OT: Road Oddity #1

Coming home from a tractor show (legit here, right?} Travelling north on I380 north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, both lanes full at evening rush. Riding in outside lane with comfortable spacing, a guy in a big 'ol gramma cruiser travelling along at same speed wouldn't get over when a semi came up behind him. Semi honked, dropped back and came up fast, he wouldn't get over even though there would have been room if he tried. Went on for several miles, with semi damn near 2 feet behind him. Finally as the suburban exits bled off some traffic, cruiser eased off just in time for his exit. Semi shot into right lane then smoked the tires stopping on the shoulder under a viaduct, two guys jumped out with tools in hand and really trying hard to scramble up the bank to meet the guy at the stop sign. I moved with traffic so didn't see if they adjusted his driving skills. Leo

I get stuck behind someone like that in the left lane every time I go through Iowa. I figured it was just the way the Iowegians were taught to drive.

Gotta watch that road rage.

People from Ontario do that all the time down here. Asked one
once why they do it? He said that lane is usually less bumpy.

I once had an 18 wheeler intentionally try to run me off the road for 15-20 miles on the Interstate. He'd try to box me in, then get beside me and try to swap lanes into me. With a car, I could always out maneuver him. He even followed me off when I came to my exit and didn't give up until I hit a dirt road about 70 mph.

Funny part was, I was just sitting in the right lane with my cruise set on the speed limit minding my own business when he started after me. I have no idea what set him off.

Another time, I was also in the right lane minding my own business when an 18 wheeler decided to sit literally less than a foot off my back bumper. There wasn't that much traffic that he couldn't have easily passed me. Again, I have no idea what caused him to do that. I'd speed up, and he was right there again. This went on for several miles until we topped a rise and a came onto a smokey hanging paper on a four wheeler. Instantly, the 18 wheeler was a couple hundred yards behind me. My exit came up about a mile farther on.

Truck drivers bit*h incessantly on the CB about 4 wheelers, but there are some real crazies in those trucks.

They bit*h constantly about driving down a nice wide Interstate. They need to shut the he11 up till thay have something to bit*h about. I once drove a Marine Corps semi on Taiwan. There it was all two lane roads and you'd just get rolling good when some old papa-san with an ox cart would pull out in front of you. If you splattered him, it was your butt and he knew it. He was probably hoping you would splatter him so you could support him the rest of his life.

Didn't mean to sermonize, but that's my rant for the day.

It's amazing to me, the importance that some folks put on themselves. If a guy can't tolerate something as simple as driving down the highway, he shouldn't become a truckdriver. Granted - there's people out there who will drive you nuts with their cell phones and other needless distractions, but the bottom line is - if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

I have many memories running I-80 thru Iowa with a "diesel on my tail"...those boys like to crank her up to 90 mph coming down those hills to help get up the next, especially late at night.....never did get hit, tho! Does anyone notice that you rarely see an 18 wheeler pulled over for speeding????

While not a semi driver I have spent a great deal of time on the highways of America. You just can't take that shut to serious.

The ones that I get a kick out of are;

The same two semi's that pass each other 20 times in a 15 mile stretch of road. They always seem to time it so the next batch of traffic has to get on the brakes hard.

The driver who will pass a semi at 1 mph faster than the semi, but do 25 over getting to the next semi so no one can pass them.

The guy who drives ten under in the left lane so he does not pass the state trooper in the right lane.

The semi driver I follow for 20 miles at 5 under suddenly finds a gear he can do 20 over on a passing stretch of highway.

The expression of the semi drivers face when the state trooper pulls the one who has been in the left lane right next to his co-worker in the right lane for the last 30 miles with 4 and a half miles of traffic backed up behind them. (that “what I’d do look”)

The driver that comes screaming up past you, just to slam on the brakes and cut across two lanes to make his exit.

The driver who upon entering the highway will cut out across 4 lanes just to get to the left lane. Of course this is done at 25 under the limit with everyone one else hard on the brakes. (this is usually the same guy who comes screaming up on you and exits a half mile down the road)

The driver who is riding you @$$ and when you move over, refuses to pass you until you hit slower traffic. Then suddenly is doing 5 under until you pass them and it starts all over again.

And my favorite is the driver that just must be in front of you and either slows down once there, or does not have the balls to pass the trooper parked in the median at 5 over slamming on the brakes to get down to 5 under so he does not get a ticket. (if you’re going to speed, have the balls to do it)

I hate the ones that don't know how to enter an interstate highway.They come down the ramp at 50 mph when everyone is driving 70,then expect you to get out of there way.They make you brake,back traffic up,then they speed up and pass you.

I have been on both sides of that fence as we own a couple of 18 wheelers that we use locally in our demolition business. Every driver should spend a few days behind the wheel of a vehicle grossing 80,000lbs. Not that there is any lack of nut jobs driving trucks but you would have a different perspective of what they were up against making a living. I have often wondered what a person that holds up or pulls out in front of a truck would do if you followed them to there job and slowed them from getting their work done. A little courtesy on both sides would make life a great deal safer and enjoyable for both.
Ron

I think I've mellowed quite a bit as I've gotten older. I learned to drive around the Washington, DC beltway. The only place I have ever driven that was more aggressive was around NYC. Now I pretty much drive in the right lane unless I've got a good reason to be in the left lane. Most of the roads I drive all the time. I know exactly where smokey is sitting. You know, the state budget is hurting. Seen a lot of tickets being issued this year. LOL.

There are only two things that still bug me. First, someone in front of me who can't seem to drive a consistent speed. I am not usually in so much of a rush that I can't tolerate someone driving a little below the speed limit, but when they speed up and slow down about ten miles per hour, it gets a little hard to follow them. You never know what they are going to do next. The second thing is when someone passes me on a completely empty highway, not another car in sight, and they seemingly have to slip over into the left lane right in front of my bumper.

Okay, I'm done.

Christopher

Have seen many times where someone in a 4 wheeler will pass a semi and cut in too close. Some people have died because of their own stupidity, and immediately a lawyer wants to take the case and sue everybody ever associated with trucking. There have been 3 cases near here in the last 3 weeks.

Another driver that really annoys me is someone driving a car will pass you and pull in giving plenty of room. I drive on the cruise control where I can so my speed is consistent. Next thing, I am closing on him at a good clip so I check trafic, ease into the passing lane and go around him, still on the cruise. Shortly, same car will do the same routine. After this cycle happens at least 4 or 5 times, I start to get annoyed.

Congrats on driving the Beltway! Do you drive an 18 wheeler? If I ever made a list of a thousand things I'd like to try, driving the Beltway in an 18 wheeler would be at the exact bottom.

Like our daughter, who lives in DC, says when you drive the beltway the first thing you do is accelerate to 90 mph, then look to see what traffic is doing.

Drivers who can't drive a constant speed drive me nuts even in a car or pickup. The worst ones are the ones on a two lane road who poke along, half asleep, 5-10 mph under the speed limit. Then when you get a chance to pass, about the time you get even with them they wake up and speed back up to the speed limit.

I like to set my cruise a couple mph over the speed limit, and set back and enjoy the ride. I routinely cover an eight county area on my job and I've pretty well picked out the routes from point A to point B that are the easiest drive even if maybe a few miles longer.

I am glad to see responses that are much like my irritations. I am NOT dissing truckers, only left lane riders not moving with the faster left lane traffic. I consider myself tolerant and repeat my mantra "let me not be in the same space at the same time as another vehicle". I watch my mirrors and try to avoid the bunching of vehicles either by slowing down and letting them pass or by pulling into an off ramp only to pull back on the road when the knot passes.

I live in Cedar Rapids and this is no isolated incident. I can't explain why, other than hit me and I'll sue. Its like that all over town. My example is right down town I was in the correct lane to get on 380 and someone just decided to pull into my spot at 35 mph. I slammed on the binders but rear ended him anyway. There was a cop who saw the whole thing, shook his head and promptly ticked me for failure to yield. I wouldn't drive in town if I didn't have to. Now we have camera's that issue tickets. You will get one if you speed.

Thats because most of the corporate outfits have governors on their trucks now and they wont go over 65-70 mph. They are set that way so that drivers don't get speeding tickets. Doesn't keep em from gettin dot-ed though

Sometimes I feel like I"m the idiot your talking about. Then I look around and realize there are much bigger idiots than me. On the bigger highways(3+ lane)with a 100kmh limit you"ll get guys going 100 in the right 110 in the middle and 125+ in the left. So of course you have the guy in the middle doing 100 and I want to pass him so I go 120 in the left which of course slows everyone down. Is it my fault? Partly, but only because other people can"t go in the correct lane. The problem here is that trucks are limited(by law) to 105kmh. But they still gotta sit in the two right lanes slowing everybody down, which means your forced into the left to pass them, which slows others down

125kph in a posted 100kph speed limit zone??

I think we all make plenty of mistakes on the road and need to be a little more patient with our fellow man. Nothing mellows a jerk out more than someone being nice to him.

Never drove truck around DC. No, I wouldn't want to either. I used to work for a service company. They used little Toyota 1 tons with tool caps on the back. 4 cyl 22R engines and 5 speed manual transmissions. No air conditioning (just drive faster or make a left-hand turn) and no knee space. The one thing I did like about them is that in third gear you could get up to highway speed very quickly.

The one thing I did notice there was that everyone drove civilly in the morning, but were terribly aggressive in the evening drive time. I was just the opposite. Trying hard to make time against traffic in the morning, but in the afternoon relaxing, since I no longer had to rush. Oh, well.

Christopher

Yes. Not always but you"ll always get a guy that just really needs to get somewhere. It"s worse when the roads are put to capacity(but no grid lock) I have actually seen close to 140kmh(87mph) done on the 401 when one needs to get to an exit and have no choice but to drive like a madman to get to it. Seeing 140 scares the hell out of me when things are that busy. On an open highway it wouldn"t scare me but then no one has a reason to move that fast. I have also heard of(but never witnessed) cops sitting on the sides of the highway with their lights on to slow people down. Like I said it"s basically at max capacity so there isn"t really a safe way for them to get in to go after someone. I personally try to drive at about 12 or less over the limit so if I do get a ticket it won"t affect my insurance.

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