Please Be Careful !

AS a sidebar to this..... how many of you see many cars that have thier running lights turned off? There ought to be a law against that!

jfkmk wrote:

tomman58 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
A little hint, when the road way interstate becomes 3 lanes instead of two, get in the 2nd lane or follow the semis as they know the game. Never put yourself in the first lane unless you are exiting.
.

I drive a major 3-lane interstate to work every day. The trucks drive in the middle lane as you suggest, as well as the slow lane. It creates major traffic problems. Ive heard this is something they were going to crack down on in NJ, as it is not legal.

I try not to go to NJ. My daughter lives in MD and it is no fun driving there either.

Whether driving in NJ, MD, MI or any other state,if you're in any other lane than the slow lane and you're not keeping up with the flow of traffic, you're creating a roving road block, impeding the flow of traffic and creating a dangerous situation.

Wrong, the minimum speed is 45mph. I normally am driving at 65 to67mph on Michigan and most interstates that a fairly level and in good shape. I drive 80 in the car and am in the furthest left lane a lot. The real problem are two lanes where RV's generally drive from 50 to 65 and the cars want 80. They get stuck behind a 60mph RV then pull into the 80+ lane and all hell breaks loose.

Semis are constantly passing other semis so your point is more than moot. semis in Michigan are limited to 65mph.

rhagfo wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Very sad indeed!

I think this is an example of what not to do. What I mean is if someone pulls in front of you hit the brakes and hold on. Don't try drastic evasion maneuvers. Every situation is different but the evasion part can get you more than the collision part.

Very Sad indeed, I agree with Cummins that I am sure all in the truck survived the initial impact. It was the impact with the wall of the wash, that inflicted the real damage.
It does sound real callous to say not to avoid a collision, but you really want to stay on the roadway after impact.

This is one of the reasons I drive with my lights on 24/7 when driving, I have done this for all 49 years I have been driving. You are far more visible!!!!

You guys do realize in a major impact like this the vehicles do not just stop. It is a huge assumption to state the truck made any evasive maneuvers. If that car pulled out directly in front of the truck this is exactly what happens. Airbags, blackout and 50-60 mph puts that truck exactly where it is.

big buford wrote:
I very rarely drive in the slow lane anymore. Every trip I take now merging cars decide to take a peek when there's 5 feet left to merge.

Although the link probably isn't a "merge".......

You're in So. CA - as you know, there is *NO* "slow lane"!
It's pedal to the metal, unless it's rush hour/s, then *ALL* lanes are slow (or stop) lanes!

And - the towing anything (in CA) at 55 mph max is a joke..:R

Most/some commercial tractor trailer combos *always* drive in the second lane (which is legal for towing) - rather than the "slow" lane to avoid the mergers.

Most/some ignore the 55 mph law by at *least* +5 mph.

Sooooo - you get to pick and choose: Mergers -or- a semi on your rear end?..:@

~

Most of what I'd add has already been said. A buddy of mine who use to drive a fuel tanker said the same thing about staying on the road VS hitting (in this case) a animal. Your going to cause more damage by avoiding it than hitting it not to mention the Haz-Mat clean up. Funny thing though, I seem to recall in a defensive driving course the instructor saying to veer off to the right VS hitting something head on. As that person doing the driving, that does NOT seem logical as why would I risk severe injury or death to myself? Yes it makes sense to be side swiped than hit head on, but time may not allow for such evasive maneuvers.

Not saying I'm perfect, but while driving my semi, I opt for the center lane in urban areas any chance I can to avoid the on/off ramp traffic. Once out and away from this area, I'll move back over to right lane especially if I'm not doing the speed limit. Starting to see devices on semis that warn driver if gap between you and one in front is too close and will start to slow down truck if you don't. Lot of semis are maxed out between 62 and 70 mph. Lot of semi drivers CANNOT speak English, let alone read road signs all that well despite the laws governing CDL's.

Anyone recall the Smith System of Driving? Some of his points were:

1. Keep your eyes moving.
2. Leave yourself an out
3. Make sure others see you.

tomman58 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
A little hint, when the road way interstate becomes 3 lanes instead of two, get in the 2nd lane or follow the semis as they know the game. Never put yourself in the first lane unless you are exiting.
.

I drive a major 3-lane interstate to work every day. The trucks drive in the middle lane as you suggest, as well as the slow lane. It creates major traffic problems. Ive heard this is something they were going to crack down on in NJ, as it is not legal.

I try not to go to NJ. My daughter lives in MD and it is no fun driving there either.

Whether driving in NJ, MD, MI or any other state,if you're in any other lane than the slow lane and you're not keeping up with the flow of traffic, you're creating a roving road block, impeding the flow of traffic and creating a dangerous situation.

rhagfo wrote:
.............It does sound real callous to say not to avoid a collision, but you really want to stay on the roadway after impact...........

That was my assessment after looking at the pictures.

Of course, there could be variables such as weight, speed, deflection, braking, time to react.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Very sad indeed!

I think this is an example of what not to do. What I mean is if someone pulls in front of you hit the brakes and hold on. Don't try drastic evasion maneuvers. Every situation is different but the evasion part can get you more than the collision part.

Very Sad indeed, I agree with Cummins that I am sure all in the truck survived the initial impact. It was the impact with the wall of the wash, that inflicted the real damage.
It does sound real callous to say not to avoid a collision, but you really want to stay on the roadway after impact.

This is one of the reasons I drive with my lights on 24/7 when driving, I have done this for all 49 years I have been driving. You are far more visible!!!!

In my experience around the Phoenix area, my normal tow speed of +/-60 means that I =have= to drive in the right-most lane. If I were to try and drive that even one lane over, I'd likely get rear-ended. I =can't= safely go > 65 because of the ST tires I have and I simply prefer to drive right at 60. I do try and schedule my tows in non-rush-hour traffic because of this. In rush hour, =nobody's= going much > 35 anyway, so it's a moot point. Speeds are posted 55 and 65 in the metro core area but the average is =at least= 10 over that, with some doing 30-40 over. I've had a couple instances with the idiots that don't decide to merge from the accel lane until nearly the far gore point. In one, the person simply ran through the gore point and pulled in in front of me, despite having > 1/2 mile of lane to figure out where they wanted to merge into, then gave =me= the finger. In another instance, they tried the same thing, then ended up swerving back onto the off-ramp, nearly hitting another car and going up through the intersection at the top of the ramp. I've also dialed 911 to report drivers a few times over the years, once when I saw a guy drinking a Coors Light as he was driving next to me, but a couple times when I was towing, to report erratic drivers, swerving in and out of traffic and cutting people off.

Lyle

jfkmk wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
A little hint, when the road way interstate becomes 3 lanes instead of two, get in the 2nd lane or follow the semis as they know the game. Never put yourself in the first lane unless you are exiting.
.

I drive a major 3-lane interstate to work every day. The trucks drive in the middle lane as you suggest, as well as the slow lane. It creates major traffic problems. Ive heard this is something they were going to crack down on in NJ, as it is not legal.

I try not to go to NJ. My daughter lives in MD and it is no fun driving there either.