Pretty Scary "near Miss" With A Big Rig!

The other night I was driving a cargo van s.b. on I-94 near Kenosha, WI. I was in the 2nd lane from the right, a few car lengths back from the trailer of the CMV in the far right lane. As we passed an exit off-ramp he was about 1/3 onto the "V" (painted lines between right lane and the exit lane).

In what sermed like an instant he apparently woke up or looked up, saw the guard rail and concrete abutment and swerved just in time to miss it all. He didn't drift left into or towards me so I guess it was a good recovery.

I literally think he missed it by a matter of like 1-3 seconds. Had he not reacted when and how he did... well... don't really even want to go there!

Medical issue? Texting? Micro Sleep? No way to know.

Stay alert and be safe out there!

Marc, you could still count this as a near miss for you. (No, not in a way that would get reported to Safety.)

Up there in the cab, you need to be conscious of everything going on around you. You did a good job on keeping your eye on that car. The next step is what I call "Driving Three Cars At Once. Though you are certainly responsible for your vehicle, you need to guess what each car around you is about to do.

99% of the time you'll guess right. "Going straight", "They are doing down in the right lane, probably turning into that driveway," are common. But you saw a car drift into the exit gore point. That's when you guess "Getting off or going to jump back into the lane?"

That's when you must be ready for whatever that guy does. Maybe this time you were surprised that he swerved just in time and popped back into the lane.

Good job, Marc Lee. Always keep your eyes peeled for unexpected actions.

Marc, you could still count this as a near miss for you. (No, not in a way that would get reported to Safety.)

Up there in the cab, you need to be conscious of everything going on around you. You did a good job on keeping your eye on that car. The next step is what I call "Driving Three Cars At Once. Though you are certainly responsible for your vehicle, you need to guess what each car around you is about to do.

99% of the time you'll guess right. "Going straight", "They are doing down in the right lane, probably turning into that driveway," are common. But you saw a car drift into the exit gore point. That's when you guess "Getting off or going to jump back into the lane?"

That's when you must be ready for whatever that guy does. Maybe this time you were surprised that he swerved just in time and popped back into the lane.

Good job, Marc Lee. Always keep your eyes peeled for unexpected actions.

Thanks Errol. It was an 18-wheeler! I was driving a 4-wheel van. The drift and return all happened pretty fast. I believe I had an "out" to the left - I was about to pass him. But if he hit it he could have flipped, rolled, exploded his load out of the trailer, etc.. Not sure what I should have done differently.

Hey Marc, good job being vilgante. We never know what to expect on the roadways. Doesn’t matter whose the blame lays with, it’s our responsibilty to stay out of it.

Reverse of my senario in Jersey City 2 weeks ago....Mine coulda got real ugly,real fast !!! Keep your head on swivel Marco lol people can't fer chit now days...In a rush to get that 1 car length ahead.....The " me,me,me" Generation

My sketch lol am no artist ...Sent in so safety had a lil visual.... So my 4 points ( company) got removed for critical braking event plus the seconds of recording on forward camera

Increase following distance and slow down when encountering traffic at oncoming exit and entrance ramps.

Expect the expected: Expect an erratic lane change. Expect a car to enter the roadway earlier than legal. Expect the car in the far left lane to cut across all lanes to make the exit ramp on your right.

There should be no, "Unexpected."

Steve Reno wrote...

Reverse of my senario in Jersey City 2 weeks ago....Mine coulda got real ugly,real fast !!! Keep your head on swivel Marco lol people can't fer chit now days...In a rush to get that 1 car length ahead.....The " me,me,me" Generation

My sketch lol am no artist ...Sent in so safety had a lil visual.... So my 4 points ( company) got removed for critical braking event plus the seconds of recording on forward camera

This is a classic example of why proper trip planning is vitally important. The fork wasn’t expected or anticipated. I agree with Steve’s assessment, it could have ended badly. “Luck” was on your side. But were you adequately prepared for this fork in the road? A fork that is arguably planted into one of the most congested, chaotic roads I’ve ever experienced. I have been in bumper-to-bumper traffic in that area at Midnight on a week day.

Whenever your route passes through and/or your destination is located in unfamiliar geography/roads, and in highly congested areas; carefully review your route using a Truckers Atlas. Get a visual and make trip notes that are easily referenced. Relying on GPS, sets you up for surprises as demonstrated by Steve-O’s reply.

Preparation, please don’t short-cut it.

I saw this and wanted to add a scenario I saw today I stopped behind KW day cab hauling a flat bed trailer with a piece of construction equipment on it. The driver cuts the right turn too short and knocks out about 7 construction zone markers (the red reflective ones that stand up on a black base) one after the other thump thump thump thump etc. Guy realizes his mistake, by this time traffic was already going through the intersection in front of me and the KW driver whips out into the left lane without checking his mirror (as far as I could tell) because there was a loud honk from a SMART car (one of those little battery operated half car/half escape pod looking things). KW missed it by a few feet, good thing the SMART car driver was on his toes too or it would have been BAD. KW whipped it left really hard and fast.

I debated following him and getting his company info and reporting him, but I was on my way back from a dump run with this painting gig I have going on and I was driving the company truck , so I decided not to.

Yep G-Town those kinda places I am more on edge, alert just for that kinda stuff....Was under 20 mph n my foot on brake anticipating whatever might pop up lol

It was 1 of those moments when it felt like time froze that instant....Amazed at how many people I see using their dang cell phones looking down !!

Just glad my spidey senses and reflexes were on high....I am no hurry to get places especially behind the wheel of these monsters lol Have to respect their size and space needed.