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| Semi truck nearly sideswipes me; caught on my dash cam | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 20 2015, 09:59 PM (2,389 Views) | |
| Cobrajet25 | Jun 23 2015, 11:50 PM Post #46 |
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Even if....IF...all this is true, why the hell is he barreling at 70-ish through this busy stretch of road anyway? It's not the job of everyone else on the road to dive out of his way just because he doesn't want to slow down. |
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| Cobrajet25 | Jun 23 2015, 11:56 PM Post #47 |
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Ah...I see the signal now. It almost seems as though he is trying to pass the red pickup truck ON THE RIGHT, and the pickup just ain't having any of it. Either that, or he is trying to pass the black SUV and the red truck on the right. He gets around the SUV, but the red truck won't let him around. I don't care what anyone says...passing somebody on the right when they are in the center lane is an ASSHOLE thing to do, especially when it means cutting off merging traffic. Edited by Cobrajet25, Jun 23 2015, 11:56 PM.
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| Metromightymouse | Jun 23 2015, 11:58 PM Post #48 |
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Powdercoat Wizard
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That isn't what was being discussed as far as what happened to AV. He could be a scofflaw or he could be late picking up or delivering a load for a million dollar account (a reason that was used to force me back onto a truck with a trainer who freaked out on me when I had already completed my required training miles). |
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| Cobrajet25 | Jun 24 2015, 12:08 AM Post #49 |
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I don't give a damn about his 'million dollar load'. He's still driving like an asshole. It seems pretty clear to me that somebody who was trying to merge had to exit to the shoulder because this guy was trying to pass another vehicle on the right. Although I do now see LEFT turn signals when he is hooning back across the road towards the fast lane, I don't see RIGHT turn signals when he is going from the center lane to the right lane and entering AV's path. And I'll bet you a dollar that if a state trooper saw him do what he did, his 'million dollar load' might well have been even more late. Please don't misunderstand me here... I have nothing against truckers. But they are just people, and people can be assholes.
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| aaronvincent | Jun 24 2015, 12:12 AM Post #50 |
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Mr Mojo Risin'
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The reason I consider this person an asshole is because he's doing 70+ in a 60 zone, not only that but the slow lane of all places. I get that he needs to be somewhere...but it may come at the cost of somebody's life if for any reason someone comes to an abrupt stop. You'd think if he saw me merging like an idiot he would have honked...but I heard no honk or warning at all in my video (and in real life). That is an asshole thing to do. So if he saw me from such a distance as everyone here thinks, why didn't he try to warn me even one bit? |
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| Metromightymouse | Jun 24 2015, 04:25 AM Post #51 |
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Powdercoat Wizard
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Ok guys, I'll try to paint the picture as best I can. Please stop and consider that we are making a lot of assumptions based on AV's observations and what we think we are seeing in the video. #1 for this post, assume that if I say it is more likely, I mean at least 51/49 and not 99/1. The facts of the video as far as I can tell; I don't see the truck move towards AV as he goes by, looks to be firmly in the slow lane as he's going by. As soon as the tail of the truck goes by you can see his brake lights are on, his left turn signal is on, and the pickup in the middle lane is firmly beside him. Shortly after AV enters the freeway, the pickup in the middle lane has cleared the truck and he takes the opportunity to move two lanes to the fast lane where I can't tell how close he is following. As far as speed is concerned, he is passed by the pickup and other vehicles, so it's hard to say he is blasting along faster than surrounding traffic. Saying that he is passing the pickup on the right is a huge assumption and isn't even supported by AV's statement that he had just changed into the slow lane as there was no time to get that far past the pickup based on how fast the pickup went by the truck. This all does assume that the vehicles involved did not make large changes in speed, which is a possibility and hard to discern from the video. So here is a likely scenario that matches what is on the video and is based on personal experience driving an 80,000 lb vehicle that is 70 some odd feet long in places such as Houston during super bowl weekend (if I'm remembering correctly). First, it's likely that AV misjudged which lane the semi was in or how far back it was, just based on the situation when the truck was past him. As soon as the driver sees that the merging traffic could potentially be a problem, he starts checking for what his options are and trying to asses what the merging traffic is going to do. If the vehicle on the on ramp doesn't make a decisive and visible move to speed up then they will usually try to pick up some speed to clear them and/ or change lanes. It seems likely, again based on the video, that both happened in this case. He sped up, which required him to back it down before getting way to close to the vehicle in front and he put on his left blinker to get over. As he progresses he can see that AV appears to be going too fast to just slot in behind him and he'd really like to get over, but instead of slowing and making room, the pickup continues to pass the truck and also doesn't change lanes to make room. Take another moment here and consider what the driver is having to track, the vehicle he is running up on, and two 4 wheelers (trucker lingo for all those little vehicles on the road with them), one on each side of his 70ish feet length that he has to guess when it's clear because the view in the mirror makes it hard to be positive that you are when it's close. This is why he doesn't honk, he's busy looking back and forth trying to determine if he's going to be hit or if he needs to brake further to avoid the vehicle in front, or if it's one of those opportunists who will choose that moment to slam on the brakes to collect the insurance money (there are gangs of them that do it for a living, they even pick up hitch hikers for extra passengers to increase the claim). It is also pretty clear to the driver at this point that the issue is going to be at the back end of the trailer and the merging traffic is going to have to see it and slow down or be creamed, no point in honking when it's behind you. Now once he's past he knows he has a car behind him that didn't merge properly and damn near managed to run into the biggest vehicle on the road and a pickup beside him that won't move when he needs to get over. If it was me, I want away from these vehicles, partially because I know that at least one of them won't show any consideration where a semi is concerned and partially because the car that almost ran into him could contain one of those crazies that will pull up beside him and lean out the window and yell and scream at him or try to get in front and slow down just to show how pissed he is etc. Another moment to consider, all those crazy drivers and cars that shouldn't be on the road that you see while you spend your hour or two on the road, truck drivers spend 11 hours a day with them. The stuff that people do around an 80,000 lb vehicle just never fails to blow. your mind. |
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| Metromightymouse | Jun 24 2015, 05:08 AM Post #52 |
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Powdercoat Wizard
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Doing this on my phone and it posted before I was done... It is possible that the truck did what your worst imagination described, but drivers that cause accidents, or are even involved in accidents with any frequency, aren't drivers for long unless they are owner operators and the increases in insurance rates can make it not worth the cost very quickly. If you rear end a semi and there is no question it is your fault, that accident still goes on his permanent driving record. On to some other things that have been said... What lane should they be in? Not an easy question going through a city where I have to exit at some point I'm likely in the slow lane so I don't have to fight my way over through 4 wheelers that won't move. If I'm rolling through a city and don't have to stop then I'm in the middle or fast lane based on what's legal and traffic speed. Both situations are subject to change based on what traffic has made me do for safeties sake. I can't tell you how many times I looked at a line of cars on an on ramp with a line of cars to my left and no where to go and they honk and get all pissed because I maintained my speed and they didn't bother to adjust their speed to work around me and ended up on the shoulder. By the time I couldn't drive anymore I had pretty much just given up and would just maintain my speed and let them figure it out. Another thing that has popped up here several times is calling the cops because a semi left it's lane some. The problem is that there isn't much extra lane for the driver to maneuver in. If you drift a little in your lane, you have all kinds of space to correct and never touch a lane bump or line. The semi is already pretty much running on the line on one side or the other. I had a trailer once that was crabbing down the road far enough that when I was close to the edge with the cab, the trailer wheels were on the other edge. The driver may also be moving over to avoid debris in the road that you don't see, or a car on the other side that looks like it needs extra space. A small shift puts you across the line, and the other vehicles on the road do not want the truck to hit stuff laying in the road. As a wrap up, it's entirely possible that this driver was an ass just blasting through traffic, but I don't see a lot of solid evidence for it. Some of that is based on the wide angle video distorting the perspective, but there is enough other evidence to put a reasonable doubt in my mind. Please be safe on the road and remember what the semi drivers are dealing with. |
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| myredvert | Jun 24 2015, 09:18 AM Post #53 |
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myredvert
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Respectfully, because I do understand your irritation with HIM and his driving, but may I ask what specifically you did to adjust to his position and speed? After all, for better or worse, he was in the lane that you wanted to enter. Or did you just do what you normally do and got upset because you came to a sudden realization that his actions weren't fitting in too well with yours? We can't control how others drive, all we can do is take responsibility for adjusting our speed the best we can to merge with traffic already in the lane we want to merge into. And sometimes that involves having to go slower or faster than we would have liked to. And, even if there were "stand your ground" laws for driving, I just don't think pitting a Metro against a speeding semi is such a good idea no matter who was "right."
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| bkelly | Jun 24 2015, 09:19 AM Post #54 |
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Gear Head
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I though that was just normal driving in Texas. I have been passed by people going around the shoulder of the road there. |
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| ZXTjato | Jun 24 2015, 09:50 AM Post #55 |
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bass heads
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next time AV you just need to go faster JK man
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| Coche Blanco | Jun 24 2015, 11:19 AM Post #56 |
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Troll Certified
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Why? That would actually solve this problem. |
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| iamgeo | Jun 24 2015, 09:03 PM Post #57 |
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Big League
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You keep insisting that you can magically see the trucker moving from the center lane to the right lane in this video. Can you please let us all watch the same video you are. |
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| Horn | Jun 24 2015, 09:19 PM Post #58 |
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You keep insisting that you can magically see the trucker moving from the center lane to the right lane in this video. Can you please let us all watch the same video you are. [/quote]Gosh damn it. Agreeing with Iamgeo again. Iamgeo 2 - Quadrajunk 0 |
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| iamgeo | Jun 24 2015, 09:28 PM Post #59 |
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Big League
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He is not tailgating anyone in the far left lane. The vehicle that was in that lane is way out in front of him when he gets into said lane. The red pickup finally passes the rig. The rig then moves into the center lane then moves into the far left lane. I see no problems at all with his driving. |
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| Bad Bent | Jun 25 2015, 11:24 AM Post #60 |
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Facetious Educated Donkey
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Agreed. I think the truck driver is having trouble with the "wanna be" red pickup in the middle lane AND a fast moving pickup in the #1 fast lane. ("wanna be" is a term I was taught for pickup truck drivers who want to be truck drivers but can only get a big pickup which sometimes leads to bullying of small cars and thinking they can run with the big trucks.) Who knows what was going on before he came up on the red pickup and slotted into a place large enough for a 70' semi to fit into merging traffic? The semi then slows down, gets behind the red pickup and moved into the #1 lane.
In this case the #3 lane is going to go away, it is a "MUST EXIT" lane, meaning that this will become a 2 lane highway in a mile. Also in the #1 lane you only have to worry about traffic from 3 directions, front, back and right side. In the middle #2 lane he would have to think about late "exiters," late merging, slowing and being passed on the left. I.E. - get out of it all by moving to the left and all you deal with is a speeding Fed-Ex truck. Maybe... the semi was cruising nicely in the middle lane, came up on a slow moving red pickup that moved over anticipating not exiting in 2 miles. With a fast moving truck in #1 he moves into a slot in the #3 lane until he can slow down to the red pickups speed, move back into the middle and Oh, what the heck just get into the #1 lane and out of all this 4 wheel mess. Off to work. |
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next time AV you just need to go faster
JK man


7:37 PM Jul 10