OT Hwy Laws

I drive a lot, about 100k miles a year. There are some things we need to talk about.

First. Many states require that we slow down or move left for emergency vehicles on the shoulder. That law, again, is EITHER slow down, OR move left. Not move left and slow down. That's dangerous, a backup in the left lane for every speeder. If you can't move into the left lane, slow down. If you can move into the left lane, you don't need to slow down.

And an even bigger issue is people moving left for onramp oncoming traffic. Seems like truckers started this, helping each other get in, and I understand that. They have a lot of weight and momentum and don't want to brake for a merger. But now it seems most people are doing this and it's causing a problem. People merging onto the highway now seem to expect everyone to move left for them, and they don't yield to traffic already on the highway. Well, there are many times that you can't get over and every time that results in a near collision. The guy coming down the ramp looks at you like you're an idiot, even though he just passed a sign that said "Merge". "Merge" means the other people already have the right of way, and you must merge into traffic. That often times means you must slow down to get in behind someone.

When most of us were taught to drive, we learned to start looking early, so that we could see the traffic pattern and adjust to it and merge in. Today these kids, and others, just fly down the ramp, get all the speed they can, and into the right lane they come, other traffic be damned. You may want to talk to your young drivers about these things.

Just my thoughts for the day. Happy driving.

I agree with you that the driving of many people is not what it should be - people seem to either not have the skills or do not put the required effort into their driving.

However, I would like to comment on the move over law. I am a big truck mechanic who, at times, has to work on trucks broken down on the shoulder of the highway. I don't disagree that the law states to move over OR slow down. But as someone who has to fear for his own safety in those situations, moving over AND slowing down is appreciated.

That being said, I would like to add that you should move over a FULL lane if at all possible - moving over a few feet so that you know you're 'clear' of the stopped vehicle doesn't mean much to the guy standing on the shoulder! Also, 'slow down' means more that a few MPH. (I'll get off my soapbox now) Have a good day everyone!

Keep going you only touched the tip of the iceberg.

How about the guy that goes from the entrance ramp to the left lane because someone in front of them is not accelerating fast enough for them.

Or the guy that passes you; pulls in front of you and slams on brakes to make a right turn or exit on a ramp.

Or the guy that is passing you but right about the time he gets along side of you he sees a cop with a car pulled over so he slows down not allowing you to move over.

Or the guy that thinks seeing a blinker means you better close up the gap between you and the car in front of you fast because if you do not I am going to pull over.

I could go on and on.

Moving over a full lane can be deadly at times. I try to evaluate every situation and do what I feel is right for that situation at that time.

Points I would like to add.

Trucks should not be worked on on the side of the road. Drop the box, tow the rig to a safe area or shop to be repaired. If its refrig trailer rig, swap out the rig. Sorry, to me working on the side of the road is just not a good idea in this day and age. Too much traffic volume to be safe.

Police should move traffic enforcement pull overs to the nearest entrance/ exit ramp.

The number of times I have seen police create dangerous traffic writing tickets blows my mind.

Drivers education is so lame it isn't funny.
Kids today learn visually. Time to create a driver's ed game that they score points when they merge correctly, yield, etc. Then maybe they will "get it" that according to the laws of physics pulling front of a Semi is a REALLY BAD idea.

People do not understand the word merge.
Signs need to clearly state they do NOT have the right of way.
YIELD to traffic in Circle.
YIELD to traffic on Hwy.
Traffic on Hwy has right of way.
Maybe new icons that show you merge behind vehicles not in front of them?


How about a mechanical mannequin that has Nascar like flags!? Existing traffic gets the green flag, ramp traffic gets a yellow flag.

Wouldn't one of these be great when 2 lanes have to merge to one due to construction! Set the mannequin up suspended above traffic and have him alternatively wave the green and red flags left to right to get the masses to merge one at a time.

Pete

Actually, semis and cars do not mix on the same highways anymore than bicycles and cars. However, we all have to work together.
I see car drivers do some really dumb things at times that cause indigestion for semi drivers.
But I also see the opposite. And just becasue you are 80,000 LBS and need momentum, it does give any of you the right to make your own laws.
Another irriation is when there is a lane closed, semi drivers will sometimes get side by side to block cars from passing. If it is legal to pass, you need to not block the highway.
Again, we have to share the road, but we really need speacial roads for semis AND bicycles, they just do not mix.
As for getting down the on ramp, the key to merging is acutally being at the pseed of the highway, not pulling down to the merge lane and stopping or slowing down.
A 20 MPH vehicle cannot effectively merge with traffic that is running 65 MPH wihtout upsetting something.

Personally, I think EVERYBODY should be required to take a defensive driving course at certain intervals during their driving career. I took it many times, as required while employed by Fed. Government and also Telephone Co. Learning courtesy of the road definately saves lives. I know some folks who are very nice socially, but when they get behind the wheel, they are as agressive as maniacs! Perhaps they simply are not aware that they are being discourteous by not using turn signals or turnig left on red without stopping, or blasting thru a MERGE sign, I don't know. But if they could be confronted with these and like unsafe habits in a driving simulator or film, it may change the way they drive.

Not related to the 4 lane interstates but one thing bugs the he!! out of me.
When someone in the other lane, traveling in the opposite direction is in the process of making a right turn, why does the driver behind him think it"s his God given right to pull into my lane to get around him rather than stay in his own lane and wait til the guy is completely off the road?

So when you have a simple repair to a vehicle that usually will take a few minutes you should instead call a tow truck out and, or, another truck and switch out? Let's see, the repair will take maybe 30 minutes but switching out the tractor and then getting a tow truck out will take a lot longer and then you have a 1 truck and trailer broke down so then you add a tow truck plus another truck to replace the broken down truck and the risk of dollying down a loaded truck on a soft shoulder? Yeah there's no problem there. Right? I think you might have the right handle there Pete.


Jim

not sure about US laws, but here in Ontario if you don"t slow down AND move left if possible, will cost yah $500.00
bob

Jimmy,
yea, I guess that would take too much time, effort and make more of a mess. So what amount of time do you reckon is fair?

I'd like to see more break down areas along
interstates to make it easier/safer to pull over.

Maybe if trucking companies took better care of their equipment we wouldn't see so many rigs laid up on the roadside?

I don't know, being a Rookie and you apparently being a more experience journeyman then I,
What is your solution?

Pete

It sounds like your attitude is you don't want to slow down for any reason, the cause of most major accidents is excessive speed, perhaps if people like you would slow down when necessary there would be fewer accidents. I know its always someone else’s fault.

Californa requires you to move over and slow down, bot sure about what other states require, but bad advice to state that you don't have to move over AND slow down.

As far as moving left for oncoming traffic, about the only time I see that happen is in heavy left lane traffic. The person on the ramp comes down, gets speed, but traffic is heavy and either someone is courtesous enough to move over or he slows down to 50 mph and merges into 70 mph traffic. Then you'd complain about this guy merging in front of you at 50 mph and slowing you down, which really is a dangerous situation. I'm not often in this situation because I tend to drive when traffic is light and in the middle or left lane anyways. I am younger than you, certainly not a 'new' driver but I haven't been driving for 30 years. Half the problem(I could be wrong here) is that traffic when you were taught to drive isn't what it is today. Everything is more congested. It's not always possible to pick a spot and merge at the appropiate speed.

Brian,
I think it is because they do not know or understand the concept of "right of way".

When I drive I TRY to never impede the forward motion of any other vehicle. Except when in and around NYC area where if you do not "power merge" you will wait a long time before someone finally slows and lets you on.

If a driver is not experienced and fails to see the car ahead is going to exit, then they prob do not see that moving to the next lane is going to fail to yield to your right of way either.

And I too "love" it when you turn on directional and the driver speeds up to close the gap so you can't change lanes.
Had a good time one morning on I290 in Worcester last year. Young lady tailgating me in left lane in a 50 mph zone. Sped up and ducked right, so she could pass me right into the waiting speed trap she was too eager to see. The look on her face as I passed her was "priceless".
Pete

As long as bureaurcrats are permitted to write regulations which they conveniently construe as "the law" we'll have problems. Finally, when their stupidity becomes obvious even to the dimmest witted, do changes come about. Slowly, for the wheels of government roll at "glacial speed". Example" Remember how highly touted the "HOV" lanes were? I remember billboards paid for with tax dollars advertising how much we were going to "LOV The HOV Lanes". They didn't work and, in fact, were downright dangerous.

Reminds me of a regulator who recently told a congressional committee: "Either legislate or get out of the way of the regulators".

On the flip side, I've seen State Troopers ticket 18 wheelers for not moving into the left lane for ramp traffic when they clearly could have. It's called "Failure to Yield".

It's not uncommon for me to run several hundred miles a day on the job and on my own part, when I'm coming down an on-ramp I look for a hole in the traffic and hit the bottom of the ramp with my speed matched to the existing traffic so all I have to do is ease over into the gap I've spotted ahead of time. Works every time and doesn't disrupt anyone else.

What really riles me is when the speed limit is 75 and there's a truck in the right lane going 66 mph and another in the left lane going 66.1 mph trying to pass. They run that way side by side for miles with other traffic backed up for several miles behind them.

A classic example of that was a few years ago when two Omaha city police cars full of policemen were on their way to Grand Island for a training session at the State Law Enforcement Academy in GI. Somewhere around York, where the speed limit was 75, these boneheads thought it was hilarious to drive the two Omaha police cruisers side by side at 55 mph.

They were laughing about all the traffic they had backed up behind them until a State Trooper appeared on the scene and the Omaha cops found out quickly that outside the city limits of Omaha a State Trooper outranks them like a General outranks a Buck Private.

I've found out there are just as many idiots in trucks as there are in passenger cars, and the least stressful way of surviving is to just float along with it.

Speaking of buearucrats, they've seen fit to construct, in Wisconsin, these little "Roundabouts". Little tiny traffic circles that have in other states for at least 70 years, been calleds "Traffic Circles" or, in other countries, "Rotaries". It's as if Wisconsin bureaucrats just invented them and they're the greatest thing since sliced bread (which isn't any good either). Now, they've decided to plant trees in the center of them so you can't see traffic coming from other directions. Absolute Genius. New Jersey has been getting rid of traffic circles as fast as $$$ will allow? Why? Every cop in NJ used to attend classes entitled: "How to unlock a circle". Ever see an accident scene in a circle? Traffic backs up for miles in all directions. I saw the aftermath of a circle accident(s) one time after a tornado went right through the circle. A fitting tribute. My rant for the day. I can't get over the stupidity I see out there on our highways and it's not all the fault of our drivers. It's understadable in Pennsylvania, though. 300+ years of inbreeding, you know.

You've described to a tee the correct merging procedure. I too, have watched a truck passing another truck, the one being passed doing 65 and the one passing doing about 66. I always thought that was because of governors or speed limiting installed oh certain company's trucks to keep from getting so many speeding tickets. I really think the driver of the passing truck has it "to the floor" in many cases. Any truck drivers out there?

Actually that is not true. A few years ago that studdy came out and was widely distributed and used to try to lower speeds. It has since been proven false. The reason it came about was because of all the people, both cars and trucks that loose it on ramps, but on the highway it is rarely excessive speed that causes an accident. That is why so many states are raising their speeds. In Oh. they went from 55 to 65 for trucks and accidents went down a lot. Then they went to 70 and they dropped again. This has happened in every state where they raised the speed.

Pete. I can agree with you on some things. Yes we need more breakdown lanes. Yes working on a truck on the side of the road is a bad idea. But in states like Texas. You could be waiting hours for help. So I see no reason not to do the repairs on the road. If they can be done there.

Good upkeep in the shop. Doesn't always mean trouble free road miles.I was on the road for thirty years in Texas.Saw many spots where the nearest wrecker was hours away.

I don't know where you get the idea that trucking companies don't take care of their equipment. That just doesn't make sense. Freight is given to a company based on there ability to deliver it on time safely. There are several ways this is tracked including CSA 2010. Every trucker and trucking company protects this very carefully because their livelyhood depends on it. There are always a few bad apples that make the news, but it is not widely spread. The major reason for roadside repairs is tire failure and contrary to popular opinion it is not old tires that are the leading cause of that. If you look at the tire pieces on the road most have nearly new tread. A tire is most often going to fail at nearly new due to a defect. If they make it past the first few weeks they are generally good. The only tire blowout I ever had on my truck was a week old steer tire.

I don't know where you get the idea that trucking companies don't take care of their equipment. That just doesn't make sense. Freight is given to a company based on there ability to deliver it on time safely. There are several ways this is tracked including CSA 2010. Every trucker and trucking company protects this very carefully because their livelyhood depends on it. There are always a few bad apples that make the news, but it is not widely spread. The major reason for roadside repairs is tire failure and contrary to popular opinion it is not old tires that are the leading cause of that. If you look at the tire pieces on the road most have nearly new tread. A tire is most often going to fail at nearly new due to a defect. If they make it past the first few weeks they are generally good. The only tire blowout I ever had on my truck was a week old steer tire.

You are right about this, but the limiters are for fuel milage not safety. It is a proven fact that limiting the speed of trucks is more dangerous than going the same speed.

730d se: the reason the semis block the merging lane is the idiots/drivers that are "special" and roar right down to the merge point rather than merge sooner. Most times on the free way system blocked lanes will be marked miles in advance. Do think the average car driver will merge anytime sooner than the last fifty feet???? Heck NO they are special!!! SO the ones that do merge early have to wait for the idiots the go "first". The semi drivers have agreed that the one blocking will be let back in the merge lane when then need too. It makes the traffic move faster because there are not fifty idiots waiting to merge at the merge point.

I was in PA on I-80 one time. They where rebuilding the entire east bound lane. You had to merge and cross and run two lane for miles. At the merge point there had been many accidents. Several fatalities. Idiots trying to merge too fast in the last fifty feet. Cutting the traffic off. The local state Police Captain put ten cars in the last mile. They wrote anyone a ticket that had not merged before the last distance. They wrote over 900 tickets in two days. The ticket was for improper lane changing. The local court had agreed in advance to not let any of the drivers out of the ticket. The ticket was for $175 each. It worked pretty well. They would crack down about once each month and the drivers seemed to remember how to merge a lot better. There was not another fatal accident at that merge point after that.

They did post signs miles back about when to merge and what the penalty would be. Still wrote a lot of tickets to the "special" people/drivers.

Just a statistic, a while back they did a study on truck eficiency and one stat I remember is that any time a truck hits it's brakes to slow down it costs $1.00. If poor ramp merging happens just twice an hour, a conservative figure, thats $20.00/ day $600.00/mo., or a total of $7200.00/ year, for every truck on the road. This exspense of corse gets passed to all consumers through higher frieght rates. Just some food for thought.

I think the merge thing is a chicken-or-egg sitation.

I started moving over to the left lane BECAUSE nobody understands what "yield" means.

I don't mind adjusting my speed down a little with with a slower car that's well ahead of me coming onto the highway.

But if it's closer - or when the nose of their car is behind the nose of my car - it's TOTALLY up to them to slow down a notch to merge on behind me.

It's so easy to understand, yet, NOBODY in the state of massachusetts does that. It ALWAYS turns into some kind of contest.

People are just so ignorant, I've found it's not even worth giving them the benefit of the doubt - just pull into the middle lane and hope they're not one of the many COMPLETE idiots who fear being in the right lane because it's the "slow lane" - and accelerate as fast as possible over to the left lane.

In fact - you might be as surprised as was when I did it - ask people you know what the yield sign means, and I guarantee a surprsing number of them actually believe the sign is for the person on the highway.

You might want to re-read I didn't say the speed limit, I said exessive speed, I find when I am driving at the speed limit many are going by like I'm standing still, if traffic slows in front of them its a horrible crash. there have been 5 or 6 of these accidents with in 40 miles of our town in which people were killed in the last year.

I don't see where it says "move over and slow down". I do see where it says " if you can't move over, slow down.
Californa

Thought you were describing Minnesota, Bill, they are shoving the roundaboutd down our throughts as fast as they can. On state highways with crossing small roads. I don't drive semi, but man, that has to be a real joy.

They happily tell us they create more accidents, but they are less deadly.

Can't you find something that doesn't create more accidents, and then as mentioned, tie up traffic for hours?

--->Paul

spent a lot of years on the road and just when you think you have seen it all someone will show you something new. Now this may sound odd to most but when i could i took the old back roads . as i could sorta set back and enjoy the drive . Yea it may take a couple hours longer then again it may be faster . Case in point here , many years back i loaded out of the Windy headed for Pittsburg i was not heavy or anything and when i got down to Lake Station i got off the big road and took the OLD roads across In. and Oh. and every goat path thru the woods . There were four trucks ahead of me when i was loading and they all were going to the same place as i was . They were to unload ahead of me and i was to unload at 12:30 Am. I left after them and run the back roads staying off the turn pikes , i got to Pittsburg and weighed in and the guy asked me where the other trucks were , I have no idea as they all left before me and i came across the back roads . Well he unloaded me and as i was leaving the plant the truck that loaded in the morning way before i ever got loaded and had left way before me . He wanted to know how i beat him as he had run the pikes and interstates but got hung up in construction and a bunch of wrecks. Earlier this year i went out to Mo. and i took every goat path out there 623. 4 miles from my drive to hers 12 hours on the dot with one stop on the way only 4 lanes i was on was US 30 and a little of US24 . Nice relaxing ride had only one idiot pulling a camper in In. that should not have been on the road. Map quest told me that by there way it was 784 miles and 12.5 and a half hours , liked my way better. But baack to people and there driving , ya spend enough time behind the wheel of a big truck setting up where you can see and see people driving you get to learn what they are about to do by the way the set behind the wheel the way they hold the wheel and by what they drive. My biggest pet pev were the ones that jump out of a side road or parking lot in front of you and go a 1/4 to half mile down the road and make a left turn when they could have waited three seconds and pull out behind you where there was nothing behind you . When i was on the road i was pretty much condemned to the right lanes because of being oversized and had to watch my speed closely . What use to get me were the freight haulers as they just had to be in ft. of you and they would do anything to get inft. of you . They would pass ya and just as soon as there trailer was past the flags whip back in and slow down and all i could see was the back of there trailers not the road ahead as that i needed to see so i could make changes as fast as i could as to get wooooed or move over for something setting along side the road. Then whe ya got into the hills they did not have the power to maintain speed and where as i had twice to three times the pony power i would not loose speed on the humps and bumps and have to go around them . That would tick them off when in the mountains as at most i would have to just split a gear and maintain 65 or 70 and they were down to 50 55 . Then they would drive like wild men for the next five or ten miles just to catch up and pass ya till the next hill or the next cop. I moved some Mil. eqip. from Ft Dix to Nevel Island one time and had to Pike it with Pa state cop escort , now that was fun let me tell you. I meet the state bear at the line and we have a little Pow ow about the move and set up our talk channel on the C B and the game plan . I asked the bear how fast do you want me to run , the bear says to me HOW FAST can you run . Being the smart Arrs that i am i say a whole bunch faster then you want me to , he says can you RUN 75 AND HOLD IT , yes i can ok then that is the speed i want you to run we do not want to hold up the IDIOTS his words. What about the construction zones as we will have three to go thru , He says drop back to 65 and TAKE BOTH LANES and the same for the tunnels TAKE BOTH LANES . I will be behind you till we get to mile marker such and such and there i will hand you over to the next bear and you two can work out what ever he wants. So off we go he is behind me with his lights ah going me with all my lights on signs flags and two strobes going on the back to the trailer . We come to the first tunnel and he moves over and blocks off the left lane and i move over into the center and take both lanes thru the tunnel once clear of the tunnel i move back over and what gets me is that we are running 75 in a 65 speed limit with a BEAR dead on my donkey with is lites going the people that still came flyen around us and i do mean flyen as on guy came around us i saw his digital dash say 90 . as we come up on the next tunnel i see a freight box tryen to get around me and the cop and he goes clean off the road onto the left berm to do so and made me dive for the ditch so he could beat me thru the tunnel . Now this made the BEAR really mad as we came into the tunnel the bear asked me if i would be ok if he left me as he really needed to talk with this professional driver and as soon as we cleared the tunnel he was going to RUN him down his words. Well as soon as we cleared the end of the tunnel the bear mashed the gas and was gone as i kept up the pace till i got to the next hand off point. Well about ten miles up the road in a wide spot there was my bear with Mr. Professional driver having a little talk and my pull off was a few miles past . I found my meeting place and pulled off and waited for the next bear . He and i go over the rules and head out , about 25 miles into this bear here comes that Freight hauler just running his mouth on the radio about the 1500 dollar fine he got for no reason , let see here passen a cop escorting and oversized load going off the pavement to get around going over the posted speed limit doing so and running the left lane thru a tunnel BUT HE did not do anything wrong and it was all this oversized loads fault. Then he looks up and oh guess who is inft. of him again and he starts bad mouthen me and the Pa bears , now wait a min here i am doing what MR. BEAR tells me to do and we are running above the posted speed limit as to not hold anybody up tomuch and your bad mouthen me and the bear, I about fell of the cab when this bear comes on the radio and asked him if he would like to go for round two or just set back there and be quiet.

I'll add my gripes.

For five miles construction will be clearly marked, lane closures will be posted, and signs to merge right or left are everywhere. However, there is always somebody who is so special he or she feels the need to zip up right to were the cones start and then merge.

In general, folks are just in a hurry and drive too fast. Is it really worth your life, or anyone's life to get there 3 minutes earlier? Slow down and wait your turn.

I see ur point about the rural areas.
Too much of my experience is along I95 from SC to Maine. Help is usually not far away.

Would hope fleet owners would do all they could to keep trucks on road but I see a lot of beat up rigs rolling around. Prob a urban area thing.

When I lived in SC and worked in NY my "commute" was 757.2 miles from my house to where I stayed in NY. Most times took btw 10+ to 11 hrs unless weather or traffic made it take longer.

You can feel when you have a bad tire. Pass rigs with tires making audible noises all the time. And I mean, she"s goin" blow noise!

Can"t you feel that?

When I stopped to gas up on my hwy runs I would run my palm over the tread of my tires. If I need alignment you can feel the heat diff btw tires or areas on tires. Touch all 4 wheels close to centers to detect bad bearings or dragging brakes.

Fixing rigs in rush hour on side of road in urban areas stinks for everyone.

Pete

Actually I did read it. And the stats are stil in favor of what I said. On the road, either 2 or 4 lane, rarely is speead a factor in an accident. The stats prove this over and over.

I understand how traffic circles can smooth flow, but never thought about the accident clearing thing. I can"t imagine plowing snow out of them. My biggest gripe is they are too small.......my pickup with machine trailer rubs the curbs...how does a semi get through? Must explain the tire marks!

I'll take the kid who's going to get up their speed and dive in off a ramp over the middle aged women who's just as apt to slam on her brakes cause she doesn't have a quarter mile of clear roadway to pull over. She scares me more than anything. Forget the merge word. Only old men understand it & we're in the minority.

Believe what your closed mind will, I guess there should be no speed limit.

In most states on freeways you must yield to traffic entering the freeway.
The trouble is you cross a state line and everything changes. We in Oregon have what called a no stop stop sign. If making a right hand turn you don't need to stop, the only problem is it's only marked on the sign that doesn't have to stop. New in from out of state and you come to a 4 way stop and one guys just slows up and drives right out in front of you. Guess what he has the right away un be known to you.
Also the car to the right has the right away regardless of who got there first. Four cars come to a stop sign and the car to right has the right of way so who gets to go first.
Walt
Saw a sign in the gun section of a local store the other day.
"according to California law we cannot sell guns to California Residents. " darn could have sworn I was still in Oregon.

You should see my wife go through a Round-About. I close my eyes and hope for the best. Maybe cars should be built more like bumper cars so they could just bounce off. Just wait until the population boom hits and there are even more cars on the road.

Sounds like an excelent idea, since the Autobahn has no limit and is one of the safest highway systems in the world.

I don't know if an Interstate is a Federal matter but this states that you must slow down and move over on all Californa state highways and freeways.
Move over and slow down Cali. dmv.gov

The "she's goin to blow" noise you here is only an out of balance tire and has nothing to do with whether it's going to blow or not. And yes, if it's bad enough you can feel it.

thats where you are supposed to merge at, not 5
miles away from it. thats why traffic is backed up,
every body gets in one lane way to early. why let 5
miles of 4 lane go to waste.

Great story, thank you!

Or how bout the 45 speed limit in a 10 mile one lane construction zone and some joker putts along at 35. All the while there isn't a single construction worker seen for the last three days and when they do work its maybe 5 hours and then their gone. Why doesn't the state require these companies to work two shifts and work sun up to sun down until the job is done. Why drag out a project for months when it could be done in a weeks time?

You should move to Europe then.

(quoted from post at 12:03:51 08/12/12) Sounds like an excelent idea, since the Autobahn has no limit and is one of the safest highway systems in the world.

Click to expand...

Kind of a myth all around...... There may be a couple stretches that aren't limited, but the common sense law applies and is enforced. Drive IAW conditions and reaction time...

The ones that don't believe in limits are the ones making the autobahns unsafe.........

Regardless of right or wrong, you have to drive defensively and safe. Dead is dead whether you had the right of way or not.....

This message is for the woman driver on I-55 South at Chenoa, IL yesterday who was rubber necking to see what the trouper was doing in the breakdown lane. You don't slow down in left lane.

AMEN brother...

NO! The drivers entering the interstate MUST yield to drivers that are already on the interstate.
k

For certain, from this discussion, no matter how one drives it is certainly wrong. Made a trucker madder than heck a couple weeks ago. Driving local US highway, I started signaling right turn and tapped the brake at least a quarter mile before my turn onto township road but didn't actually start braking and he lays on the air horn. What am I supposed to do . I had been traveling 56 by gps in a 55 and he was holding a pretty decent gap. I tried to give him plenty of chance to gradually slow down as traffic would not allow him to pass. What was I to do. I have actually traveled on down another mile some times where there is a turn off lane just to give those tailgaters more room. Signal light working fine also.

Some people just don't know how to follow the rules. One time coming through Ogden Utah, someone cut off a semi(tractor only). He swerved to avoid the other vehicle and hit a guard rail. He got one front tire over the rail. Left lane blocked, traffic down to one lane. State trooper stopping every car on the interstate telling them to stay in the right lane as there was a wreck about a half mile farther up the road. The second wreck was a bad one, had both lanes blocked going both directions. It just happened to be at an exit so traffic on I15 was diverted off the interstate and then right back on after the exit(i hope that made sense). Anyway after the trooper says stay in the right lane I see some clown about 6 cars behind me pull out to pass so I just closed up the gap in front of me and there was no where for him to get back in. He was ------ when he hit the traffic cones and had to stop. I thought it was interesting that he had come out about 6 cars back but it was probably 12-15 cars before anyone let him back in. Simple instruction but he couldn't follow it.


Steven

(quoted from post at 20:06:17 08/12/12)I have actually traveled on down another mile some times where there is a turn off lane just to give those tailgaters more room. Signal light working fine also.

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That's part of the reason folks (the traffic bullies) keep on keepin on.... Let em pay for some medical bills and buy your car after they rearend you and they'll think a little more maybe.....

Here, trucks have a 50mph (80 kmh) speed limit, same with passenger vehicles pulling a trailer. During this past winter, we were pulling a trailer on the autobahn when it was dark and raining (driving 50mph) when a truck came up and started riding us and flashing/blowing... Went on for several miles..... Cop passes and waits at the next exit (truckstop) and pulls us both over. Asks if we are OK and if we wanted to press charges on the truck driver for harrassment. Then took care of the truck driver and let us go.....

my take on it and im a professional driver with 30 years behind the wheel, is first like all else drivers ed has been mutilated into a course to pass the drivers test, not a course teaching kids to drive cars, and there is a big difference, second there is no teaching at all on how to drive in the vicinity of large heavy trucks and there should be, also a large number of drivers in this area get their licence because they qualify as a special case, shoot this state even gives licenses to illeagles,some of who's previous experience involves a stick and a burro, then, driving is a privilege, not a right, and that has been muddled, also even the new truckers out there lack some training, when i started out it was on a 2 sticker and i rode with a seasoned driver, i drove, but wasnt allowed to solo until that driver told the boss that i was ready, and that man was a stickler to correct driving , today some are run thru a 6 month cdl mill, which teaches them to pass the driving tests but has very little on road experience the student is left to pick that up on his own, usually with disastrous results, as a lot of them dont get the year or so riding with a driver in order to experience the handling skills and emergency procedures that the experienced driver can teach with real life events, as to one truck passing another, sometimes it is a slow procedure,when buying a new truck most companies dont just go get one at the dealer, they order it, a truck, in order to be productive, must be tailored to its job, in other words a tractor hauling for a potato chip company in the plains states will be completly different under the sheet metal than a tractor hauling heavy equipment over the rocky mountains, when a 300 hp truck running at its maximum weight is trying to pass a 600 hp truck running at its max weight its going to take a few minutes, the best thing i can think of is to make all drivers at renewal time take the general knowledge test for the cdl test this really has little to do with trucks and mostly deals with rules of the road ect, if drivers from truckers down to moped riders cant pass, they have the option to either learn the material or get a horse,

if people would just drive like they would want others to drive there would be a lot less problems. how often do you see people do whatever they can to cut someone off only to exit at the next road? all you have to do to understand the problem is read some of the responses on this thread, it"s always the other guy that is in the wrong and in most cases it"s the trucker

mark us

Well said! Although the worst drivers I see most often are old blue haired ladies, teenage girls and people in oversized diesel pickups, especially if they are pulling a trailer.

I ran hogs in Illinois 30 years ago. The Interstate system wasn't the best. I had a 3 deck pot with 49,000 lbs. of live pork on it. The I-55 North to I-80 East ramp was banked the wrong way. Everytime I was on that ramp I had 4 wheelers backed up down the line. The ramp speed was 25mph and my safe speed was 20mph. By the time I got to the 80 East ramp I was running about 40 mph trying to merge into +65mph traffic. Back then 350hp was a big engine.

If you're addressing me, you're wrong. I'm anything but an aggressive driver. I've got almost 2 million accident-free miles driven.

Another kook talking about something he can't have any knowledge of - my driving skills.

It's about creating dangerous situations, Ace. You don't move into the left lane and slow down to 45 for a cop with a speeder pulled over. You don't pull into the left lane and slow down for ANY reason, unless someone is pulled over to the left.

I respectfully disagree. I'll pull into the lane being closed to keep people from moving up and then causing a back-up right at the merge. If everyone merges earlier, there is no major back-up.

The construction sign said merge, but people still want to pass? Nope. Not right. This is when you get people stopped in the proper lane waiting for car after car after car than wants to get a few cars ahead.

If the sign said merge, you do not have the right to pass anymore. Simple, isn't it? Apparently not.

The law says to slow to 45mph, not just slow.