Semi Driver: Terror on the Road

[Not_a_Miracleworker]

This is probably one of the scarriest experiences I've ever had, next to almost bleeding to death (long story and not appropriate for this site). But first a little background info:

My (then) fiance's car had been stolen and the insurance company hadn't gotten back to him with approval for a rental car yet, and he needed to have a vehicle for class and work the next day. Luckily his father had his 1972 GMC Sprint* sitting around and agreed to loan it to him until the rental came through.

*A Sprint is basically an El Camino with the front end of a Chevelle.

So we hitch a ride over to their place, 45 minutes away, pick up the car, and head back. It is dark, and 99% of our trip is Interstate, so no big issue there. about 20 minutes into our trip, I hear a roar behind us, and Fiance backs off the accelerator. I turn around (there is no passenger side mirror on a Sprint) to see a large, black semi chewing on our ass, with his brights on. Once Fiance slowed down, he backed off- WAY off, almost 1/4 mile.
Not 10 minutes later, I hear the same roar and Fiance punches it, keep in mind this car/truck had a chevy big-block 350 sitting pretty under the hood on a 1,200lb chassis, so when he floored it- it WENT. So I'm sitting in the passenger's seat going "WTF!!!" and Fiance's got his eyes glued to the rear-view.
Fiance: That truck gunned it to get on our ass again, and he won't get around. (he speeds up some more) He's keeping right on us!
Me.
Now, during all this, Fiance was keeping the speed "reasonable". Once the psychopath behind us started swerving and accelerating like he was going to PIT us off the road- we basically said "F*CK THIS!" and he floored it (I didn't check the speedo, but I'm pretty sure we were up to a buck 25) and got up AWAY from psycho-trucker, and got off at the next exit. I was shaking uncontrolably, and Fiance was alternately pissed and terrified. We reported the incident to the State Trooper that was stopped at the gas station we stopped at, but since we never got a licence number, all we could describe was "a black semi" which isn't too helpful.
As far as I know, we did NOTHING to provoke this, they just went after us because they felt like it. I've never been so happy to have been in a high-performance car/truck thing in my life.
Normally most truck drivers on the road are awesome, with a few exceptions. This was absolutely terrifying, and if someone was f*ucking with us for fun- it wasn't funny, we were honestly afraid for our lives. Anybody else have this kind of thing happen to them/someone they know? I'm curious if this is an isolated incident.

[blas]

I had a thread semi-similar to this one, about a month ago when I did overtime on a Friday night and left around 1 am......I was merging onto the freeway and I was alone, save for a semi a ways back....

But he roared up on my rear end REALLY fast....and I mean, I was thisclose to shitting/pissing my pants because he did NOT back off. He showed no sign of passing me, and just got closer and closer. I started thinking about the semi truck that caused a big crash a few years back, and was terrified that maybe the driver was asleep, so I just got in the other lane and let him roar on by. It's no use trying to fight with something that big.

And yes, I was very convinced he was either asleep and probably just going to keep getting closer until he finally hit me or was being such an ass that he wouldn't back off until I started going as fast as he wanted me to go.

[Andara Bledin]

I had a thread semi-similar to this one...

No pun intended?

I have a friend that had this done to them.

There are some semi drivers that know that since they're in these huge machines, they can fsck with people with little chance of repercussion. There aren't a lot of them, but they are out there.

^-.-^

[Not_a_Miracleworker]

No pun intended?

...they can fsck with people with little chance of repercussion.

^-.-^

No kidding. You would think that driving around in a 5+ ton rig would be enough of an ego trip- but no, some assholes need to endanger others to show their "dominance."

Also, on the "driver fell asleep" vein- an aunt of mine was once passing a big rig in her (itty bitty) carolla and the truck started sloooooooooowly encroaching on her lane- when she laid on the horn, the truck nearly overcorrected into the ditch. I know these people work long ass hours on a tight schedule, but at least make sure to be alert!!

[Summerfly413]

I've had that happen before but I'm fairly sure it was my fault.

I was merging onto the highway, and I thought I was going plenty fast. I merged into the middle lane because I hate being in the right lane with people merging, it stresses me out.

Then all of a sudden I see this large truck. Maybe a semi, maybe a smaller kind of truck. It's coming up in my review mirror so fast. I felt like it would hit us in seconds.
He was honking his horn so he either didn't want me there, or he couldn't slow down, or I wasn't going fast enough.

I was going legal highway speeds, but might've misjudged the speed of the other drivers. It was really scary though. I floored it and ended up merging so he could pass..

[LillFilly]

Had a similar incident, back road, nowhere to go, but we only got up to about 90 or so. When the truck finally passed, it was still accelerating!!! Shame you didn't have the plate to report that; guy seems to have anger management issues or something.

[sarasquirrel]

i was on the highway once and had this huge truck coming up behind me, the thing was so big and loud it was making my car rattle!

(it wasnt that my car had a problem since once the truck passed me the rattling stopped)

im constantly having people drive on my ass its not even funny. and i do at least the speed limit if not 5-10 over . im not getting pulled over and getting a ticket.

[Crossbow]

There are some semi drivers that know that since they're in these huge machines, they can fsck with people with little chance of repercussion. There aren't a lot of them, but they are out there.

^-.-^

One of the benefits of working for a trucking software company is knowing exactly what to say to whom to get these drivers busted. The license plate is perfect for the police, but they have to find the truck. If you can get the name of the company and the tractor or trailer number (it legally has to be on the side of the tractor and the back of the trailer, and they're not the same number) call the company and ask either for dispatch or the safety manager. Give them the information. If they have the right equipment (and many companies do now), they can kill the engine by remote.
I've only ever had to do this once, and it did happen to be one of our clients. I explained that I worked for the company that supplied their dispatch software and one of their drivers had just tried to run me off the road. I gave them the trailer number (couldn't get the tractor number because he was going too fast) and about 5 miles down the road he was sitting on the shoulder waiting for the cops to say hello....

[Mamadrae]

In my state it's actually illegal for semi trucks to be in certain lanes of the road unless they are pass a particularly slow car or another semi. Because of this a lot of truckers try to bully cars to go faster or get out of the way, rather then risk cops pulling them over. In my state the minute they are pulled over they lose their liscence and hence, employment.

[Not_a_Miracleworker]

If you can get the name of the company and the tractor or trailer number ....

Trust me, I wish we had been able to get more information on this jackass, but sadly, it was dark, he had his brights on in a black truck, there was no trailer attached to the tractor, and he was so far up our tailpipe we couldn't see the license plate. That and the whole being terrified thing kind of makes judgement go out the window.

I'm glad to see that we aren't the only ones this has happened to, though it kind of makes me wonder how many collisions are caused by crap like this, injuring or killing the people that "pissed off" the trucker.

[Crossbow]

Trust me, I wish we had been able to get more information on this jackass, but sadly, it was dark, he had his brights on in a black truck, there was no trailer attached to the tractor, and he was so far up our tailpipe we couldn't see the license plate. That and the whole being terrified thing kind of makes judgement go out the window.

I'm glad to see that we aren't the only ones this has happened to, though it kind of makes me wonder how many collisions are caused by crap like this, injuring or killing the people that "pissed off" the trucker.

Far too many accidents, I suspect. And I understand entirely about not being able to get the information. I have had that happen numerous times. I had one truck (and trailer, in this case) fly past so fast that I didn't even see the company name on the trailer. he got busted by a state trooper about 20 miles later (after running the same state trooper off the road).

[Dips]

Trust me, I wish we had been able to get more information on this jackass,

That's OK. Your safety comes first. Always. Being able to report someone is nice if you can do it, but your safety is waaaay more important.

Someone who makes a habit of driving like that is going to be noticed by enough people that he gets reported eventually. Hopefully before before he gets someone killed.

To all:

What blas said about getting out of the way is very sound advice. Yes, it's pretty damn annoying to have some asshole breaking the law and having to let them get away with it.

Trust me. You'll get over that a lot faster than you'll get over being hit by a semi. I guarantee it.