Thread: 2nd one this year :(

Last night around 10:30 i was driving on a very busy interstate in middle lane doing speed limit 65 mph and had a guy pull over in front of me doing about 40mph from the fast lane because his car died on him. When he cut over in front of me he was only a truck length away. Traffic too heavy to move to the side so i locked up the breaks on my 80,000lb rolling bomb and slowed down enough that i just tapped him and only broke his tail light and scratched his bumper as i had tried to change lanes at the last second.

Everyone was fine, little damage on his Mercedes he just bought used but im going to need a new bumper and hood. Hit at an angle so the impact was sideways on the corner of my truck.

Without going into a lot of detail, he got a ticket and they let him go. All my info was taken and i was let go with no ticket but a thank you from the guy i hit for not killing a lot of people when he pulled in front of me.

So this is the second wreck im been in this year. Niether one was my fault and ive still got a clean driving record but things like this are making me want to get out of the damn truck forever. But i wont.

So to everyone, please be aware of your surroundings. This guy didnt look before he moved. His car died for who know why and knew he needed to get out of the fast lane and just moved without looking. He could have taken the left sholder of the road but because he wasnt aware of his surroundings he just changed lanes and was headed for the right side of the road. I see so many people just driving and not really looking ahead. Flashing lights ahead or lane ends and people dont know it until they are on it.

So to all my friends here, be careful on the road and really open your eyes. Look ahead as far as possible, dont get in a hurry and know what is around you before you make a sudden move. Thanks.

Good thing no one got hurt. I couldn’t do your job, I’d be a nervous wreck, there’s a lot of stupid going on out there.

My uncle drove a cement truck for 30 years, the stories he’d tell me make you wonder how people even got their licenses.

Be glad you aren’t driving around the Bay Area, it’s like people make it a point to cut off big rigs, I’m surprised I don’t see more wrecks.

Be safe.

That stinks Jerry.
Glad to hear that all is well.
Sounds like it could have been way worse.

Count your blessings

Pete <:-}

BTW, My location was downtown Denver on a Friday night so bumper to bumper at high speed. And you know most of them are drunk and/or high on M.J. because its legal. The traffic cant be much worse in any city. And in Denver in the middle of the city, the speed limit is 65 and everyone drives 80. Crazy!!!

That's scary, Jerry-Around here it seems like everyone is on their damn phones, texting and what not. Even on the country roads I drive back and forth to the school where I work, I barely escape accidents almost weekly it seems.

And I don't see how they're going to replace experienced, expert drivers like you with robots and driverless rigs like we keep hearing about-I just don't see how that's going to be possible.

Originally Posted by Gasman

BTW, My location was downtown Denver on a Friday night so bumper to bumper at high speed. And you know most of them are drunk and/or high on M.J. because its legal. The traffic cant be much worse in any city. And in Denver in the middle of the city, the speed limit is 65 and everyone drives 80. Crazy!!!

As some may know I just spent about 2 months in the San Diego area and while I love the weather I can't stand the traffic it was nice to get home where things aren't so hectic and frantic.

My buddy exceeds the speed limit as does everyone else. They may as well change the speed limits from 65 to 80.

I did get to have some fun with my buddy as we were going on a road trip and I took my 'Girlfriend' which is my GPS that I use on my bike trips. Well it shows when you're speeding and after he'd get over 10 MPH over the speed limit I'd tell him that he was speeding. He'd slow down for a bit then slowly speed back up.

When he was up here and I didn't have my girlfriend and I'd know that he was speeding I'd point out what the speed limit was but what was the most fun was when I'd recognize a Police car from a distance--then he'd slow down for a long time.

Here in New Mexico the State Limit used to be 80 but they lowered it to 75 cause too many folks were killing themselves. Of course we have no really big cities here. The biggest Albuquerque has 65 on the freeways and folks speed anyway. They are really terrible drivers here. If they're not intoxicated the rules of the road don't apply. I lived in Southern Ca for 10 years and the pace of traffic was just really fast. They drive the limit and more in bumper to bumper traffic and then someone hits the brakes and you have another "sig alert" and a chain reaction accident.

Update:
I still didn't get a ticket but the guy that pulled out in front of me is fighting the ticket. So I have to miss two nights work because I've been called to duty to be a witness for the City it happened in. I'm not going to say how much money I will loose missing 2 nights work but I will say it would have been all over-time pay. Pisses me off. Plus I have to drive there and thats 2 hours drive in rush hour tomorrow morning. Needless to say I'm not happy about this at all. Sorry, I just needed to Bit..!

Originally Posted by Gasman

Update:
I still didn't get a ticket but the guy that pulled out in front of me is fighting the ticket. So I have to miss two nights work because I've been called to duty to be a witness for the City it happened in. I'm not going to say how much money I will loose missing 2 nights work but I will say it would have been all over-time pay. Pisses me off. Plus I have to drive there and thats 2 hours drive in rush hour tomorrow morning. Needless to say I'm not happy about this at all. Sorry, I just needed to Bit..!

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it works out. He may be counting on you NOT showing up to testify.

Was recently in a small accident (rear ended them, my fault) and kicked myself for it. When I told my wife I was in an accident she assumed it was the other drivers fault because of how I drive. Going to court next month to see if I can work anything out. Only other ticket I got was when I was about 19yo and the only accident I've been a driver in was a parking lot fender bender at 16.
Already paid a $500 deductible so I don't need a big fine on top of it.

With the amount of driving I do (110K miles a year) its going to happen. I do my best to not be in them, but sometimes you just cant beat it. I hit him from behind. And he was at fault. I'm sure he has a lawyer that is going to try and say it was my fault but the cops knew it wasn't. So I'd have better go or who knows what might come out of it.