Posted on 08/21/2006 6:50:52 PM PDT by SJackson
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation trumpeted it as good news.
Accidents involving big trucks on our state's roads and highways declined in 2005.
In fact, the State Patrol's Bureau of Transportation Safety said that the 7,762 truck crashes during the last year represented the lowest number in 16 years. Just 10 years ago, large truck crashes totaled more than 9,400, it said.
The number of people killed in crashes involving semis and other large trucks in 2005 was 94, the fewest since 1992, when 90 people perished in such collisions.
State Patrol Capt. Chuck Teasdale credited the better numbers to the patrol's "extensive safety inspections" and "close monitoring of drivers."
"Traffic law enforcement is another key component because it focuses on truck drivers' decisions and behaviors that often cause crashes," he said. "We also are working with trucking companies and organizations to educate drivers about safety issues."
Frankly, we could all use some good news about the growing dangerous mix of passenger cars and ever-more-powerful semis on the roads. Only a few days ago, another tractor-trailer rammed into the rear of stopped traffic on the Beltline, the driver unable to bring its heavy load to a stop. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, although traffic was stopped dead on the busy Beltline for most of the morning.
Drivers on the Jersey Turnpike last week weren't as fortunate. Four people were killed and four more injured when a flatbed truck loaded with bricks slammed into stopped traffic. The truck wasn't able to stop. It pushed one car under the trailer of another truck, killing three of the four people in it. It then careered over a guard rail and overturned, spilling the bricks onto a second car, killing the woman who was driving it.
Now it's true that trucks don't always run into the rear of passenger cars and it's also true that many of the accidents are more the fault of the car drivers than of the truck drivers. Trouble is, the car drivers don't stand much of a chance in an encounter between the two.
And it's also true that the lethal mix of the two is becoming more volatile as the increase in the number of cars and the growth of the trucking industry continue unabated. We may have had a good year in 2005, but that's bound to change as the unhealthy mix of the two gets more severe.
The time will come when passenger cars and trucks will have to be separated, either through a redesign of our national highway system or encouraging even more use of railroad rights of way.
Congratulations to the State Patrol for a good year, but don't hold your breath for the future.
Well I can believe there are folks like you who don't bother to ACTUALLY READ A POST before typing their little fingers off posting some erroneous thing based on their imagination instead of FACTS
Try reading posts BEFORE replying
Post #35 & Post #119
He was too busy stereotyping ALL motorists in his defense of ALL truckers
to consider the obvious
All I've determined is that it is painful to read your post in all bold font. Your other concerns were addressed elsewhere in the thread.
~ Blue Jays ~
The thing you may not be taking into consideration is that the truckers eyes are at least 10 feet above the road. He doesn't look at the vehicle in front of him to determine what his next move should be, he's looking at least half a mile in front of his truck.
He is watching what the car that is 20 vehicles in front of him is doing and all the time keeping an eye out for every car in between #20 and #1, the two or three cars beside him and the ones who are coming up behind him that will be beside him in a mile or so.
Yes, they do try to maintain a 360 degree on going situation awareness. The reason for this is because if someone in front of him does something he may have to move the truck to the left or the right and he doesn't want to be crushing some idiot who thinks it is safe to drive beside a 40 ton semi.
It is NOT safe to drive beside a 40 ton semi. Not on the right nor on the left. Pass those trucks, do not linger beside them. If one of the vehicles in front of him has a mechanical failure and drops something on the road that cause a tire to blow you could end up with a 50 pound piece of rubber knocking your entire windshield into your car.
If he decides he has to change lanes because somebody slammed on their brakes and the car directly in front of him is full of youngsters or babies and you aren't immediately easily seen then you are going to be crushed.
For the truck driver, driving at the same speed as the surrounding cars is the easiest way to drive because he doesn't have cars constantly passing him, nor do people tend to drive beside trucks for more than a mile or two. Why? Because of the noise. They might miss a phone call or a favorite song on the radio.
Also people don't tend to tailgate too close at 70 or 75 miles an hour. Maybe it occurs that if a retread comes loose they won't have time to dodge it before their grill gets stuffed back into the radiator.
I don't worry about the truckers. I worry about what the car driver is going to do in front of him that is going to force the trucker into doing something that is unsafe.
I've always liked to travel behind big rigs (with their rearview mirrors in sight) because I figure the truck is providing a great safety cushion for me. If something or someone has to get hit, I'd rather the truck in front of me do the heavy lifting! If he slams on the brakes, I'll have plenty of reaction time and can stop faster, anyway.
The other side benefit is that I'm probably saving a few pennies on gasoline due to the "drafting" effect. Trucks create a substantial slipstream, so why not benefit since it hurts nobody. I find that respecting their size is the easiest way to get along with professional truckers.
~ Blue Jays ~
Yeah, I distinctly remember reading that as I began passing a semi in the passing lane. I was still looking at his mirrors as he started to change into my lane, running me off the road and into the median ditch.
I agree.
I drive a lot for my employer (about 150 miles per day) and I see lots of crazy truckers.
Minnesota law says trucks must maintain a 500 foot cushion between themselves and the vehicle in front (which is really impossible in metro traffic because someone will move in and fill a gap that big in no time), but they tailgate all the time.
How exactly does a trucker way up in his cab flash a woman in a smaller vehicle below him?
And furthermore, why does your girlfriend have a husband?
On the I494/694 beltway around Mineapolis/St. Paul, trucks are required to use the right lane only in areas where there are only two lanes moving in one direction. I don't think their speed is limited, though, and I don't think it should be. If they're moving to fast or too slow compared to other traffic, they're a hazard just the same.
I agree with you on the back roads. I avoid busy highways whenever possible. It may take five minutes longer to get where you're going, but it's much easier on the blood pressure. Until you get caught behind some farmer moving 15mph on his tractor and thinking he owns the whole road, that is. :-)
That's not how the law reads here. Same right of way rules for everybody.
I'd feel alot better if part of the driving training class that people take to get a licence had some time dedicated to teaching people about trucks and how to operate on the roads with the big rigs.
Every year there are new rules and regulation changes to the DOT handbook and the Hazmat guidelines. Truck drivers are constantly jumping through hoops trying to keep up to date. Now it takes 6 weeks to renew a CDL in Illinois due to fingerprinting and background checks. All drivers should be required to be re-educated in the rules of the road and on going training.
At the very least, we could start with those 4-6-8 hour classes people take to keep moving violations off their record. My wife was in one of those classes where the instructor open up the floor for questions on the rules of the road. She got me on the phone where I was feeding her some questionsn about how to deal with trucks on the road.
When she raised her hand and offered up a question about how to properly pass a truck and what to look for while passing to avoid danger, the instructor said that they were not there to talk about trucks but only about cars!
Huh?
That sure is reading a lot into something that was never said or implied. Why accuse her of that kind of stuff just because she didn't like that kind of vulgar behavior being directed to her with her children with her and she complained? On what basis do you make such insinuations about another's character? What should she have done? Just be quiet and let it go? Let him get away with it so he can do it again? What's your problem?
It ain't any better in NY all the way up to Watertown.
It's beginning to look like the female population in that age range is joining fast. Some of the female drivers in that age range that I've seen could go toe to toe with any guy for aggression. The thing that alarms me is that with guys it just seems to be the kind of macho car thing, showing off, but these females seem to be nasty and callous, or indifferent about it. Just a different sense I get from them as drivers.
I would imagine there are drivers out there who are lacking the experience needed.
In fact I bet it wouldn't be a bad career track for a lot of folks.
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