Originally Posted by
kalliergo
Yep, you're correct. The truck was headed for the turnout and was moving to the left side of the roadway while negotiating the curve, no doubt assuming that there was no oncoming traffic. That's not the way we're supposed to do it. And it's dangerous.
That said, speeds weren't terribly fast and there was room to maneuver out of harm's way. Not the scariest encounter you could have had.
As Cowboy says, above, this is a curve where I would have slowed in advance. And the horn tap idea is a good one. It used to be standard operating practice on narrow, winding roads with poor sight-lines.
If that's your local public works department's vehicle, it might be a good idea to (politely!) share it with a supervisor there, with a request that they remind their people that it's a good idea to stay on the right side of the road until you get to the place you're actually turning.
Sadly, there are a lot of things that used to be standard operating procedure, but have for whatever reason have fallen by the wayside. Such as it used to be standard operating procedure for people who had appointments to leave early enough so that if the unexpected happened that they'd still be able to make it to their appointment on time.
Also as you noted it used to be standard operating procedure for anyone operating any sort of vehicle to give a toot on their horn when approaching blind curves, or intersections with limited sight lines. As a warning to those who might be coming around from the opposite direction that there is someone that they can't see.
What I'd like to know is what happened to most of those standard operating procedures? Why have they fallen out of practice?
Is it really that difficult for a person to leave early enough for their appointments that if something unexpected happens that they can still get there on time? Is it really that difficult to give a short, gentle toot on one's horn when approaching a blind curve/intersection with limited sight lines? Also is it really that difficult for one to just slow down a little when approaching such curves/intersections?
Why the bloody hell is "everyone and their brother" in such a rush to "get nowhere fast?"