Now These Are Drivers

[Mastercraft]

Some expert driving here IMO, on both truck drivers parts.

 

http://districtspeed.com/a-simple-drive-turned-dangerous-car-cuts-off-semi/?source=farm

 

[HERO Maker]

That was great driving on their parts. And no language! Wow!

[Pat & Pete]

When you're driving that 'hard' , there's no time for language other than maybe asking for help .

[Big5er]

Sorry, the only "good" driving I saw was the yellow truck that got run off the road by the truck with the dash cam. While the driver with the dash cam didn't start the mess, he almost caused a collision with a 3rd totally uninvolved vehicle. That impact could have caused more devastation than rear ending the car that caused the whole mess.It's sort of like dodging an animal in the road. I'm a huge animal lover but every book on driving cautions against wrecking your own vehicle in an attempt to avoid the animal. This driver got lucky. If the yellow truck had hit him, which driver would have been at fault? A non contact vehicle may be a contributing factor in a crash, but it is still not involved.

[Ronbo]

I would rather rear end the car than put my rig sliding sideways on the road. He had zero control of his rig when sliding.

[Mastercraft]

I agree with the straight on rear end of the car approach. Less risk to everyone, unless the car spun out to the left and got eaten by the other truck.

 

I bet all the drivers involved wish they had their brown pants on after it was all over

 

This video was of interest to me as I had a near miss a few years back. Some junk rice grinder had to pass me on a two lane cause I wasn't going 10 or 15 over (the actual flow of traffic in Az). It was 110 deg out, full sun on the pavement (~140deg pavement), the guy comes around me, pulls in and BOOM, loses a tire and gets sideways in front of me. There were paved shoulders with guard rails on both sides. He almost hit the right guard rail, I hit the brake hard, but no skid, took the center of the road. I'll not forget the look on the guys face in a pickup coming the other way with a 100+ mph differential speed....he was courteous and opted to take the shoulder on his side....it all turned out well.

[RandyA]

I had to watch the video several times. The car that cut the truck off came up on the truck's left with its turn signal on for a to-the-right lane change, obviously for the exit. Just as the car cut in front of the truck the car driver apparently realized the exit was closer than he thought and his speed was too high to make the exit - you can see his brake lights go on just as he cuts in front of the truck and begins to move toward the exit. The truck driver sees that he is inches from rear-ending the car and slams on the brakes and starts skidding to the left - to me it did not appear that he intentionally swerved left. As Phil noted, right into the path of the yellow truck. How the yellow truck recovered is amazing. The red truck heads for the shoulder, probably to change his pants. The yellow truck driver probably needed to do the same.

 

Cars cutting in have happened to me more than once. In fact, I now expect a passing car to cut in! Thank goodness ABS keeps me from locking up brakes like the red truck did and going into a skid. The car's signal light is on as it comes into the red truck driver's peripheral vision. Car's brake lights come on when it is about 1/2 way into the truck's lane. I would hope that this would have given me in the same situation enough notice of what was going to happen to respond more quickly than the red truck did. But, you never know - look away for a split second and s(edited)it happens. In Georgia there are signs warning car drivers of a ticket if they cut in too soon on a truck. Why only Georgia - why not all other states? I am of the opinion that the testing for a (car) driver's license is a joke. Every boater in VA had to take a comprehensive Safe Boating Class recently to continue driving a boat. Same should be required for highway drivers and knowledge of issues faced by heavy rig drivers should be emphasized. We cannot accelerate, maneuver or stop as quickly as a 4-wheeler - most 4-wheel drivers do not even think about this. Fines and penalties for this type of driving are often a joke. BTW, dash cam video shows a readable license plate. I run a HD dash cam that also makes license plates readable in recorded video.

 

Sorry for the rant - this is just something that gets my mo-Jo revved up.

[Darryl&Rita]

Agree with the above observations. Poor skills on the part of the driver in the red truck, stupidity on the part of the car driver, and reasonable skills on the yellow truck driver's part.

[CDR]

Yep, I would have drove right over them. Period.

 

Curt

[Ronbo]

This is also why I have a GoPro on my windshield

[HERO Maker]

So I turned up my volume a little higher, (still didn't hear any language, bad or asking for some divine prevention) and that's when I noticed that the passing car turned on his turn signal and it blinked 5 times and was then in front of the red truck before you hear the truck driver get off the fuel and start to lose it! As was said, I would have backed off I'm sure a little earlier than that, and yes, he might have glanced somewhere else. But I'm usually watching the left mirror as much as I look forward. Especially when I'm being passed! Too many times, in the passing cars effort to get a good picture of our setup, they drift right over into my front left panel and I have already glanced to the right fender mirror to make sure I had an out. Never get boxed in with some of the idiot drivers out there.

It also sounds like he might have been tagged by the yellow truck as that guy did a heck of a job of keeping it together in avoiding the collision and then bringing it back up on the road! That thud may have been the yellow trucks wheel coming off the pavement instead of contact with the red truck.

Those kind of things make you think a lot more about what your surrounds are when we're on the road.

[Nolan]

Saw this video on October 23. I was amazed the driver of the yellow truck didn't lose it in the medium. Below is what the driver of the red truck said.

 

[hdonlybob]

All interesting comments.

My only comment is I am glad no one was hurt, as well as we all need to realize these things happen in a split second...when you are least expecting it.

Cheers,

Bob

[RandyA]

Dash cams are undoubtedly one of the most dependable witnesses we can have when accidents or stupid driver events like the one shown occur. They are inexpensive and can be invaluable. IMHO, we should all have one.

 

The first dash cam I bought was one of these inexpensive models. OK but resolution was not high enough to read signs or license plates on recorded video. Too many other dash cams out there now for a few bucks more that do a much better job.

 

A few months later I replaced it with a SJ4000 (Go-Pro clone). Great video but problematic for extended use periods longer than 3-4 hours. The 1 amp USB charging system would not provide enough power to keep the battery in the camera charged with the camera on. Going to a 2.1 amp USB charger caused the camera battery to get extremely hot. I now use it on the boat and for other action events and love it!

 

This spring I bought one of these and have been very impressed with the video quality and overall performance. I can read license plates and signs in the recordings. I even bought a second one for the wife's car since it requires no operator intervention as long as it is plugged into a switched power outlet. BTW - I simply turned off the lane departure warning and front collision warning features as there were too many false alarms - those features need improvement for use as a HDT dash cam. One other thing, use the power cord that comes with the camera. Cigarette lighter socket USB plugs with a standard USB cord may not provide the power needed to keep the camera operating. I tried a different socket/cord in the truck and initially thought I had a bad camera - turned out the camera was OK, just not enough power from the non-OEM converter and cable.

 

Yes, I know you can buy a higher priced camera like a Garmin with GPS markers. Maybe the next one? But for now, the Togard G1W is doing a great job with very sharp and clear HD video. There are many other Chinese dash cams that look similar under other names with the G1W designation but I do not know if they work as well (or better.)

[sclord2002]

Randy, darn it.......you cost me money....again. Based on your recommendation of this camera, my finger hit ORDER on Amazon, before I could stop it. I am less than pleased with my present dash cam, so I appreciate your recommendation on this one. We are counting down to Florida. Charlie

[beyerjf]

This would been the time for the driver in the red truck to put into practice the Smith System defensive driving course. One of the 5 keys is Leave Yourself an Out. As soon as that car was at his left tail, he should have been looking for another place to go if needed. Just like a lot of us, he wasn't paying enough attention until he was forced into a panic mode. I am with big5er on this one, hit the car instead of losing control, and potentially causing several more vehicles to be involved.

[Big5er]

I like my Garmin. We all had that conversation previously with the naysayers talking about not liking a GPS speed listed on the camera but I still say that in my HDT speed isn't an issue....now in smart???

[Refuzn-To-Grow-Up]

Some expert driving here IMO, on both truck drivers parts.

 

http://districtspeed.com/a-simple-drive-turned-dangerous-car-cuts-off-semi/?source=farm

 

 

Thanks for the "learning experience." I watched the video several times.

 

I was in an identical situation, years ago, when I was towing my 5'er with my F550. I was driving on the freeway and it was raining hard (I hate driving in the rain). As I was approaching an onramp, I checked my right side view mirrors for cars coming on to the freeway. I observed this "knucklehead" approaching at a high rate of speed. She passed me on the right and got in front of me. Then, she lost control of the car on the rain slick road (did I say that I hate driving in the rain?) and was spinning around, like a top, right in front of me. I applied the brakes ONLY hard enough to keep from jack knifing the trailer. I was watching my side view mirrors to make sure the trailer was not jack knifing. My wife was screaming "you going to hit her." When I was comfortable that I was going to stop my rig, I looked up and saw the "knucklehead" stopped in front of me. Her car was facing me. I could see the terror on her face, as I was approaching her. By now, I knew that I would NOT hit her and would come to a safe stop.

 

Then the "devil" on my shoulder said, "let off the brakes and hit her. The police report will be hysterical about how we each had front end damage to our vehicles and my rig was facing the correct way." LOL! I did NOT listen to the devil and continued to apply the brakes. However, I made the complete stop about two feet from her.

 

At this point, I am completely stopped on the freeway, in the truck lane and it is pouring down raining (did I say I hate driving in the rain?) Knucklehead's car is stalled and I have to back up, on the freeway, to get around her. I put the emergency flashers on and started to back up. Knucklehead gets her car started and speeds off. We got back up to freeway speed, without further incident.

 

As I was driving down the road, I was wondering how long it would take knucklehead to get the smell of poop out of her car!

[RandyA]

I like my Garmin. We all had that conversation previously with the naysayers talking about not liking a GPS speed listed on the camera but I still say that in my HDT speed isn't an issue....now in smart???

I'd like your Garmin too! But Jack just steered me to an "Inficon 711-202-G1 Whisper" to find that elusive air leak(s) - pretty much cleaned out the yellow money piggy for now (yes, I will share it with Charlie this winter ) . So, I settle for the good video quality of the Toguard with no GPS speed or location recording. It does have a time stamp (If you remember to set it) and speed can be interpolated from that stamp. FWIW - my dash GPS records maximum speed for any routing leg. Maybe it would help if push came to shove trying to prove I never exceeded the speed limit? We never know, we just try to cover our rear end if an accident happens. We also make excuses and hire lawyers .

 

 

Posted 01 November 2016 - 11:12 PM

This would been the time for the driver in the red truck to put into practice the Smith System defensive driving course. One of the 5 keys is Leave Yourself an Out. As soon as that car was at his left tail, he should have been looking for another place to go if needed. Just like a lot of us, he wasn't paying enough attention until he was forced into a panic mode. I am with big5er on this one, hit the car instead of losing control, and potentially causing several more vehicles to be involved.

 

Jeff, In my younger days, I spent a considerable amount of time maneuvering ambulances, heavy rescue trucks and an occasional fire engine (30 years to be exact) through traffic. Sirens and flashing lights - add in an air horn to try and warn drivers you were coming through and to clear the way. During this period I took an emergency vehicle operator class (EVOC), both classroom and on-the-track, multiple times (3-yr max certification so at least 10 times - actually more). Each time I learned something new. Not all people react the same to emergency signals - some stop dead in the middle of the road, others head in a totally unpredictable direction creating danger for the EM vehicle and other drivers. It is crazy. Your advice from the Smith system correlates to ours of "always have an escape route and find it in advance." Of course, "never expect the other driver to react normally (safely)" was also part of that mantra. "Two wrecks are never better than one - don't cause a wreck trying to get to one" was still another.

 

Now I find myself piloting a HDT tractor with a fiver hitched on the back. No emergency lights or siren anymore and my speed is considerably slower. My reaction time has dropped some with age - not sure how much but it statistically is lower. I find myself using virtually every mantra, warning sign and skill when behind the wheel of our rig. I KNOW that doing so has saved me from an accident on multiple occasions but there have been other close calls that make me stop and think "what if" and "what should I have done differently". Again, yet another valuable learning experience. You learn that panic is your worst enemy and jamming the brake pedal, a normal reaction, can totally upset the apple cart and make the situation much worse.

 

Overall, I believe that some of the safest RV/HDT drivers are gathered here together on these pages. We take care of our trucks, we have experienced road time and I have never read of anyone bragging on how fast they go or what they ignore safety wise. Still, mistakes will happen and it is easy to get yourself in a "box" if you don't watch traffic around you and plan ahead. While it may be politically incorrect, I find myself "profiling" other drivers based on what they are driving, what they visibly look like and what driving habits I have observed. From the old silver haired driver in an AARP car, to a hopped-up Japanese rocket car jumping from lane to lane trying to get ahead, to the lady with a cell phone in her ear or a Mom driving a vehicle full of young kids, to the guy hauling a 15,000 lb fiver with an F-150 blasting by in the left lane to .......... well, you get the point.

 

It all may be age related (my age). But, I do not recall a time when I encountered more inattentive, discourteous, impatient and totally unprepared drivers. Yep, there are more drivers on the road - but sadly, not more good drivers. You have gotta' drive all four sides of your rig - meaning watching more than just what is in front of you. I now try to limit myself to no more than 250-300 miles a day. That is usually 5-6 hours with stops. I could go longer, but I find that I get tired quicker driving the HDT. I am more tense, stressed if you like, my muscles are tighter and I am constantly assessing every move or situation. It is not that way in the 4-wheeler - the HDT is different with all the size, weight and length not to mention slower acceleration (to get out of the way), longer braking distance and the tracking of the trailer.

 

If one has not taken a defensive driving class lately it wouldn't hurt to find one and enroll - even if it is not big rig specific. Like I said, I always learn something new.

 

I don't envy any OTR trucker these days.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Well, since no one else has said it I will..... Yes, a major wreck was avoided.......BUT what ever happened to "Get up under them, get'em loose, and push them out of the way"?

Yea, the driver of the red truck- recording the vid- didn't see both the turn signal or brake lights. He was either looking farther down the road or glanced at a mirror or who knows what....

The yellow guy did good not to roll on his side.....

Stories to be told later at a roadhouse diner....

[palmer_md]

Wheres the video from the yellow truck!

[HERO Maker]

Wheres the video from the yellow truck!

That would be a great one to watch also!

[Broncohauler]

Living in California this type of driving on the cars part happens daily.

So far I've been lucky, but I say punt him.

You don t have time to use your mirrors and safely change lanes. Yes I would feel bad hitting anyone, but worse if it was someone beside me.

 

PUNT

[noteven]

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