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Un-safe trucker

Well if the entire stretch of road was like that I would assume (at least here) its a dotted line and a passing zone so why the driver did not pass is unclear. I would have have deactivated the cruise and allowed my vehicle to continue to slow until the driver went around me as I have many times rather than continue to enrage the other driver.
 
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Finally got a return call from the owner of the company... He apologized, sounded sincere... He "said" the driver was a temp filling in in a pinch and said he would be dealt with...

I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but he at least sounded like he was telling the truth, didn't get defensive or anything...

He did say "That Dumb M*(#&$^%#*@r" while he was watching the video that I gave him a link to... LOL
 
Well if the entire stretch of road was like that I would assume (at least here) its a dotted line and a passing zone so why the driver did not pass is unclear. I would have have deactivated the cruise and allowed my vehicle to continue to slow until the driver went around me as I have many times rather than continue to enrage the other driver.

That wasn't the exact spot, but representative of the road and most other "secondary" roads in Iowa, only some places have much steeper ditches. It was just illustrating that you can't pull-over to let someone around without pretty much slowing to 15 MPH or less, or risk having a tire dig into gravel and throw you off the road, and even then the shoulder is not as wide as your vehicle, so you can't get completely off the traveled portion w/o risking getting stuck by taking the right tire literally off the edge of the gravel into mud/dirt.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Ask any law enforcement officer or driving safety instructor and they will tell you the dumbest thing you can do is speed up.
I'm frankly stunned that a professional driver would even consider that an option.

If you are unable to get to the right to let them pass, the correct and recommended answer is to slow down even more, but very gradually.

This opens the gap between you and any traffic in front of you, and both encourages and makes it easier for the tailgater to pass you, and that is what you want.
 
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Ask any law enforcement officer or driving safety instructor and they will tell you the dumbest thing you can do is speed up.
I'm frankly stunned that a professional driver would even consider that an option.

If you are unable to get to the right to let them pass, the correct and recommended answer is to slow down even more, but very gradually.

This opens the gap between you and any traffic in front of you, and both encourages and makes it easier for the tailgater to pass you, and that is what you want.

Well said.

Put it another way - if you think this driver is dangerous, you want as much distance between you as possible. Letting him pass provides that. I've done what luvmysuper suggests a bunch of times, they may honk and give me the finger while passing me, but in a few minutes they're long gone.

BK, I also think you did the right thing taping this and sending it to the trucking company. This guy is a hazard on the road.
 
There simply isn't a valid excuse for tailgating.

I had a similar thing happen once, except it was in a tunnel. We were both in the left lane, where trucks are not allowed to be in the tunnels, and passing in tunnels is not allowed either. The speed limit drops in the tunnels but the truck got right on my butt and starting making noise with the jake brake. Not wanting to get squished completely flat against the wall, I slowed down from 55 to 35 and waited for him to pass me on the right after getting out of the tunnel. These days, I wait for tailgaters to pass me on the right because I've had way to many close calls with them doing that after I pass a vehicle and try to get over.

Speeding up is not the answer. I tried that and sometimes found myself going faster with the guy still on my butt.

You got the guy's information off of the truck. Report it to the state police. They have the authority can capability to handle trucking companies better than the local police do.

BTW, the recreational community has an acronym for those types of drivers. ARB, known as Arsehole Road Bully.
 
Ask any law enforcement officer or driving safety instructor and they will tell you the dumbest thing you can do is speed up.
I'm frankly stunned that a professional driver would even consider that an option.

If you are unable to get to the right to let them pass, the correct and recommended answer is to slow down even more, but very gradually.

This opens the gap between you and any traffic in front of you, and both encourages and makes it easier for the tailgater to pass you, and that is what you want.

Well, I am a professional driver and I have suggested speeding up to increase the gap to be an option. You feel my advice is dumb. Cool. If you have a fast-approaching vehicle on your rear, you don't know if he will be able to get over. You cannot get to the right. He is already inches from you on his approach. The dumbest thing to do is to assume this guy can stop or get around. Get away from him as soon as possible. If you slow down, you allow a great chance of him plowing into the back of you. What I want is to be as far away as possible from someone like this. Whether they pass or not, doesn't matter. If they can do it safely, so be it. Every driving course I've ever taken has suggested increasing the gap for a tailgater when you cannot pull over or a brake tap doesn't work. Yes, in most cases, tapping your brakes and allowing them to pass is the best option. However, in this situation, it did not appear to be the safest and most defensive. (you do what you have to do to get away from danger). With the trucker nearly clipping the driver's bumper when he finally did pass, this is what gives me that assumption. From my interpretation it sounds like increasing the gap a little until you can find a place to pull over or ensure he can pass you (THEN slow down) was the thing to do. Yes, sometimes my advice may be dumb, and frankly, I can be too. But, I will get you home safely.
 
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The fact that tailgating is illegal in most states and is classified as aggressive driving, and the fact that several people seem to be siding with the aggressive driver in this situation astounds me.

The OP was within 2-3 MPH of the speed limit, which could practically be accounted for as a variance in speedometer readings. The trucker was acting dangerously and refused to back off.

Do we really side with the bully here? The mentality on display in this thread is really confirming my already dim view of most truckers, and this is from someone that's logged tens of thousands of miles himself. Shameful.
 
Finally got a return call from the owner of the company... He apologized, sounded sincere... He "said" the driver was a temp filling in in a pinch and said he would be dealt with...

I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but he at least sounded like he was telling the truth, didn't get defensive or anything...

He did say "That Dumb M*(#&$^%#*@r" while he was watching the video that I gave him a link to... LOL

Uploading the video and sending them the link to view it was the best think you could have done

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/290140?p=4089968#post4089968
 
Well, I am a professional driver and I have suggested speeding up to increase the gap to be an option. You feel my advice is dumb. Cool. If you have a fast-approaching vehicle on your rear, you don't know if he will be able to get over. You cannot get to the right. He is already inches from you on his approach. The dumbest thing to do is to assume this guy can stop or get around. Get away from him as soon as possible. If you slow down, you allow a great chance of him plowing into the back of you. What I want is to be as far away as possible from someone like this. Whether they pass or not, doesn't matter. If they can do it safely, so be it. Every driving course I've ever taken has suggested increasing the gap for a tailgater when you cannot pull over or a brake tap doesn't work. Yes, in most cases, tapping your brakes and allowing them to pass is the best option. However, in this situation, it did not appear to be the safest and most defensive. (you do what you have to do to get away from danger). With the trucker nearly clipping the driver's bumper when he finally did pass, this is what gives me that assumption. From my interpretation it sounds like increasing the gap a little until you can find a place to pull over or ensure he can pass you (THEN slow down) was the thing to do. Yes, sometimes my advice may be dumb, and frankly, I can be too. But, I will get you home safely.

Truck drivers with this attitude are exactly what's wrong with truck drivers.

You don't "own" the road, and nobody should be expected to do anything they can to get out of the way. *YOU* are expected to drive in safe, professional manner. In this incident, the truck driver was 100% at fault.
 
Truck drivers with this attitude are exactly what's wrong with truck drivers.

You don't "own" the road, and nobody should be expected to do anything they can to get out of the way. *YOU* are expected to drive in safe, professional manner. In this incident, the truck driver was 100% at fault.

With what attitude is that, exactly? Wanting the driver to get out of harm's way? Sorry, I do not follow.

My advice is to get away from the aggressive truck driver. Slowing down, doing whatever would have caused a greater chance for danger. That is pretty obvious. No, sir, I do NOT own the road. I have never claimed to, nor suggested I may. I do drive in a safe, professional manner. Very much so, in fact. I'm not arguing the trucker was not at fault. I am stating that if you're being followed by a huge heavy truck that is approaching you very quickly and getting within inches of your rear bumper, the easiest, smartest thing to do would be to get out of his way if possible. If you can't go right, go straight. I really don't understand how that could be interpreted other any other way than good. Simply, get out of harm's way. You wouldn't walk into danger, you'd run away from it or go around it. Same thing.
 
The fact that tailgating is illegal in most states and is classified as aggressive driving, and the fact that several people seem to be siding with the aggressive driver in this situation astounds me.

The OP was within 2-3 MPH of the speed limit, which could practically be accounted for as a variance in speedometer readings. The trucker was acting dangerously and refused to back off.

Do we really side with the bully here? The mentality on display in this thread is really confirming my already dim view of most truckers, and this is from someone that's logged tens of thousands of miles himself. Shameful.

No, we do not side with the bully. I side with safety. If what the driver did was the only safe option he felt he had, then great. He got home safely and that is what matters most. Perhaps, looking from the outside, there were other options. Better? Worse? Don't know.

Apparently what I am saying is not coming across as I intended. It is being misinterpreted and I do not like being accused of being unprofessional, dumb, etc. I am glad that everyone made it home safely and I truly hope the driver was reprimanded and will be mindful of his actions in the future. Do that what you feel is safest when on the road. Regardless of anything, my belief is the most important thing is to get home alive. I will have nothing more to say on this.
 
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rockviper

I got moves like Jagger
I agree with speeding up to provide a larger gap (for safety) if another vehicle is coming up fast behind you. Just in case the driver wasn't paying full attention, the extra space might just save your life. However, if the following driver continues to rapidly close the distance time and time again, then that's just aggressive driving and no excuses can be made.
 
With what attitude is that, exactly? Wanting the driver to get out of harm's way? Sorry, I do not follow.

With thinking that any other driver who is otherwise driving 100% legally should get off the road to let an idiot driver do whatever he wants.

In the interest of safety, I agree with you. However, your solution rewards bad truck drivers' behavior.

My advice is to get away from the aggressive truck driver. Slowing down, doing whatever would have caused a greater chance for danger. That is pretty obvious. No, sir, I do NOT own the road. I have never claimed to, nor suggested I may. I do drive in a safe, professional manner. Very much so, in fact. I'm not arguing the trucker was not at fault. I am stating that if you're being followed by a huge heavy truck that is approaching you very quickly and getting within inches of your rear bumper, the easiest, smartest thing to do would be to get out of his way if possible. If you can't go right, go straight. I really don't understand how that could be interpreted other any other way than good. Simply, get out of harm's way. You wouldn't walk into danger, you'd run away from it or go around it. Same thing.

I'm not questioning your driving - I've no idea how you drive. It's your attitude that is coming across in your posting, where you're excusing the truck driver's behavior "in the interest of safety" as somehow a necessary evil. Defensive driving does not include putting yourself in harm's way by pulling off the road to a basically non-existent shoulder.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Well, I am a professional driver and I have suggested speeding up to increase the gap to be an option. You feel my advice is dumb. Cool. If you have a fast-approaching vehicle on your rear, you don't know if he will be able to get over. You cannot get to the right. He is already inches from you on his approach. The dumbest thing to do is to assume this guy can stop or get around. Get away from him as soon as possible. If you slow down, you allow a great chance of him plowing into the back of you. What I want is to be as far away as possible from someone like this. Whether they pass or not, doesn't matter. If they can do it safely, so be it. Every driving course I've ever taken has suggested increasing the gap for a tailgater when you cannot pull over or a brake tap doesn't work. Yes, in most cases, tapping your brakes and allowing them to pass is the best option. However, in this situation, it did not appear to be the safest and most defensive. (you do what you have to do to get away from danger). With the trucker nearly clipping the driver's bumper when he finally did pass, this is what gives me that assumption. From my interpretation it sounds like increasing the gap a little until you can find a place to pull over or ensure he can pass you (THEN slow down) was the thing to do. Yes, sometimes my advice may be dumb, and frankly, I can be too. But, I will get you home safely.

Here are references from Law Enforcement and driving education which prescribe the exact recommended action that most here have suggested;

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/scanning.htm

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/content.php?35

http://www.drive-safely.net/rear-ended.html

http://collisionmax.com/MaxTrax-Aut...ns-and-Tailgating-Defensive-Driving-Practices

http://www.smartdriving.co.uk/Driving/DefensiveDriving/Tailgaters/tailgaters.html

I could site more, but these were the first ones that popped up on a simple google search.

Please reference any law enforcement or driving education courses which recommends speeding to get away from a tailgater. I'll anxiously check back here for your list.

I don't believe you are dumb. I also don't believe that you continue to espouse an action which places a driver at increased risk not only to bodily injury, but to litigation if something were to go wrong.
Law Enforcement is the only group allowed to exceed the speed limit. Even Ambulances in full siren and light mode are not. Speeding is illegal, and the fact that it is a commonly broken law doesn't decrease the illegality of it.
Do you honestly believe that the car driver speeding up to the legal speed limit, which in this case was an additional 2 mph, would have satisfied that truck driver?

If you believe that there was sufficient space for the car driver to pull over, and assuming your hypothesis that the truck driver wasn't just being a bully but had problems from preventing him from slowing, wouldn't the logical thing be for the truck driver to pull over? Doing so would have assisted him in slowing his truck. The car driver did NOT feel safe pulling over, and he was under no obligation to do so. The truck driver was at fault, and he was breaking the law by following too closely.

There aren't too many steep hills in Iowa, and just letting off the accelerator would have solved the truck drivers problem if he was having a braking issue. The fact that he fell back and accelerated forward several times belies the supposition that he was having a braking problem.

No. He wasn't having a speed issue. He was being a Tailgating Bully and cut the car driver off when he resumed his lane after passing.
Not the actions that I would think anyone here would defend.
 
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