Now you're just being mean

[CaptainThrifty]

As a truck driver there are certain things that really get my goat (am I dating myself with that phrase?) when it comes to 4 wheelers. Like when I have to make a right turn but in order to do so I have to buttonhook. That's a maneuver where I have to take the cab out in to the left lane and then sharp turn right so that the trailer doesn't take down a telephone pole or anything else on the sidewalk. The problem comes where I am waiting for the left lane to clear and everyone who is behind me in the right lane keeps pulling into the left lane to pass me since I am not moving while waiting for the left to clear. They just don't get that if they stay still for a couple of moments then I will make my turn and be out of their way. But still I can chalk that up to ignorance (lack of knowledge, not trying to be mean).

But this whazoo takes the cake. I will typically ride down the road on cruise control and shift lanes as needed to not run over anyone. Yesterday, I slowly come up on the rear of this one guy and drift sedately over to the left lane to pass since it's obvious I am going slightly faster than he. No sooner than I get into the left than he speeds up. No biggie. When he's got a decent lead I drift back over to the right so the faster cars can pass me. Soon I've caught up with him again. Mind you I am on cruise control and doing a constant speed, and have not yet hit gas or brake. Being customerssuck.com, you know what is coming. Yep:Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Several times. Finally I had it with the guy and dropped pedal and passed him at 65. He didn't bother to try to pass after that.

What is it with people who can't let that big truck pass them?

[bhskittykatt]

It's not just big trucks, either. I came up on a guy doing 45 on a 50. I moved around to pass him....I ended up having to speed up to 65 to get back over in time to avoid the oncoming traffic, because he kept speeding up! He then tailgated me until we came up over a hill, then dropped back to what must have been 40 or so. It's like some folks take it personally or something.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thank you for the new vocabulary word: "Buttonhook." I understand why trucks do it, but I have to laugh when I see someone in, say, a Volkswagon or other tiny compact car do it. I always wonder if their Other Car is a big rig!

[csquared]

What is it with people who can't let that big truck pass them?

I want to know what is up with people who can't outrun a big truck?

Just like bhskittykatt commented, I see that every day in my commute.

The other trick is that they will go 1MPH faster than the car next to them, until they pass it. Then they will pick up their speed 5-8MPH, until the catch up to the next vehicle.

[blas]

People do that to others ALL the time.

I *try* to rely on cruise on my commute to/from work because it's easier and more fuel efficient (I think). Anyway, it never fails, I'm set on cruise and everyone around me is varying in speed for no damn good reason. One minute, I'm passing everyone, the next, the same people are flying past me. Nearly every vehicle has cruise, LEARN TO USE IT. Or, if you don't (like my Neon didn't), learn how to control your fucking speed.

[Kittish]

A former truck driver here, hiya CaptainThrifty! That whole passing thing used to drive me nuts too. Another one is when a four wheeler passes you, and cuts back over right freakin under your grill, and SLOWS DOWN. The idiots don't realize that the big truck they just passed CANNOT slow down as fast as their tiny little imminently squishable car can, and have no freakin concept of safety margins.

[Jay 2K Winger]

A former truck driver here, hiya CaptainThrifty! That whole passing thing used to drive me nuts too. Another one is when a four wheeler passes you, and cuts back over right freakin under your grill, and SLOWS DOWN. The idiots don't realize that the big truck they just passed CANNOT slow down as fast as their tiny little imminently squishable car can, and have no freakin concept of safety margins.

Yeesh. If I'm passing a larger vehicle, I make sure to have some distance between me and the bigger vehicle before I start slowing down.

Remember the Law of Mass, people. It may not be an actual law, but it can keep you safe from a stupid accident.

[PepperElf]

What is it with people who can't let that big truck pass them?

Some people are asshats.

My BF has told me a lot about how to drive around truckers & their loads. So these days I try to give them a lot of room, including hovering in the left lane behind them, so as to let them scoot out in front of me so that they can get where they wanna go.

And of course using my headlights to single "way's clear, come on in to my lane" etc.

and personally i dislike being on their left next to them - so if i pass i do it rapidly

[Flying Grype]

The hell. I'd rather have a big truck in front of me than behind me. If we have to stop suddenly I'd rather not have you slam into me from behind while your brakes try to stop your massive truck. This has nothing to do with your skill or reaction time as a trucker, it's about physics. If you want to pass, I'll be happy to let you pass. :P Of course, it's scary when you pass and I feel like I'm about to be blown off the road, but I'd still rather be behind you.

[Crossbow]

A former truck driver here, hiya CaptainThrifty! That whole passing thing used to drive me nuts too. Another one is when a four wheeler passes you, and cuts back over right freakin under your grill, and SLOWS DOWN. The idiots don't realize that the big truck they just passed CANNOT slow down as fast as their tiny little imminently squishable car can, and have no freakin concept of safety margins.

It's the classic collision (for lack of a better term) between two laws of the universe: The Asshat's Law of Self Importance vs. The Universal Law of Gross Tonnage. Unfortunately, practice of the former tends to override the knowledge that the latter WILL trump everything else.

[Kogarashi]

Thank you for the new vocabulary word: "Buttonhook." I understand why trucks do it, but I have to laugh when I see someone in, say, a Volkswagon or other tiny compact car do it. I always wonder if their Other Car is a big rig!

I find I actually do this (a little bit) in my Jeep Cherokee when parking. No other time, but in the parking lot I do it a bit so I can get into the parking space straight the first time and not park like an idiot or have to back out and straighten up. Especially considering how often my hubby has to straighten the car out, and he doesn't do a little buttonhook first.

But tiny cars? That's kind of amusing.

[greek_jester]

But tiny cars? That's kind of amusing.

Actually, I used to have to do it with my old Peugeot 306. Diddy little car, but it had a pathetic turning circle. I clipped more than a few kerbs when I replaced it with a car that can actually take corners properly!

[Kogarashi]

Actually, I used to have to do it with my old Peugeot 306. Diddy little car, but it had a pathetic turning circle. I clipped more than a few kerbs when I replaced it with a car that can actually take corners properly!

You're forgiven then.

[wolfie]

And of course using my headlights to single "way's clear, come on in to my lane" etc.

One disturbing trend I've noticed is that some people, when another vehicle signals to get into their lane, flash their high beams, but their behaviour shows that their intent is "Stay out of *MY* lane!" - an extension of the aggressive "Move over, slowpoke!" flash. One time (in my car, not my truck), I misinterpreted their flash as being the trucker's "OK to move over" flash - and they started riding my bumper and flashing their high beams at me because I had the gall to defy their ORDERS. Sooner or later, they'll do that to a truck, get the same misinterpretation, and be sideswiped into the guardrail.

If we have to stop suddenly I'd rather not have you slam into me from behind while your brakes try to stop your massive truck. This has nothing to do with your skill or reaction time as a trucker, it's about physics.

Something that people who only drive vehicles with hydraulic brakes don't understand is brake lag. With hydraulics, as soon as you hit the brakes there's usable pressure at the wheel cylinders/calipers. With air brakes, it takes roughly 1/2 second from opening the foot valve until you've got usable pressure. Pull a "swoop and squat" on a semi and you'll scratch the chrome on his bumper - your car will fare somewhat worse.

[Chromatix]

Same argument for trains, only more so. On a typical freight train you could have a pipe full of compressed air that is a quarter mile long, and which you have to get the air out of (from one end only) in order to apply the brakes.

Some types of passenger train control the brakes electronically, so the lag is shorter and more similar to truck brakes. This generally applies only to multiple-unit trains though - loco-hauled trains use nearly the same air pipe design as freight trains do, just a little more refined for comfort.

In both cases, the stopping distance is considerably longer than for a road vehicle, simply because steel/steel friction is nowhere near as strong as rubber/tarmac friction. A train's braking distance on a good day is similar to a car's braking distance on glare ice.