Distracted semi driver

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I went to Indy today on I70. As I was passing a semi I noticed he swerved to the right. Half the semi was running on the rumble strip to the right of the right lane. I nailed the gas, passed him as fast as I could. My passenger noticed he was looking down at something instead of looking forward. Long after I got around him, I looked in mirror, he was still driving half way in his lane and the other half in the pull off lane to the right of his lane.

Scary to think a professional driver isn't paying attention to the road.
 
its almost just as common to see someone not paying attention while driving around here as it is to actually see the driver head up looking straight ahead, its a miracle there's not more accidents.
 
Did you ever think he might have been having truck problems and was staying to right to stay out of peoples way and trying to get to a pull off?
 
Better that he was driving where he was than out in the middle straddling the driving lanes. The newer trucks have tons of monitors and stuff that can screw up the operation of a truck. including automatic shut down systems that are controlled by monitors that can be faulty them selves.
Some one on here posted the other day that their truck hooked to a trailer was spinning. I guess we all can't be perfect all the time.
Loren
 
I was behind a Werner semi on I-80 once that was all over both eastbound lanes. When I finally saw a chance to shoot past him, I glanced up and saw he had a laptop propped against the steering wheel.

On the flip side, I had a heck of a time passing a tractor on a gravel road today 'cause the driver was yakking on his cell phone.
 
I tried holding the laptop while I was tuning my MH44 EFI, could not handle it at 16MPH, ended up putting a laptop shelf next to engine, so it could autotune, and not distract me.
 

I bet I see 100 4 wheelers all over the road for every heavy truck that I see over the line.
 
Everyone has an obligation to drive safely. I like to think however that I can
expect a little higher degree of safety from a professional truck driver pulling tons
of freight than the 16 year old girl next door.
 

I would bet the car was pulling some stupid stunt and the semi driver was so ------ he just drug him a while. Something like lanes narrowing and the car trying to force the truck into barricades by neither passing or slowing down. I've witnessed crap like that. All the driver could say was he didn't see it.
 
Or a cell phone, Ipad----TEXTING---In a vehicle or in a workplace cell
phones are the ruination of what little work force ethics once
existed..Like the place I have worked for over 40 yrs--they have pretty
written policies about cp use but nothing is enforced..
 
as long as he hears the rumble , he can double chek his directions or find the durn mike to his radio he mite have dropt ,, not the safest thing to do ,i admit .but it aint the 1st time a driver used the rumble strip as a aid to stay away from others ,,. as soon as the sound or feel of the road changes the slightest ,.their eyes are back where they need to be ,watchin out for you,. i am just sayin ,,..
 
You are right here, they think of themselves as "professionals", they need to drive to match, some don't.
 
Texting and driving. People do it every day. It's not just this truck driver. At any given moment as you're passing someone, anyone, take a glance over at them and chances are very good that IF they have one hand on the wheel, they have the other clutching a smart phone and they are texting while driving. In my mind since "smart phones" have and use GPS for many of these applications, if a smart phone is moving, the law should be that those applications are automatically disabled while moving. What about the people whom will scream "Foul, foul, foul I was a passenger in a vehicle, train, airplane, not the operator and I shouldn't be penalized for...". TOO BAD. Clearly our new society where people can't walk or any other function without staring blindly into a smart phone, can't and refuses to police itself, we'll do it for you...smart phone moving, applications automatically disabled by law, end of story, period. I'm for the most part a small government conservative, but have to admit that government has some purposes that can be good, although very few.

Mark
 
Loren,
Did the guy spinning his wheels have a CDL, driving a semi doing 70 mph on interstate, endangering lives?

I learned you have to drive defensively on interstates, I have to watch everything, front and back. Then anticipate what might happen. Like cars weaving through traffic, just to get in front of you, in the process cutting you off.

Each summer there is road work on I70, suicide 70. Sad to say, people are killed. Most of those people killed a semi is involved. The car is the meat in the sandwich and two semi's make up the bread.

It only a matter of time before someone is killed. Work just began at the 9 mile marker, both ways down to one lane. I can see traffic is backed up at the 7 mile marker, Terre Haute exit.

If anyone is headed north on 41 and planning to go east on 70, the 641 bypass is open. A fast way around town and avoiding construction at the 9 mile marker.
geo
 
My wife's Aunt and her family recently got into a tangle with an erratic semi driver on the interstate in Alabama. He was swerving all over and speeding, ended up running them off the road and rolling. They were driving a Suburban and towing a large camper. A 15 year old girl now has permanent brain injury. The semi driver did not stop and NONE of the many witnesses got the plate or even the company name off the rig.
 
Old saying.."your right to swing your arm ends at my chin" Could read "your right to play with your phone ends when it threatens my life". I too, am generally a small government guy, but I am all for a government that protects me and my family from careless and thoughtless jerks.
 
showcrop,
I will admit, I've seen many crazy cars, pickups and SUV's
drive like idiots weaving in and out of lanes, not using turn
signals, just to get in front of people.

That's why I drive looking in front and behind all the time to
anticipate the idiot that want to pass in the right lane, cut
people off changing lanes, driving 20 mph over the speed limit.

I consider both fast drivers and distracted drivers dangerous,
no excuses saying it ok for a semi driver to be distracted
because others do it.
geo
 
(quoted from post at 14:19:34 04/23/17) showcrop,
I will admit, I've seen many crazy cars, pickups and SUV's
drive like idiots weaving in and out of lanes, not using turn
signals, just to get in front of people.

That's why I drive looking in front and behind all the time to
anticipate the idiot that want to pass in the right lane, cut
people off changing lanes, driving 20 mph over the speed limit.

I consider both fast drivers and distracted drivers dangerous,
no excuses saying it ok for a semi driver to be distracted
because others do it.
geo

Are you saying that I said it was OK for any type of driver to be driving fast or distracted? I really don't understand what you are saying.
 
(quoted from post at 14:19:34 04/23/17) That's why I drive looking in front and behind all the time to anticipate the idiot that want to pass in the right lane, cut
people off changing lanes, driving 20 mph over the speed limit.

And that's just concerning other drivers. Still have to keep an eye out for animals running out in front of you, troubles with the quality of the road ahead, visibility/weather/traction conditions, debris on the road, etc, etc.

As I said elsewhere, I check my mirrors 2-3 times per minute. Have been on straightaways where I could see no vehicle for 2+ miles behind me and, within 30 seconds, some idiot is blowing my doors off cause I became complacent with the abandoned road behind me. What could have happened if a deer had run in front of me about that time?

I drink ice water, even when it's -40°F out. Always have a big 128oz water jug with me; holds about 1/2 gallon. When I get thirsty, I won't take a drink until conditions are prime for the moment and for the immediate future - meaning, out of every possible scenario that I can consider happening at that moment, is it ok to be slightly distracted enough to take a sip of water? Been doing this so far for 30 years and so far, so good. Yes, had a couple of close calls when younger, but now if I'm not 100% comfortable, I go without. Sometimes I'll ask the wife to get the jug for me. She'll pull the cap and place it perfectly in my hand as soon as I give her the all-clear.

My point is, there's a lot of possible distractions out there. Many are inside the cab and many are outside. Point is, all of us need to be keenly aware of all possible distractions at all times, to the best of our ability.

And while I'm here, I'll air out a beef I have with "some" other drivers: I hate it when people drive hard and fast and "expect" that their bigazz vehicle will stop on a dime as they keep demanding of it time and time again. Coming up to a stop light, coming up to stopped/turning traffic, etc. While autos big and small are very safe overall, they're not perfect - and neither are we. I'm a defensive driver. I "thought" I was in my younger years, but now I know that I was only a "[i:3d87a6016c]limited-risk-taking driver[/i:3d87a6016c]"; maybe a "[i:3d87a6016c]cautiously hazardous driver[/i:3d87a6016c]". In any case, many folks on the road nowdays scare me!

My apologies on the rant. Rant over.
 
(quoted from post at 19:35:41 04/22/17) I went to Indy today on I70. As I was passing a semi I noticed he swerved to the right. Half the semi was running on the rumble strip to the right of the right lane. I nailed the gas, passed him as fast as I could. My passenger noticed he was looking down at something instead of looking forward. Long after I got around him, I looked in mirror, he was still driving half way in his lane and the other half in the pull off lane to the right of his lane.

Scary to think a professional driver isn't paying attention to the road.


Probably updating that nifty electronic log or answering queries from the HQ on his com system. We had a guy up here kill 5 people and I'm convinced thats likely what he was doing before he ran into a line of parked cars in a construction zone.
 
Head down... You sure he wasn't ASLEEP at the wheel? Seem that more than once, usually on I-80/90 through Ohio.

Yet, truckers seem to think that keeping logs and having mandatory duty/down times is wrong?
 
(quoted from post at 19:41:49 04/22/17) He doesn't have to drive safely as long as he has a bunch of people to dream up excuses for his poor driving.


I'll second that! :shock:
 

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