To draft or slow down?

[diver1972]

Originally Posted by 1993CivicVX

Truckers are used to coming up on cars going certain speeds. Most people in the right lane drive 65-68mph. So if I'm going 60, then I'm doing him an appreciable favor by moving out of his way--his coming up on me that much faster is enough to startle him. Ideally I should speed up before he comes barreling down on me, but if I'm trying to save gas and don't want to speed up, I can move to the left lane if no one else is around.

I still don't understand this. There are more than a few other vehicles on most any highway that don't regularly travel at least 65mph (e.g. RVs, some light trucks/vans pulling U-Haul or other cargo trailers). The "big rig" is presumably changing lanes to pass (i.e. go around) them, so why shouldn't he do this for you? Does the "big rig" driver get annoyed at them for driving at less than 65mph and not performing a right-to-left lane change to get out of his way? No? Then why should he be annoyed at a passenger car for the same behavior?

I certainly understand being courteous (in fact, I feel that I'm quite courteous on most days, but not to the point where I'm a doormat); however, this line of reasoning surrounding changing lanes to simply enable a "big rig" to not have to change lanes just doesn't make sense to me.

If the "big rig" is so heavily ladened and/or the "big rig" driver is so exhausted that a simple lane change is too much of an inconvenience, then I maintain that the "big rig" is traveling too fast based on those assumed conditions. It should slow down to add a margin of safety. That's one of the responsibilities of a "big rig" driver.

[Hateful]

I was on 95 north yesterday behind a big rig doing 58mph. I didn't see that truck moving to the left to let any of the rigs doing 75mph pass. The faster trucks changed lane and went around on the left just like all the cars.The rig I was following did move to the left when there was a fire truck with flashing lights on the side of the road,then moved back over once past.My exit was immediately past that so I just shifted to neutral and rolled by and up the exit ramp.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by diver1972

How does slowing down (while still in the travel lane with someone "riding your bumper"), then pulling off onto an unpaved (and likely a small drop-off/uneven) surface (where loss of control could be a factor), and then merging back into the travel lane (across the same drop-off/uneven transition) enhance your own safety?

This one is obvious even to me, someone who doesn't do it. It enhances your own safety by getting the dangerous driver away from you.

Originally Posted by diver1972

I still don't understand this. There are more than a few other vehicles on most any highway that don't regularly travel at least 65mph (e.g. RVs, some light trucks/vans pulling U-Haul or other cargo trailers). The "big rig" is presumably changing lanes to pass (i.e. go around) them, so why shouldn't he do this for you?

The big rig driver expects RVs and U-hauls to be going 20mph under. He does NOT expect a car to be doing that, and even a well-trained driver in good condition can very suddenly find himself a lot closer to that car than he would have gotten had he known its low speed earlier. We're talking about falliable humans here, not robots operating based on rules from a textbook.

If the "big rig" is so heavily ladened and/or the "big rig" driver is so exhausted that a simple lane change is too much of an inconvenience, then I maintain that the "big rig" is traveling too fast based on those assumed conditions. It should slow down to add a margin of safety. That's one of the responsibilities of a "big rig" driver.

Yup, lots of big rigs out there are traveling too fast based on those assumed conditions. You can post on a forum about their responsibilities all you want, but it doesn't change the reality out on the highway, which is that while 1993CivicVX is moseying along at the legal minimum 45mph in a 65mph zone weighing 2300 pounds, the 80,000 pound truck is doing 80mph in the same lane.

[palemelanesian]

In Texas, most country highways (2-lane) have paved shoulders wide enough to be another lane. It's common, even expected, for slower traffic to pull over on the shoulder to let others pass. It's even written in the driver's handbook as a recommendation. I make use of this ALL the time.

[monroe74]

"How does [going out of my way to give a tailgater a chance to pass me] enhance your own safety?"

Tailgating is dangerous. It's wise for me to go out of my way (literally) to create distance between myself and anyone who is dangerous.

You described how you "ride [someone's] bumper while honking steadily." In other words, when you see someone driving badly, your impulse is to get close to them and drive badly yourself. Therefore I'm not optimistic about my ability to convince you that tailgating and tailgaters are bad and worth avoiding. (I'm not trying to condemn drafting, although it can obviously be a problem when taken too far.)

"I certainly don't practice this on two-lane highways ... if that's what you were trying to imply"

Tailgating is tailgating. Your comment is like saying you only drink and drive when the weather is nice.

"I guess it's just my little way of practicing road-rage without packing a pistol. I like to 'give back' to the dummies out there."

That's helpfully candid. Here's a suggestion: find a different way to express your emotions.

"the 'big rig' is traveling too fast ... It should slow down"

Next time you see something like that, I suggest you stand in his lane, at precisely the speed limit, and force him to slow down. Change lanes, if necessary, to prevent him from going around you. After all, if you don't teach him a lesson, and force him to obey the law, who will?

[Hateful]

I used to like doing my drunk driving in stormy rainy weather.Nice weather is when all the road blocks take place and the cops didn't mind getting out of their car as much.

[theholycow]

This was just posted to golfmkv.com by another user:

Originally Posted by ShadowGLI

notes from this mornings commute...

on a 2-3 mile stretch on a constant downward grade at ~68mph (via gps)
I noticed the MDF stated I was getting ~57mpg's in an open lane
behind a box truck with a 1.5 count I dropped to ~50 mpg's
behind the same truck with a 3 count I jumped up to 75-80mpg's and sustained that until I pulled out from behind it.

the grade was very constant and I was moving within the draft and keeping a specific distance and the exerted effort of the car was noticable.. but I tested this a few times, followed that truck for ~18 miles and noticed the 3 count was critical to making the drafting work, too close and it actually hurt performance slightly, too far back and it hurt alot.. that 3 count rule..

JUST RIGHT...

thanks guys..

So, too close meant less effective draft for him.

[monroe74]

"I used to like doing my drunk driving in stormy rainy weather"

Some people say that the real danger of drinking and driving is that you might spill your drink.

[R.I.D.E.]

I have found over the last 42 years of driving that I can't afford to assume any driver around me is anything more than a misguided missile.

Consider the Mercedes Benz driver that killed 85 people at Le Mans in 1955.

Even the greatest drivers on the planet can make mistakes, or have situations or sequences of events occur in such a way that all their skills are useless.

My worst recent incident was the idiot that pulled out on the interstate in an old piece of garbage, at 5 mph with a bunch of cars coming at 70 mph. He pulled out 100 feet in front of me, and I am travelling over 100 feet per second. Fortunately I had the left lane clear (just barely) and did a very fast lane change and back into the right lane.

The drivers I really dislike are the idiots that ride in your blind spot and remove your escape route when another idiot does something as insanely stupid as pulling onto any interstsate at 5 mph. To stupid to use the shoulder to accelerate.

Imagine what would have happened if I was being tailgated by another idiot, with a third idiot in my blind spot.


regards
gary

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by diver1972

Are you a "big rig" driver, or were you previously?

While driving a "big rig"? Or just driving a passenger vehicle?

Oh yeah. I see this quite often.

No, I probably should have stated that. But in certain situations I sense I'm making the big rig upset because I'm driving too slow. Truckers especially (as compared to other drivers) don't like to have to make any sudden moves--they *can't* make sudden moves. It seems to me a big 'no no' to be going too slow that a trucker comes up fast from behind and has to either kill all his precious momentum or risk making a sudden lane change maneuver.