Yesterday I had the "pleasure" of sitting roadside on a freeway, waiting for roadside assistance to change a flat trailer tire. During this time I donned my reflective vest (in broad daylight), put out my triangles, and proceeded to double check air pressure on all my tires. They were all in spec, my blowout was the result of a failed patch.
During my wait I had a chance to watch driver behavior when approaching my rig, which was parked within 2 feet of the edge of the freeway lane. There was about a mile of straight, two lane freeway approaching my rig. While the great majority of driving I saw was correct, with cars and big rigs pulling over to the passing lane to give me a wide berth, I witnessed enough aggressive and stupid driving to have some real concerns. I wish I'd had a decent HD video camera to capture some of the stupidity. Had I been a police officer on a sting operation I could have easily helped issue well over a hundred tickets for failure to move over for a vehicle on the side of the road, tailgating, and reckless driving.
Sadly, much of the problem was due to truckers.
The worst incident happened while I was squatting in the wheel well, but having to lean out to reach the valve on a tire. There was a cluster of about half a dozen trucks approaching. The lead truck properly initiated a lane change early enough to alert the rest of the rigs of my truck, they all moved over. However, one flat bedder that was already in the passing lane decided just 200 yards before approaching my truck, to very aggressively move into the right lane and accelerate rapidly to start passing a truck on the right lane. I had to stand up and get into the wheel well to avoid getting hit. I could only shake my head sadly at his idiocy and recklessness.
My rules of thumb when approaching any vehicle that is within six feet of the edge of the freeway:
- Move over to the next lane as early as possible, especially if you are leading a "pack" of vehicles. By moving over early you give drivers behind you early warning of the situation.
- Turn on your 4-ways if you are the lead vehicle. This is a further clue to any vehicle that was in the passing lane when you moved over that you aren't getting into the passing lane to block them, there is a hazard ahead.
- If you are in the passing lane, beginning to overtake another vehicle, slow down and flash your lights to indicate you are giving space for that car to move over. There were several instances of this during my time on the freeway yesterday and I have a heartfelt thank you to each and every driver (big rig and passenger vehicle) that employed this tactic.
- Back off on your speed as necessary to allow room for other vehicles to move over. This is not a situation where you want to be tailgating.
- If you are in the middle of passing another truck and can't make way in time, then move well to the left of your lane to give the trucker in the right lane room to move well to the left of his/her lane.
Every year road workers and folks with vehicles broken down on the side of the road are killed. After yesterday's observations I can easily understand why this highly preventable type of accident happens. Drive as if everyone else's life depends on it.
When there is vehicle on the side of the road ahead
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Lepton1, Jul 31, 2013.
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