I hate big rigs
 

hey all,
this ones a doozie i went riding today with my pops to go get a pass for a fitness center at his work. on our way there we had to ride briefly on a very calm road as far as small traffic goes but a few big rigs pass through every few minutes. we were about 5 miles into this adventure riding almost on the shoulder so that the rigs could pass on the fast lane and we could continue without much problem. i heard a rig behind us and didn't bother to look in the mirror as i was leading and my dad would have blocked my view anyway so i kept my current line. suddenly the rig passes a little less than a foot from my handle bars with trailer and all and almost blows me right off the road when it finnally got by which seemed like forever i looked to the fastlane and noone was there, theres simply no reason for that crap. needless to say i was very angry with the driver and my father and i proceeded to yell this to the back of the rig. the funny part is the area my father works for is packing and shipping and he memorized the rig so that they could give the guy a hard time the next time he comes through. anyway i just wanted to see what you guys thought about it and if this is just a preety normal thing or what.

Sounds like the driver should have moved left. I worry less about the trucks than I do the soccer moms and the teens on the cellphone in dad's Escalade. The average driver has no idea of the power they wield.

Most truckers are more courteous, but every class of driver has arsefardles in it!

this is true i once had a mini van pass me in a subdivision pass me like i was standing still and i was going the speed limit.

There is usually a company name and sometimes a phone number on the back. I have stopped and grabbed my cell phone and called the dispatcher to let them know of there drivers dangerous antics. I have done it before.......

Here, here. What's even worse than cell phone talkers are people who try to text while driving. They'll text you right off their windshield.

I once had a boat that was being trailered by an SUV brush my shoulder at speed. I now use a mirror.

One of the major papers (NYT?) published a poll a couple of weeks ago in which 25% of the teens thought it was acceptable to text while driving. That is scary.

^^^ and what about the guy I saw reading the morning paper while he was driving? What a doofus!

Just remember everything you have, including your bike, came in a truck.

yes but on the same note i could have lost my bike and everything in a truck

That is no reason to brush off what could have been a very serious incident. It does not take much for a rider to be sucked into a big rig. For the record.....I hold a CDL and drove for a long time so in no way am I hating against trucks.

I worry least about commercial drivers. They can't afford to hit you as it would mean the end of their driving career.

Some of them are nice, they let me draft them and throw signals for slowing and stopping.
I like racing them sometimes in a certain 1 mile stretch and I usually win.

Or a guy I saw drumming on his steering wheel with drum sticks (nothing holding the wheel) at about 55 mph.

old people, summer vacation, and their new RV. Those things mirrors stick out like 3 feet.

Most truckers seem to be good about shoulder obstacles, it seems to be an unwritten rule that they will get in the left lane even if there is a broken down car parked farther onto the shoulder, who knows what that one was thinking.

+1

About 5 years ago a "retired" couple was heading up some pass out west towing their compact car in which they forgot to release the brakes. The tires ended up igniting, then the car ignited. They towed a burning car up 11 miles of pass (if I remember correctly) lighting the roadside shrubbery the whole way up. People tried desperately to stop them but were ignored. The cops finally stopped them. Major fire-fighting equipment was brought in to put out the flames. The last I heard the state they were in was planning to bill them for the fire fighting costs.

My response was more to the title of the thread than the particular incident. From the account it sounds like this Truck driver drove inappropriately.


However, the generalized disdain that many people have for trucks on the highways (as reflected by the title) completely ignores who puts those trucks on the Highways: all of us who buy the stuff that the trucks are there to deliver.

Have you guys seen the way the FedEx and UPS guys drive, those guys wheel those trucks around like they are in a NASCAR race. They seem to be the best drivers I've came across.

-Nate

Exactly the reason why I carry a CB radio on my bike.

Agreed....... It isn't the truck that's the problem it's the nut behind the wheel.

You never know if he did it on purpose or if he just thinks nothing of it. If he did it on purpose it amounts to intimidation and he should have his license removed. But you will never know. There is a short stretch of two lane road similar to that that I ride on every once and a while. I simply take the majority of the right lane so that vehicles are forced over to the passing lane, no one ever seems to complain. It's the old saying give them an inch and they will take a yard.

I haven't had many problems with the big tractor-trailer combinations, most of those drivers are pretty professional, but watch out for the logging trucks though (in BC our logging trucks are as big or bigger than anything on the highway).

Biggest problems are with the newly-rich A**holes in their big pickup trucks pulling an equally big power boat, the trailers stick out a foot farther than the truck but the drivers haven't figured that out yet. Have to deal with them everyday. Scaring a cyclist is just considered good sport in BC, good for a few laughs in the bar.

This SAME thing happened to me just yesterday, I nearly got dead!! The trailer had NO LICENSE PLATE AT ALL which of course is totally illegal. Unfortunately, some of the idiots out here in MS get away with it. The tractor may have had one, but there was none to be found on the trailer. I was certainly going to make a call to the SO. He did get a couple middle fingers, yeah, the double barrel, but I'm not sure he even saw it. :mad::mad:

I ride on a highway that is crammed with b-train gravel trucks. The majority of the drivers are extremely courteous. 99% of the time they move into the other lane.

What you describe has happened to me once or twice, where a big-rig driver passes me with a foot or so to spare. A little frightening, but I would say that I think the big-rig drivers are less worrisome than the person in the minivan on the cell phone.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about getting pegged off the road by a professional driver. I'd be worrying about the guy hurrying home from work, or the Friday evening drunks.