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  • Back. Off.

    Quite a lot of the roads in the UK are narrow, windy, country lanes. One moron decided that on a road with 40 recent casualties that he would tailgate my ambulance, my 3t ambulance.

    You can try and 'push' me along as much as you like but I won't be breaking the law and should I suddenly brake you're going to need me and several of my colleagues as well. Additionally I'm driving the aforementioned ambulance, essentially a van with extra kit in it - no uprating to the engine, brakes nor suspension, in fact with the 'kneeling' rear suspension this vehicle wallows quite considerably so I couldn't go any quicker on this road even if I wanted to.

    My assessment of your driving continued as you overtook 10 vehicles at the same time through hatch markings then tailgated the vehicle at the lead of the traffic until you got to the dual carriageway.

    With driving skills like that I'm sure it won't be 41+ casualties on that road.
    A PSA, if I may, as well as another.

  • #2
    I've encountered that kind of tailgater REPEATEDLY. For those of you outside North America, the Peterbilt of Natural selection is an 18 wheeler (steer axle with single tires, 2 drive axles with duals, 2 trailer axles with duals). With a 53 foot trailer, my overall length is over 70 feet, and I'm allowed a gross combined weight of 80,000 pounds.

    Still, people follow closely enough that they can't see what's going on in front of me, and (if the lighting conditions are right), I can BARELY see that there's a car close behind me (can see the shadow if the light is off to the side, but can't see the car). The only way they can tell that I'm slowing down or stopping is the brake lights, and they're closer than the distance they'll travel during their reaction time.

    Unfortunately it's a company trailer, so I can't put a sign on the back "Is there enough salt on the rear guard, because if I have to stop suddenly, you're going to eat it". One of these days, someone is going to spend the rest of their life trying to get their foot from the accelerator to the brake.
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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    • #3
      Quoth wolfie View Post
      One of these days, someone is going to spend the rest of their life trying to get their foot from the accelerator to the brake.
      I like how you put this. So true!

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      • #4
        I like "The Peterbilt of Natural Selection".

        My father calls such people "Temporary Australians". Because they won't be around for long.


        The biggest problem I have with these people is that they frequently take other people with them.
        Seshat's self-help guide:
        1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
        2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
        3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
        4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

        "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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        • #5
          Quoth wolfie View Post
          Unfortunately it's a company trailer, so I can't put a sign on the back "Is there enough salt on the rear guard, because if I have to stop suddenly, you're going to eat it". One of these days, someone is going to spend the rest of their life trying to get their foot from the accelerator to the brake.
          That would make a good sign.

          Most of the trucks in my part of oz have variations of 'If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you.' Gets the same point across and the boss is probably less likely to get mad.

          Or I have seen 'If you can read this BACK OFF you are too close.' in really small writing. I could only read it because I was in the next lane at the lights.
          A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read. - Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

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          • #6
            I dislike those bumper stickers, they distract me.

            I will never understand people who do this. I see it every time I drive in rush hour, and I have to wonder how they can be so profoundly ignorant of how braking works- if you cut someone off, all that stands between you and death is whether or not the person in FRONT of you decides to hit the brakes. People are maintaining distance between themselves and the semis for a REASON.

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            • #7
              Some states in the US are passing laws that makes in mandatory to remain x amount of distance from a semi whether its behind them or when pulling in front of them. I think the following distance has been in awhile, but Im pretty sure the passing distance is fairly new.

              The only issue I have is that the damn laws are needed in the first place. I could really care less about stupid drivers so long as they are only killing themselves. But as been stated, far to often there are innocents involved.

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              • #8
                Quoth barainga View Post
                Some states in the US are passing laws that makes in mandatory to remain x amount of distance from a semi whether its behind them or when pulling in front of them. I think the following distance has been in awhile, but Im pretty sure the passing distance is fairly new.

                Wish I could have that on my ambulance - the oxygen is stored right at the back (so it can be loaded/unloaded easily) but this has the unfortunate side effect of having tens of thousands of liters of compressed oxygen right at the back, so should someone stuff into my truck then that'll be one of the first things they hit...
                A PSA, if I may, as well as another.

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                • #9
                  Quoth barainga View Post
                  Some states in the US are passing laws that makes in mandatory to remain x amount of distance from a semi whether its behind them or when pulling in front of them. I think the following distance has been in awhile, but Im pretty sure the passing distance is fairly new.
                  Some places I've seen signs with the text "leave enough space", showing a truck, a car in front of it, a green arrow indicating that the car had passed on the left and pulled in a substantial distance ahead of the truck, and the word "Yes".

                  I'm tempted to put up some fake signs with the text "Don't scratch the chrome", showing a truck, a car diagonally across the 2 lanes with a starburst for impact, a red arrow indicating that the car passed on the right and cut off the truck, and the word "No".
                  Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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                  • #10
                    One of the last accidents I saw before leaving the Niagara Region was a tractor trailer that had been making a right-hand turn -- and of course they make a WIIIIIIIDE right-hand turn -- and some twit in an itty-bitty car who was in a huge hurry had tried to scoot past said tractor trailer's right-hand side ...

                    ... *squish* ...

                    I'm pretty sure there were no injuries but I'm betting the driver of the itty-bitty car might had an interesting talk with his/her insurance company.

                    And don't even ask about the drivers in My Hometown.

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                    • #11
                      Unfortunately, in a lot of places, the general attitude seems to be "if a truck is involved, then the truck is to blame". The new (CSA) safety scoring system follows this "logic" - it ranks carriers by (among other things) crash data, but makes no distinction between preventable and non-preventable crashes (i.e. rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light carries the same weight as crossing the centerline and hitting someone head-on). There are some places where a drunk who goes through the guard rail on an overpass and lands on a truck, then sues the trucking company, wouldn't have his case laughed out of court - and there's a jury somewhere who would award him damages.
                      Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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