Highway mix of cars, semis still lethal [Separation of road and road]

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.

Yeah but its every day I have truckers on my tail (doing 80mph), cutting me off with no signal, running in the left lane for no perceptable reason, and weaving left in an
attempt to cut me off in the merge. Since I'm on a motorcycle, they don't see me half the time. The other half
they are trying to crush me.

I say put them all on flat cars.

Heavy trucks also just plain screw up the flow of passenger vehicle and light truck traffic on heavily travelled roads. They just take too long to pick up speed, so every time there is a little slowdown, it's magnified several times over as they slow and then painfully accelerate back up to their original speed. And then there's hilly terrain. On my way home I have to go up one fairly long (several miles) and steep incline. Inevitably the rightmost lane is useless due to heavily laden trucks crawling up it at maybe 20 or 30 mph, while the middle lane is slowed down by somewhat lighter or more powerful trucks passing the really slow ones. There's little if any room for additional roadways up that hill, however, so I don't know what solution there is. In general building separate roads for trucks is a very expensive proposition. It would allow us to put all the expense of building and maintaining those roads on the trucking industry however - heavy trucks being a major reason that our roads crumble as quickly as they do. The less expensive asphalt is fine for lighter vehicles, but trucks really need reinforced concrete roads.

Hi -YYZ-:

"...It [building separate roads] would allow us to put all the expense of building and maintaining those roads on the trucking industry..."

Just wait until you see what would happen to prices for a head of lettuce, gallon of milk, and roll of toilet paper.

~ Blue Jays ~

It really is mind blowing, the attitude of people on the road. A primo example... I was helping my sister move back up to MI from FLA a few years ago. Coming up I-75, thru Knoxville TN. The ridge there... an 7-8% grade for the truckers to climb. My sister, I was following in a U-Haul, came up on slower traffic, and without hesitation, changed to the next lane right in front of a rig kickin' it up the mountain with a load... He had his momentum up, and there was no way he'da made it to the top maintaining that speed, but he would have gotten close and only slowed to about 45-50 MPH by the time he reached the summit.

The poor bastard had to lay on his brakes HARD to keep from rear ending her. Damn airhorns blastin and my sister stayed where she was, justa cruisin along... When we stopped for gas, I chewed her out for cutting in front of that truck like she did. Her response, is much the same as I seen on this thread... She said..." I had cruise set, and did not want to shut it off..." I just shook my head realizing my efforts were a waste of time...

I love reading the "Conservative" viewpoints on trucks. All it would take, for any of these super intellects, is to go for ONE ride as copilot, one time...lol... ONE TIME!!

Hi Gnu-

I didn't think the sarcasm tag would be necessary for the first paragraph of my post since I was kidding. To be honest I thought it was a male writer talking about his current girlfriend and the kids she had with her former husband who was likely no longer in the picture.

Either way, it's my belief that many of the complaints made about over-the-road truckers are fabricated by impatient motorists who want to get in one final swipe and think they can do it via a toll-free number displayed on the back of a trailer.

~ Blue Jays ~

I drive a 4 wheeler and have never driven a rig. From what I have seen the rigs don't stand a chance because of the stupid people who drive the 4 wheelers. They seem to have no respect for what it takes to handle the extra weight of the big rig. It would drive me crazy to have to take into account not only the extra mass of what I'm pushing, but the potential stupidity of the little guys zipping around me.

The latter seems to be unlimited.

Shalom.

"I don't mind being passed by a meteorite, it's the noise that grinds my gears."

My "crotch rocket" (it isn't, really, but it is quicker off the line than 99% of cars) has the stock exhaust system and makes no more noise than the average car, even at high rpms.

"Did you ever hear the story of the truck driver who noticed his engine temp. going up...pulled over and found a guy on a dirt bike embedded in his radiator. Just an urban myth, I suppose."

What the heck is that supposed to mean? Supposed to be funny or something?

Frieght needs to return to rail, with only the local delivery being done by truck.... Of course that would require actual investment in rail.. which has about as much priority in DC as curing poverty.

What will DC do? They'll make a 16 lane highway that divides the country in half so crap from mexico in trucks can reach canada without needing an american to even touch it.

Don't hold your breath on this problem being addressed in your lifetimes folks.

While no defender of idiots in cars... Hardly were the people in the cars in stopped traffic who got plowed into by a semi that didn't stop at fault in this or other accidents like it.

80,000lb trucks don't stop as fast as a car, you are right... so tell me why when I'm doing 5 miles over the speed limit and look in my mirror the Semi behind me isn't remotely far enough back to stop if there was an emergency??

And they just hope some chicken$#!t cop doesn't see it, because for some idiotic reason, signaling in that manner is illegal in many, if not most states.

Flashing to warn the opposing traffic of an upcoming speed trap is illegal. Flashing to let the guy passing you know that it's ok to mover back over is ok.

Another way to reduce traffic would be to only license qualified drivers. That would probably reduce traffic by 75% or more.

Depending on what you call qualified, that could put automakers out of business.

IMHO: Drivers should be licensed by pilots. Extremely difficult testing including paper testing to ensure they understand the physics behind what they are doing. Licensed to drive only the class of car you are tested in (no passing the test in a Ford Focus and then driving around in a Corvette or Excursion). Regular road tests to ensure you know how.

But our public transportation infrastructure would never support that.

Shalom.

i am opening a web site called dangeroustrucker.com. it is under construction. people will be able to report truck drivers which are dangerous. video will be allowed to be sent in and played.
i just drove from my northern home to fl. i saw ten truck drivers which need to be off the road. i am sick of truckers who turn their turn signal on and move over to the next lane. they feel it is your responsibility to get out of that lane instantly or they will run you off the road. let the companies they drive for, insurance companies and lawyers for people injured by dangerous trucker sort out the details.
i have a stake in safe trucking. i have a class A CDL and own two medium duty box trucks and drive them safely.

And that's a problem why? Every factory moving to slave labor nations equal thousands of jobs lost... and I'm told day in and out by free trade worshipers this is a good thing... so why is moving back to rail other than local delivery a bad thing?

I don't mind sharing the highway with semis, but I don't run next to one any longer than I need to at speed. It's just an exercise in physics - you give 'em their due regard by virtue of mass and inertia.

Right. It's a matter of smarts. Unless you're in a crowded city environment know their limits and work within them. Don't drive in their blind spot. Either slow down and drop behind them or kick it in and get in front of them. Watch what they're doing and react. Honk if they don't seem to see you. And for heaven's sake, don't use the space they're leaving for breaking room to change lanes at a red light. I see more of that stupidity than I can stand.

Shalom.

"Yeah but its every day I have truckers on my tail (doing 80mph), cutting me off with no signal, running in the left lane for no perceptable reason, and weaving left in an
attempt to cut me off in the merge. Since I'm on a motorcycle, they don't see me half the time."

I commute on a bike some years up to 15,000 miles (7 month riding season). I've learned that as a motorcyclist, WE must be the aggressor. If traffic is doing 55... you do 57. If traffic is doing 75, you do 77. That constant 2 - 3 miles per hour of faster traveling speed puts you in the riders seat. Most bikers I see bumbling along with the flow of traffic appear as targets. If you're the guy overtaking others, you're a lot less likely to be cut off.

Just my opinion.

Truck traffic in my part of Columbus is horrendous. 'Course it's pretty much the same throughout the central Ohio freeway system, with the possible exception of 315 (not an Interstate).

Truck traffic is the result and the boon of JIT inventories. The trucks need to roll constantly because the stores can't afford to have stock in the back and keep the prices as low as we require. So they get nearly daily deliveries which means nearly daily trucks.

Someone earlier said we need to expand the infrastructure to handle this. That was a good point. But don't expect the politicians to use our money for good when they can use it to get re-elected.

Shalom.

Seriously, there's almost no downside to this, and the benefits of increased use of rail transport are wide-ranging:

Trains do not have the flexibility to support Just-In-Time inventories that most stores require to be able to offer the low prices they offer.

Small and flexible is required in this modern age. Trains may be able to go from terminal to terminal, but the trucks will be required, in massive numbers, to deliver to the sales point.

No way around it.

Shalom.

Yes, many, if not most car drivers are clueless. Nevermind understanding what truckers have to deal with, they're barely capable of piloting their own vehicles safely from point A to point B. I know trucks can accelerate or stop quickly. I know they have big blind spots. I know they have a job to do and a lot of pressure to deliver on time. I often make space to allow trucks to change lanes or merge on to the highway. When I was driving a U-Haul cross country hauling my car behind it, which didn't want to happily do much more than 55 mph, I even pulled over on to the shoulder occasionally to let cars and trucks behind me go past.

Having said all that, I still think heavy truck and car traffic on the same road is a poor mix. It's not so bad out on the open highway, but in urban areas with congestion and stop and go traffic it just doesn't work well. And while most truck drivers, especially the long-haul guys, are professionals, around here a significant minority, a lot of them short-haul around-town guys, are just plain maniacs. Tailgating at 75 mph, crazy lane changes - just no consideration for the other vehicles on the road, including other truckers. I'm guessing a lot of these idiots are probably graduates of those 3 week CDL courses and are pretty new to the business.

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