Why do people cut off semi trucks?

[MarkMgibson]

I only read the original post so, I'll keep this short.

My dad was a diesel mechanic for a long time so I got to ride around in MACK trucks a lot. My favorite is the classic R model. Say..a R686ST. With the wet kit obviously. And a few times we would see idiots do this. In their little sportster cars. now obviously they are doing a eff u to the truck...Because the truck is big and in his way.

What they do not realize..it doesn't stop on a dime. the truck is slow because of torque vs. speed requirements. and sometimes you drive a 32 speed and it takes a minute to get up and going.

Ever see the gears of a transmission from a caterpillar engine from a Ford diesel truck? HUGE!!!!!

I think most intelligent drivers do actually have some understanding of how long it takes a fully loaded semi-trailer to stop compared to a car. As you say, I think it's often more of an FU to the truck driver, or it's just pure frustration at being delayed for 2 minutes. It always surprises me the things some drivers do to get where they're going 5 minutes later.

A close friend of mine drives a semi-trailer, and he recently installed one of those dash cameras. Some of the footage from it is quite unbelievable. Just completely reckless stuff; some of them don't know how close they came to being run over like a speed bump.

 

[fmoore200]

We have a saying at my depot:

Everybody is a tough guy until they are under the bus.

Rings true for truckers too..

 

[Joe Nerve]

Didn't read the thread... only OP, but want to chime in because of something I heard just this saturday. Was at a graduation party and started talking with a retired cop I just met. Making small talk, I said the cliche, "I'm gonna guess you've seen a lot..." He responded with, "A lot I wish I never saw, and will never get out of my head." And the first thing he told me about was pulling the pieces of 7 kids and an adult out of a station wagon, that you guessed it, cut off and for reasons unkown hit his breaks in front of a semi on the highway. He was the first responder. Said the station wagon was flattened to front to back to about a 6 foot pile of flesh blood and and metal.

I have to guess that these people are just ignorant idiots.

Had 2 guys following each other on the highway the other night driving with his flashers on at 35 miles an hour in the left lane... where everyone else was doing 70-80. It was a crowded highway, but there was plenty of room for him to get over to the right.

 

[nortonrider]

It's required for a big truck to use the flashers when running under 45 MPH. on the highway.

 

[macaroni tony]

I used to be a load counter for a trucking company...and aren't trucks supposed to drive on the right???

 

[bassinplace]

Didn't read the thread... only OP, but want to chime in because of something I heard just this saturday. Was at a graduation party and started talking with a retired cop I just met. Making small talk, I said the cliche, "I'm gonna guess you've seen a lot..." He responded with, "A lot I wish I never saw, and will never get out of my head." And the first thing he told me about was pulling the pieces of 7 kids and an adult out of a station wagon, that you guessed it, cut off and for reasons unkown hit his breaks in front of a semi on the highway. He was the first responder. Said the station wagon was flattened to front to back to about a 6 foot pile of flesh blood and and metal.

I have to guess that these people are just ignorant idiots.

Had 2 guys following each other on the highway the other night driving with his flashers on at 35 miles an hour in the left lane... where everyone else was doing 70-80. It was a crowded highway, but there was plenty of room for him to get over to the right.

That may have been mechanical failure that prevented him from going any faster or being able to merge into faster traffic. That's what I would assume. To be steered clear of, whatever the reason.

 

[nortonrider]

I used to be a load counter for a trucking company...and aren't trucks supposed to drive on the right???

Here in Colorado it is state law to move over for workers and emergency personnel.

I've had plenty of instances of cruising along in the right lane and having to move over to the left to give a cop room on the shoulder or to allow traffic to merge onto the freeway
only to have some 4 wheeler get impatient and try to pass me on the right and creating a very dangerous situation.

 

[blue4]

I saw one of the drivers that pull out of our terminal today. He was doing 75 in 60 and merging like he had a honda instead of the 78,600 lbs we load to. It ain't just 4 wheelers.

 

[BassMom88]

This happened yesterday at our toll booth. One source said it was a result of the pick-up truck trying to cut-off the semi. In another report, the driver said he is still baffled by how this happened.

Thankfully nobody was seriously injured, including the toll worker.

It will be interesting to see what the official investigation determines as the cause. Be careful out there!!

 

[MarkMgibson]

Let's face it, there's just no accounting for halfwits, no matter what they're driving. Some people are too stupid to hold a driver's licence.

 

[Brad Johnson]

As someone who's been boxed in by three semis probable because I was driving a sports car it just reminds me that jack holes can end up behind the wheel of just about any vehicle.

I've been driving since the 1970's and I probably have just about seen it all. Just about any "what's the dumbest thing they could do right now? " scenario you could imagine. Trucks, cars, bikes... all with drivers capable of gross stupidity.

 

[nortonrider]

........ if you all really knew the kind of drivers some trucking companies hire, you all would be a lot more scared to even be around them. Also, the mechanical condition of some of those things would terrify you. Some trucks don't get pulled into the scales very often.

You Sir are 100% correct!

All the more reason to give big trucks plenty of room.

 

[ursongz]

This instance for the driver that works for a large corporation causes reactions to keeping following distances further away. Even when all that has been said is right, there is never a 100% correct non preventable action that can be taken. Retiring from this profession after 35+ years; I can say being in this volatile situation does prove to keeping the distance is all we can do as professional drivers.

 

[David Jayne]

Why? For the same reason folks unsafely pass me on my bicycle, forcing oncoming traffic onto the shoulder. Happens every time I ride. I'm surprised I haven't witnessed a real wreck yet.

 

[Floyd Eye]

For the same reason people seem to think that it's fine to drive in the passing lane while going under the speed limit when they have plenty of room to get over and then they get pissed at you when you pass them. They are idiots.

 

[nojj]

I used to drive the big fellas,
and many of the habits carried over to driving smaller vehicles.
Checking my mirrors every couple seconds, anticipating idiots,
and being wary of potentially dangerous sitches.
Yet still, there's always some self-entitled dirtbag that endangers my life.........

 

[gjbassist]

Most people are in a bubble when they are in their vehicle. They don't pay enough attention to what is going on outside of that bubble to realize when they are being reckless drivers! The average person probably has no idea how long it takes a large truck to come to a stop because they don't care. They just want to get where they are going and not be bothered.

Now on the other side of the coin, I am constantly seeing tractor-trailers doing stupid things as well. Pulling out into oncoming traffic, running red lights that have been red for several seconds, stopping in the middle of the road without putting on their flashers, etc. IMO it seems that many truck drivers get the impression that because they are bigger than everyone else they can do these things.

 

[Floyd Eye]

The fact is that people are jealous, selfish and half ********. They believe they are more important than everyone else.

By the way, the percentage of drivers (passenger vehicle) that drive like asses is significantly higher than the percentage of professional truck drivers that drive like asses. Those guys living depends on keeping their license. Sure some are idiots, but not most.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

And I love how our state police put out bulletins about how they are going to pursue aggressive drivers and tailgaters. They are the most aggressive tailgaiting drivers on the road. (and I have seen blatant tailgaiting occur right in front of a cruiser and they do nothing.)

I'm not anti-cop (not trying to turn this into a cop-bashing thread Cheezewhiz ), but in my anecdotal experience, the police are just as guilty as anyone else of violating universally known traffic laws. The tailgating comment reminds me of a night a number of years ago where I was driving down a two-lane highway and a state trooper rode my ass for about seven miles. If I would have had to brake for a deer or some other hazard, the cruiser's engine would have been in my trunk.

With that said, when cops pass me like I'm standing still on the interstate and other similar highways, I don't mind much. Even though I'm not doing anything wrong, I think like most people, I don't like being tailed for any significant amount of time by an officer.

 

[ErebusBass]

By the way, the percentage of drivers (passenger vehicle) that drive like asses is significantly higher than the percentage of professional truck drivers that drive like asses. Those guys living depends on keeping their license. Sure some are idiots, but not most.

And fortunately those "professional" truck drivers that drive like idiots generally don't stay employed as drivers for a particularly long time.