Maniacs on the road.

[sbacon]

I thought that we might all benefit by sharing our misadventures involving other drivers on the road; to be aware is to be forewarned. Stupidity and evil do exist.
About four days ago, I was on the Interstate in N.C. heading to Tn. in the slow
lane when I heard a loud diesel engine at high revs; I looked into the passenger
side mirror and saw a semi on the entrance ramp rapidly accelerating. At the end
of the ramp, the semi pulled in front of me suddenly. I had to go into the left lane
to avoid hitting the rear end of his trailer. I honked and tried to get close enough
to get a license number, but he sped away and got off at the next exit.
At first I thought that this was just an incompetent driver, but later realized that
this was entirely intentional; he wanted to wreck me with his trailer and leave
the scene ASAP. I have heard of semi drivers wrecking AS's before, but this was
the first time I've nearly experienced it, and I've been pulling various trailers since I was 16 y/o (54 years ago). Have you had any similar experiences ?

[GetawA-S]

You and I are both of the age to remember the Defensive Driving ad campaigns. How long was he beside you? That was your time to get over.
I’m not excusing his behavior, but sometimes it is up to you not to become a victim.

[Gsmblue]

Originally Posted by GetawA-S

You and I are both of the age to remember the Defensive Driving ad campaigns. How long was he beside you? That was your time to get over.
I’m not excusing his behavior, but sometimes it is up to you not to become a victim.

Inclined to agree. My father always said "Drive like everyone else on the road is an idiot and you'll be alright".

Glad you are safe.

[CBWELL]

Years ago, the transport truck drivers were some of the most "professional" drivers on the road. Now we have drivers too busy texting, talking on the phone, or just learning to drive, behind the wheel of these trucks. The days of the "professional" driver is over. Some in our country, have a hard time to even speak our language, so I often wonder if thdy can even read road signs. JMHO

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by sbacon

he wanted to wreck me with his trailer and leave
the scene ASAP. I have heard of semi drivers wrecking AS's before

????

[drbrick]

Welcome to the inhuman race - Book of Ecclesiastes, "The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is nothing new thing under the sun."

[Shiny16]

I doubt he wanted to “wreck you”. More like he just wanted to go first. You should have just slowed down or moved to the left lane earlier. Some battles are not worth it.

Kinda like sailing. Do you want to argue right of way rules with guy in his shining new Bayliner or do you just try to avoid him?

[Dmmdtm]

I’m sure they’re out there but we just finished a month of travel to FL (about 4100 miles total) and we had mostly positive experiences. I did find that on-ramps were the most stressful but generally not because of semi’s but cars and local delivery type trucks often waited till the last minute to check and that created some fun “are you going to brake or do I need to”. We learned to follow the lead of Semi drivers as to when it was best to ride the middle lane due to excessive merging and when to hang right. We signal profusely and I found the majority of semi drivers would let us sneak in to avoid a merge (or police or workers or breakdown). I started the trip being most stressed about semi’s and ended being the least. FWIW.

[Ken G]

I always move over to let vehicles merge, even subcompacts - unless of course someone is beside me in the left lane. I do have an issue with drivers that attempt to merge onto busy freeway and pull out 20 mph slower than prevailing traffic forcing others to brake.

[superChop]

Range of rudeness is wide when discussing other non-travel trailer towing drivers on the road!
1. Entry ramp rudeness is common and advice provided is excellent
2. How about exit ramp rudeness? We drive at 65MPH and many times we find drivers who are uncomfortable, impatient, etc. who believe they should pass us and then quickly change lanes in front of us just prior to the entry ramp. Pls note the entire area behind our trailer is empty. I cannot tell you how many times my DW has commented on my bad language when this driver appears to desire some of my left fender paint on his/her car!
3. Changing lanes on the freeway - similar situations have been experienced in large cities where you need a lot of patience and forget about leaving a safe distance between your TV and the vehicle you are following. Those gaps always are filled by someone less committed to driving safely!
4. Filling up gas, not diesel at truck stops - rudeness exists there as well.
a. where we need two pumps at the end of the islands and someone pulls up intentionally in front of you before you have completed my move. Results in my truck sticking out from the pumps and trailer potentially blocking another section of pumps.
b. Flying J/Pilot Truck stops often have separate islands to refuel. I have shared this one in an earlier post. We drove up behind a Class A, that had finished fueling and decided to not look for a place to park it. My DW, a retired senior Naval Officer, got out of the truck and knocked on the window, where the drive was taking a break at his dinette.
3. Truck stops that are RV friendly often have several long parking slots available for us. How many times have you found individual cars, or pickups parked in those slots? Solution that I received from the staff at a Truck Stop was to go inside and inform them and they would get the rude person(s) to move their vehicle. The unspoken result was that my TV and trailer would be blocking alot of access to the parking area before that rude driver moved their vehicle.
Hope we get some more exciting stories from our frequent travelers. Lessons learned are to be patient, professional and kind! Alot of us are retirees and have necessary time to exhibit the above characteristics = I am still learning them as my DW will attest!

[KCurtis]

I do the same as Ken_G.

If there is enough traffic where I can't easily change over a lane I stay in the middle lane. Experience will tell you when this is the best practice in order to avoid this situation. Mark it off as lesson learned.

[wwillson]

We were on I-80 in western Iowa last summer and had almost exactly the same situation that you described. A semi rapidly accelerating down the onramp. We were in the right lane with a full left lane beside us. We had no where to go, so I maintained my speed thinking the semi would merge in behind us, as there was plenty of room. Nope, he was bound and determined he wasn't going to take his foot out of it. When his cab was next to our cab, he merged into our lane! Luckily the driver in the left lane was paying attention and moved over on the shoulder as far as he could. I slammed on the brakes and moved to the left as far as I could. His trailer missed our rig by inches. Had I stayed in the right lane, he would have wiped out the entire side of our truck and trailer. He got off at the next exit about 2 miles later. What he did made zero sense and put several other's lives at risk. Just stupid.

[Sovereign85]

#1 makes a good point about defensive driving. The timely posting makes for good catharsis for the many having the same experience.

[turk123]

My wife is beginning to learn to drive our "rig". Her biggest fear is getting on a ramp to enter the freeway. I keep telling her not to slow down but to speed up when entering a ramp. You have to match or even go faster than the traffic on the freeway. She's getting better, but some of those drivers out there are just plain silly.

They get on a ramp and if I am unable to move over, I slow just a little to create a larger gap and let them on. What do they do? They slow also and I have to speed up to get past them. Never ever ever slow down when entering ramp! I've watched cars slow to a stop and then back up the ramp. Now you have cars waiting to get on a busy freeway when they are completely stopped.

Guess it is a pet peeve of mine.

[OhioMichael]

Maybe that truck driver will be replaced with one of the new self-driving semi's. They're coming to a town near you soon! Stay safe.

[Czarina]

My only close call in the last 11,000 miles was on the Pacific Coast Hwy (which is horrifying enough on a good day) - coming around a curve to find an approaching truck half in my lane and looking at his phone... 😬😱☠️ Lucky for me this was a rare spot where I could swerve and not end up off a cliff into the drink

[Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Shiny16

I
Kinda like sailing. Do you want to argue right of way rules with guy in his shining new Bayliner or do you just try to avoid him?

Years ago when I crewed on a large sailboat the owner mentioned the only rules that really mattered. Starboard and steel boat - the latter wins out every time.

During the last two trips to and From Florida, we decided to avoid the interstates as much as possible and stick to secondary highways. We are convinced this was the correct decision and will do so in the future.

[airmaine]

Being from Maine, our state is filled with Maineiacs!
Seriously, ditto on defensive driving. I've found over many years that many drivers, including big rigs, tend to ignore "yield" signs. they're on ramp fast and off ramp fast. They may not want to get behind a trailer or just think that they have enough room to outpace you. Who knows? I sometimes flash my AS lights to warn others of my road rights, but as a rule, there's no joy in the challenge. Interestingly, down the road I may see them again, not having gained anything on me after all!

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by Cyclist

Years ago when I crewed on a large sailboat the owner mentioned the only rules that really mattered. Starboard and steel boat - the latter wins out every time.

During the last two trips to and From Florida, we decided to avoid the interstates as much as possible and stick to secondary highways. We are convinced this was the correct decision and will do so in the future.

We have been doing the same thing for a couple of years now. It adds time to the trip but relieves enough stress to make the trip more enjoyable.


Another sailing rule - the boat with the most kinetic energy (momentum) has the right of way....

[Tbeck11931]

Defensive driving is always the best way to approach the roadways including when you’re not towing.
Most all Rig drivers will change lanes when they see someone on the entrance ramp allowing that vehicle to enter the highway.
They always look at things going on 1/4 mile ahead of where they are.
I imitate that positive driving aspect and will move over to allow someone especially big rigs the opportunity to merge onto the highway.
If I’m unable to change lanes I slow down or speed up to give them plenty of room.
Rig drivers are hired on their driving records and anyone showing a high accident rate will become the next Walmart greeter which is never a good position when you carry a class A or CDL License.