Two Near Misses

Am beginning to feel very unsafe out there. Its not from 4-wheelers but because of fellow truck drivers. I cannot begin to comprehend why a truck driver who is overtaking me feels the need to have the wheels on passenger side right on the white line separating the lanes. What are they thinking??

It's possible they are not far enough to the left and their trailer is being sucked towards you. Don't be afraid to tap your breaks and let them get past you quicker. It'll only slow you down for a few seconds. The more you drive the easier it gets. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Unfortunately there are definitely some real morons out here holding steering wheels. I've had a few close calls where I really thought my driver side mirror was about to be snatched off. Being in a Swift truck, I'm dang near an expert on being passed

My biggest piece of advice is to pay attention to how they're driving when they're in your mirrors. If they're hugging the right hand side when they're coming up on you, they're most likely going to be hugging that center line when they're passing you. Try to keep yourself straight, and move over closer to that right hand side yourself if necessary/if possible. But under no circumstance should you put yourself in a situation of making a mistake by trying to get out of someone's way.

I definitely agree with Scott that there's nothing wrong with tapping your brakes to let them get past you quicker. I myself do that alot, mostly when it's a truck that appears to be governed at 65. They take a little longer to pass me, so I back off a little and let them go by as quickly as possible and then get back on the throttle. The owner ops that pass you doing 75 are a different story. When I see one of them coming, I just hold the steering wheel as straight as possible and prepare to steer just slightly to my right if necessary. Those are the times where you can really feel the wind trying to suck your truck against theirs, which is not a fun feeling.

All in all, just remember that they have the burden of making a safe pass on you. As long as you are holding your lane safely, you are doing your job of being a safe driver.

It's mostly one of those things. What the above said, and try and relax. Do NOT get tight on the wheel, you'll end up jerking yourself around trying to make microcorrections.

Travelling through Atlanta I was passed so close it popped my mirror forward and off the rail (Prostar) forcing me to pull over to pull it back and reattach. Nobody wants to pull over on the Atlanta loop...

Give a wide berth and just let off the gas. Let the Super Truckers get where they're going. Slow, safe, and steady wins our race. It's a lot less stress, too.

I had an idiot drag their trailer down my mirror awhile ago on the north side of Atlanta.

This probably sounds nuts, but it works. If a truck is about to pass me on the left but they're really hugging those white stripes between us, I'll actually inch a little closer to them. They usually scoot over a little in their lane and I go back to the middle of my lane and we don't have an issue while they're passing me. If they're already next to you, pretty much your only option is to try to get away from them.

You too, Pianoman? I know quite a few experienced Driver's who do that. Typically they say it's a newbie that drifts right looking to see if they've passed you yet.

This probably sounds nuts, but it works. If a truck is about to pass me on the left but they're really hugging those white stripes between us, I'll actually inch a little closer to them. They usually scoot over a little in their lane and I go back to the middle of my lane and we don't have an issue while they're passing me. If they're already next to you, pretty much your only option is to try to get away from them.

Hi Pianoman, tried your way and guess what, it worked!! Got me smiling/laughing/singing/whistling.......

You too, Pianoman? I know quite a few experienced Driver's who do that. Typically they say it's a newbie that drifts right looking to see if they've passed you yet.

I don't know if they're newbies or not, but it sure is annoying. I can see what they're saying though--I think I did that too when I was new. It's still hard to look out that right mirror without swerving.

My position is I just don't want to be run out of my lane. If I scoot over all the way to the right while I'm being passed, I have nowhere to go if the other driver crosses the line. I either hit him or hit that minivan on the other side of me (or run off the road if I'm in the right lane). So I try to hold the center of my lane when passing or being passed. If the other driver starts eating up the line between us, I don't budge until I have to.