bunk and cried myself to sleep, clutching my favorite teddy bear.

 

LMAO 72,000 pounds ain't heavy. Just kidding....but if I'm only 36 tons, I'm feeling light as I am always right at 40 tons.

But the previous comments about paying attention to what is ahead are correct. You should have been able to realize there was merging traffic well before you were at the ramp and maybe safely changed lanes to let traffic flow better. But if for some reason you were not able to get over, then the merging traffic has to yield to you. But in the same instance, it's not that difficult to slow down and let traffic merge without problems. Especially if there is a lot of traffic. It's called being safe. If there is a ton of traffic, you should be running a bit slower anyhow and paying extra attention to what's going on ahead of you. Not just looking right in front of your truck. You need to be scanning ahead and predicting what other drivers are going to do. So many drivers just pay attention to their own little world.

And dealing with road rage is pretty simple as someone stated above. Slow down and let them go on. You are the professional, supposedly, so you should act like it. There are a lot of idiots out on the roads and we are suppose to be above that. It's too bad that so many of the idiots out there are in the big trucks anymore. We are driving a big rig...guys need to act like it. But for some reason drivers act like they can stop and handle like a four wheeler. Or they just don't care.

 

I'm not going to jump on the band wagon here and say, "You" are the professional, but you are. After the OP's opening statement about what happened, and reading the responses, I would listen to the drivers that have a combined 100+ years experience in dealing with this. You're new, the biggest headache I have during the course of the day is people merging onto the interstate. What happened to you would never have become an issue if you had slowed down a little to let some un-experienced, professional 4-wheeler merge on the highway. Take this as a learning experience. I do, about the half a dozen times a day that it happens to me.

 

Mine include not finding myself in those circumstances. I watch entrance ramps on my approaches from the far side, prior to the accompanying exit ramp, where I can see motorists entering the top of the ramp from the surface street.

Not many are visually blocked from that angle, like they are in CA where they plant foliage that blocks motorists' views once they are past the previous exit ramp causing 40 vehicles coming down the ramp 1 vehicle-length apart effectively creating 1 vehicle 900 feet long to suddenly and unexpectedly appear.... for the 150 millionth time. Surprise! Motorists whine about ramp metering while remaining perfectly oblivious to the reason for them; their perfectly atrocious motoring habits.

 

Enough said.

 

That was a Rookie move but you probably know that by now. Changing lanes was the first mistake. Involving another vehicle because of your situation was the second. How would you react if a Trucker cut you off? Treat others as you would want to be treated. Call ins are not something you want to address with the main office. Driving is a learning experience,everyday. Good luck with your career.