Lunatic Trucker Intentionally Tries To Drive Me Off The Road

Truck driver's (LUNATIC) actions were: Intentional... Swerved twice... Racing... This is what happened. And I wrote this in original post.

My 2002 Corolla about 2000 lbs was no match for his tractor/trailer

This was attempted murder.

I did not write this because I am needy and need attention. This happened about 6 months ago. Sometimes I write something, and sleep on it to see if I really want to post it. First time I've waited 6 months.

I have been encouraged to have patience. Yes good encouragement.

Nancy wrote to stop at the next scale. If I have time and it happens again, I will and lunatic will be banned for life.

I will write more when I have time.

The thing about most bad situations on the road is that they could have been prevented by more than one person. I doubt very seriously that anyone here can truthfully say they haven't tried to cut people off, or whatever.

That trucker was in the wrong, but you were too. Just be glad nobody was hurt, and next time call law enforcement rather than risking your life.

Jetguy wrote:

Truck driver's (LUNATIC) actions were: Intentional... Swerved twice... Racing... This is what happened. And I wrote this in original post.

My 2002 Corolla about 2000 lbs was no match for his tractor/trailer

This was attempted murder.

I did not write this because I am needy and need attention. This happened about 6 months ago. Sometimes I write something, and sleep on it to see if I really want to post it. First time I've waited 6 months.

I have been encouraged to have patience. Yes good encouragement.

Nancy wrote to stop at the next scale. If I have time and it happens again, I will and lunatic will be banned for life.

I will write more when I have time.

I cannot believe you are actually debating this and trying to defend your actions. In your original post you suggested that perhaps you could have handled yourself in a safer more prudent way. Did you forget that...? No argument, the truck driver was probably at fault, but so were you by escalating the situation, jockeying for position like you were fighting for the checkered flag. C'mon man.

My suggestion? Move on, spare yourself any further embarrassment, and accept the fact that no one in this forum with an ounce of qualified experience will condone your poor judgment.

G-Town concludes:

No argument, the truck driver was probably at fault, but so were you by escalating the situation, jockeying for position like you were fighting for the checkered flag. C'mon man.

My point, exactly. Ok, I can't do simple math in my head. I already know that. But my point is that if you look at the whole picture - your road trip - why fight over an extra ten seconds of your drive?

People seem to be innately programmed for impatience - to get around the slower person - whether you're pushing shopping carts in Kroger or driving on the freeway. The priority is in your own conclusion: "a safer more prudent way". Being safe is always the better option.

Sounds like my "Who Was At Fault" video that we debated for 10 pages last month.

KNOWING how dangerous it can be to tangle with a TT (by being a driver) why you would want to put your 2002 crapbox corolla head to head (or side to side) against a rig, defies all logic.

My car driving has gotten real conservative since I got my CDL - both to preserve my license, and because I've seen the road from up high and down low.

Rick

Sounds like my "Who Was At Fault" video that we debated for 10 pages last month.

KNOWING how dangerous it can be to tangle with a TT (by being a driver) why you would want to put your 2002 crapbox corolla head to head (or side to side) against a rig, defies all logic.

My car driving has gotten real conservative since I got my CDL - both to preserve my license, and because I've seen the road from up high and down low.

Rick

This idea brings to mind an idea I had earlier this year. Remember Driver's Education classes in High School? What if they offered introduction to trucking classes, and made them mandatory for all high school students with driver's licenses.

The students would be required to get in old beater trucks with only first and low reverse gears enabled, and do maneuvers in a protected area like first week truck driving school maneuvers. They get to experience firsthand where the blind spots are and how easy it is to run into things in a big parking lot with old wrecked cars. Sure, there would be some intentional accidents, but those intentional accidents would actually be valuable, as they would show what happens to real cars when they get hit by real trucks on the road.

The shop students get to repair the bumpers and tires, and the junkyards get the wrecked cars back after the trucks have flattened them a bit.

It would teach a lot of respect for big trucks, I think.

People seem to be innately programmed for impatience - to get around the slower person - whether you're pushing shopping carts in Kroger or driving on the freeway. The priority is in your own conclusion: "a safer more prudent way". Being safe is always the better option.

This is it exactly. I was in my 40s before I finally chilled out.

In fact, waiting six months to post this made me laugh. I commuted between Colorado Springs and Denver every day for five years, and my personal speed limit was always 80 - 85, even back in the 90s when the signs all said it was 65. Once a crazy woman brake checked me twice on I-25 while we were both going 90 south of Monument, Colorado. I have a very reasonable story I could tell you about how this event occurred. Of course I wasn't at fault, even if I was two feet off her bumper both times.

I got so mad that I went to the DMV , pretended I needed a duplicate registration, and got her address. Went to her house to ask her why she was trying to kill me but she wasn't home.

That was over 20 years ago, and I can still tell you the color and make of car she was driving and also her name, including middle initial.

Why would I retain that useless information? Because I got so mad and it's stuck in my mind.

Why did I get mad? Because she got in my space.

Think about that for a second. "My space."

Sure, I've paid a lot of taxes over the years, but I don't own the roads. The government does.

None of the road is "my space." Yes, I work to maintain a "space cushion" around my vehicle, but I don't own it. I'm just trying to get from point A to point B. So is everyone else on the road, even if they don't know where they're going.

Once I got hold of this great insight, I changed the way I drive. At first, I only used it to zen master other drivers when I was passing them and I could tell it was ****ing them off. Instead of glaring at them and giving them the finger, I would totally ignore them and sing with the radio as I blasted past them. They would almost always visibly relax and slow down when they realized that my passing them had nothing to do with "their space" or any sort of competition.

Sometime after I stopped doing that commute, I had another great insight: I don't have to race everywhere. There's plenty of time, even when I think there isn't.

Thankfully I learned all this before I began driving a truck. I'm not in a hurry. Ever. And I'm a lot more relaxed all the time, even when I'm not driving. Others may be in a hurry, and that's ok, I've got time to let them get around me.

This idea brings to mind an idea I had earlier this year. Remember Driver's Education classes in High School? What if they offered introduction to trucking classes, and made them mandatory for all high school students with driver's licenses.

The students would be required to get in old beater trucks with only first and low reverse gears enabled, and do maneuvers in a protected area like first week truck driving school maneuvers. They get to experience firsthand where the blind spots are and how easy it is to run into things in a big parking lot with old wrecked cars. Sure, there would be some intentional accidents, but those intentional accidents would actually be valuable, as they would show what happens to real cars when they get hit by real trucks on the road.

The shop students get to repair the bumpers and tires, and the junkyards get the wrecked cars back after the trucks have flattened them a bit.

It would teach a lot of respect for big trucks, I think.

I'd be onboard this if they added ONE MORE THING.

Students would have to spend 100 miles ON THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE.

I've been riding since I could walk - and the incidence of folks that have no concept what it is to be out there and totally exposed...

Rick

This idea brings to mind an idea I had earlier this year. Remember Driver's Education classes in High School? What if they offered introduction to trucking classes, and made them mandatory for all high school students with driver's licenses.

The students would be required to get in old beater trucks with only first and low reverse gears enabled, and do maneuvers in a protected area like first week truck driving school maneuvers. They get to experience firsthand where the blind spots are and how easy it is to run into things in a big parking lot with old wrecked cars. Sure, there would be some intentional accidents, but those intentional accidents would actually be valuable, as they would show what happens to real cars when they get hit by real trucks on the road.

The shop students get to repair the bumpers and tires, and the junkyards get the wrecked cars back after the trucks have flattened them a bit.

It would teach a lot of respect for big trucks, I think.

I'd be onboard this if they added ONE MORE THING.

Students would have to spend 100 miles ON THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE.

I've been riding since I could walk - and the incidence of folks that have no concept what it is to be out there and totally exposed...

Rick

I really like that idea at first glance, but at second look, I don't think it should happen.

The problem with requiring motorcycle classes to teach the students to respect the fragility of motorcycles and the exposure of drivers is that the students would necessarily be exposed to the dangers that they are being taught to respect. Dead teenagers due to a required school class would result in Bad Things for any school that tried it.

With a big truck class in a jersey barrier protected lot, limited to 1st and low reverse, monitored by experienced retired drivers, students would have work hard to put themselves in a dangerous situation.

I agree with this 100% as a Father/Husband whos daughter and wife ride bikes as well

Students would have to spend 100 miles ON THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE.

I've been riding since I could walk - and the incidence of folks that have no concept what it is to be out there and totally exposed...

Rick

All they need is a truck and cones. Then just have them sit in the driver's seat and count the cones they can see.

New question for drivers test....

How many feet does it take for a car to stop that cuts off a semi before applying the brakes?

1. 60 feet

2. 100 feet

3. 400 feet

4. It depends on if the car bounces to the side or gets pushed the full 400 feet.