Don't fuck around on the highway

[Tobin S.]

Pay attention to what you are doing, dammit! And don't play games out there.

I am a professional driver. I have nearly 13 years of experience driving tractor-trailers and I've logged over 1 million safe miles. Currently, I drive 412 miles a night making 7 stops along the way, which brings me to my first topic.

Don't drive when you are sleepy. I see it all the time in my nightly round trip- truckers and four wheelers as well. I've seen many accidents because people were driving when they were too tired.

Don't ride beside trucks for longer than you have to. One reason for that is that many trucks have blind spots, especially down the right side. If you see a truck start to come over on a car, it's not because the trucker is being an asshole. He or she simply could not see it. Another reason for not riding beside a truck is that truck tires are more likely to blow up than a car's. I saw a truck that had $6000 worth of body damage done to it by an exploding truck tire. Think about what that would do to your car. Think about what it would do to a motorcyclist.

And don't play games out on the road. You are literally playing with peoples' lives including your own when you do that. If someone out there has pissed you off and made you want to retaliate, don't do it. Just let them go. Don't cut people off. Don't hop in front of someone and slam on your brakes. Don't make crude hand gestures at people. Don't ride someone's ass. Try to be courteous with merging traffic. Don't do something dangerous because you are about to miss your exit- just catch the next one and turn around. When changing lanes, do one at a time.

This has been a public service announcement by your friendly neighborhood trucker, Tobin S.

[Inchworm]

1. pickles

I'll respond in a few....

drunker than a football bat...

:+

[susanr516]

2. Thanks, Tobin

Good advice for all of us.

[Yavin4]

3. Lack of Public Transportation Forces Too Many People To Drive

People should have the option to either drive or take some form of public transportation.

[Forkboy]

4. I feel way safer driving around truckers then regular vehicles.

Done a lot of driving back and forth from Mass to Chincoteague Island, Va. delivering clam seed, and it's the regular drivers that drove me nuts. I'm sure there are some lousy truck drivers out there, but in my experience they're some of the best drivers on the road. Give them space and make sure they can see you and you're fine. Flash the lights on and off at night when they pass so they know they can re-enter your lane, etc. Never had any kind of incident with a trucker in all my driving (which has been quite a bit myself).

[Tobin S.]

16. Thanks Forkboy

Yes, there are bad truckers out there. The most dangerous things I see from truckers are going too fast for road conditions and tailgating. In either case, if something goes wrong, they are not going to be able to stop in time. But for the most part truckers tend to be better drivers than 4 wheelers. The reason is simple- we just have more experience. The average trucker drives 100,000 miles a year or better. There is also the fact that a trucker's livelihood is his or her CDL and safe driving record. If we take risks out there we are putting everything at risk including the well being of our families. One bad mistake and you are not going to be able to get a job anywhere driving a truck, and you may end up in jail.

We appreciate courteous four wheelers. So many of them do things like I was talking about in the OP that it's nice to see someone in a car helping us out.

[SoxFan]

5. Sounds like the name of an alt.country song

[TrogL]

6. What makes you think it's any better in the city

When you are at a stoplight, do not get out of the vehicle and wander around or try to pick precious stones out of the gravel.

Creeping into an intersection at a red light accomplishes nothing, especially if you're so busy doing that you forget to notice that the light has actually turned green and you can proceed?

If you tailgate me, I'm going to slow down until I am going the speed that makes you following me a safe distance. Keep it up and we'll be stopped in the middle of the road with YOU as the target of the next motorist who isn't paying attention.

If you passengers won't fucking shut up and keep distracting you, greytape their mouths shut or throw them out of the vehicle. Don't pull in front of me.

It's a sunny day. There's no traffic in front of you. Drive down the damn street. If you don't have anyplace to go, stay home.

Pull into the parking lot and park. Any spot will do. You don't have to block the entrance picking the perfect repository for your oh so precious vehicle. If you're that worried about scratches and dings, buy a vehicle that already has some so a few more won't matter.

[hedgehog]

8. I like driving in a small town where people stop to talk to each other.

That's generally OK, but not when it's 2 people hanging out of the window of their facing pickups blocking traffic in both directions!

[SeattleGirl]

11. What you said!

I encounter some of the most careless, idiotic drivers EVAH on my way to and from work every day. And sometimes the careless drivers are those who drive waaaaaaaaaaaay too slow. They think they are being careful. What they're actually doing is blocking traffic. If you can't even drive 30 miles an hour on a city street, you too need to stay home or take the bus.

[brendan120678]

19. LOL...when I am being tailgated on city streets...

I also slow down considerably.

[hedgehog]

7. I've often wondered if people do the things they do on purpose

or not. My favorite example: I'm driving along on cruise control and come up on another car. I pull out to pass, then find out I have to speed up because I'm starting to hang in the other car's blind spot too long. I pull well ahead, like 10 car lengths, then allow the car to return to the original speed I set on cruise control. If the car I passed is either a very expensive sedan or a sports car, very often the driver will speed up to pass me, then pull in front, then slow down again. Bonus points if the other car cuts in front of me a little too close for comfort.

[kentauros]

9. Sounds like a bad case of

"I Gotta Be In Front!!!!"

[hedgehog]

10. I have a 1976 Chevette that's in excellent shape because it was in storage

for 15 years or so. I can always tell when gasoline prices are spiking because people in gas guzzlers start cutting me off and turning left in front of me, etc.

[kentauros]

13. I've never noticed that kind of behavior being dependent upon gas prices.

They all seem to not care one whit around here, no matter what the prices are.

One trend I've noticed in the last decade or so is just how impatient people are at stop-sign intersections. Whether I'm turning or going straight, if someone needs to turn, too, they simply will not wait for me to get out of the intersection before they are turning to ride my bumper through the intersection (or almost take it off if I'm going straight through.) So, I slow down. They usually don't understand, though, because they've done that bad-driving behavior for so long they don't recognize it as "wrong".

[Flaxbee]

12. last week we drove from western NC to Boston and back, in 4 days.

8+ hours of driving each day. My husband wanted to keep on going the first night all the way through to Boston and I said no freaking way - we were too tired.

My problem is distance driving (unless I have a really good audio book) really makes me sleepy - it's hypnotic. If it were just me, w/o my husband, I'd probably stop every 2 hours or so for a quick catnap.

There were so many asshats on the road, zooming between cars - one clip of a bumper and it's all over - or tailgating. Makes no sense to me, it's like Russian roulette.

[Tobin S.]

17. That's the way to do it. I do the same thing when I'm driving

even if I'm at work and it might make my day a little longer. If I'm too tired I get off the road and take a little nap. Usually for me, a half hour is enough to get me feeling more alert. A driver that I used to work with saw me napping at a rest area and called the boss who immediately called me asking me why I was running down the road. "Because I tired you stupid fucker," was what I wanted to say, but instead explained the advantages of having the freight delivered a little late versus having in strewn across a corn field because I fell asleep behind the wheel. Nobody has bothered me about it since.

[AllenVanAllen]

14. Excellent post.

Thanks for the tips.

[hedgehog]

15. Looking this over, I have to ask - do people have any sense at all

of what they are doing? Most people are in control of machines that cost more than my first house (some cost more than the house I live in now!), yet look at the stunts they pull. The cell phone users are the worst. If I see someone weaving in the lane, driving too slowly or failing to merge properly on entering a highway, I can usually count on seeing a cell phone glued to their ear.

[Tobin S.]

18. Empathy is not an admired trait for the most part in our society

So a lot of people simply lack the ability or the will to see beyond their noses.

[hedgehog]

21. These people don't seem to have any idea that they're putting their

life and property at risk. They'd scream in anguish if someone bumped their car with a shopping cart, but they drive as if they're surrounded by a force field!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

20. "Don't Fuck Around On The Highway"...without a doubt, the single greatest Johnny Cash album.

:rofl:



:toast:

[Tobin S.]

22. Maybe I should copyright it.

:D

[unpossibles]

23. can we include non-highways too?

People drive like idiots. I don't miss it.

[Tobin S.]

24. Of course. I just do most of my driving out on the interstate

I think Trog, who posted above, has the post for you.

[NJmaverick]

25. Myth Busters did a show on truck tire blow outs

pretty scary stuff

[Xithras]

27. Tire blowouts aren't the only danger.

A couple of years ago I watched a car get crushed when a load strap broke and a stack of loaded peach bins fell off and landed on the car alongside the trailer. The driver surived, but just barely.

Cruising alongside big trucks is a bad idea all the way around.

Though Mythbusters did prove that you can get nearly 40% more fuel mileage by drafting 10 feet off the back of a trailer though. Not recommended if you want to live a long life, but think of the fuel you'd save!

[bullwinkle428]

26. Just kicking for an excellent & informative post!

:thumbsup:

I have a long commute each day, so I can totally relate to everything you described, Tobin.

[datasuspect]

28. yup

my motto is to CLEAR ALL VEHICLES WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

meaning, i try to stay away from other vehicles. it gets irksome when people want to pace you. it's not a good idea to do that, especially on the open road.

it's even harder to do in city traffic, but i am on high alert whenever i hit any urban traffic configuration.

[liberaltrucker]

29. Couldn't have said it better myself.

:thumbsup:

Be careful out there!