Thread: Another Wreck.

Mike T, It's the same everywhere. Truck drivers are not much, if any better. I see it every day. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I drive very carefully nowadays. I'm paid by the hour and this has caused me to relax a lot! I'm not in a rush anymore and if someone cuts me off I will make a bad comment under my breather to myself, but that's about it. I have seen it all in my years of driving. From dead bodies on the road to young ladies flashing their breasts. Although that one hasn't happened in a long time. Years ago it happened often.

Tonight I came across a car stopped in the middle of a 5 lane section of I-25 in a dark part of the road. I stood on the breaked and got stopped. Next, a car behind me swung over to avoid hitting me, must have been texting as he wasn't close at all, and collided with the car in the next lane. Not I'm not proud of my thoughts or actions at that time, but it made an opening in the traffic so I could get around the dead car in the road. I left as fast as I could because a loaded fuel tanker is not what you want sitting in the middle of the road at night. I hope the guy was smart enough to get out of his car but I dought it. People will sit in a dead car and make phone calls. Next thing they are being rammed from behind at 60 mph. I just don't understand it, but it happens.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes. Its the job I choose to do but its getting harder every year to keep doing it. I've spent so much time today filling out forms and talking on the phone to bosses and insurance, emailing stuff and reports to everyone, I'm not sure who I've talked too. I know I was in the right and thank god for the video as they can't argue with that! The wife said I need to get 3 more of them. Back and both sides of the truck. It won't work I told her, but it was a good thought.

Be safe out there on the road everyone. I still remember the video they made me watch in school (before they started charging for the classes), it was called "The blood runs Red on the Highway". Scare tactics. Maybe they should bring it back.

Sometimes I humor myself with the idea that since our natural predators have become less, that some kind of universal balancing has filled the void..
In the form of stupidity!
One can only shake the head in disbelief, and move on, thankful that the "Balancing Effect" has not rendered this one an idiot!
Ever seen the movie Idiocracy?
Man that movie hit the nail dead center!

Sorry about the accident Jerry. I'm glad all is okay with you.
I'll say this, many people on the road are idiots! I've seen it too many times in my truck & on my Harley. Everyone is in such a big hurry these days & for no given reason. They sure as hell aren't going to a fire! If they cause an accident, they will lie, I know, it has happened to me twice now & one was when my Harley was wrecked last. Many of them are foreigners who don't obey the law because they go to a driving school owned by a foreigner & will lie so they aren't held responsible for their actions which is why I have a dash cam. I know this because there is one of those driving schools near me & they will practice driving in my neighborhood. Everyone of them will be foreigners so one of them is the instructor. Apparently they pass them whether they pass or fail because they get a larger turnover from every student driver. There were 2-3 of those schools near me but now I only know of the one. It's possible the others already got rich or moved to another location. I avoided many accidents on my Harley & 99% of them were on their cell phones. When I put it back together, I have a place on my handlebars for a dash cam, right there near the risers from the front end. Most people don't look out for motorcyclists so they won't know about the dash cam I'll have either. Whether on my Harley or in my truck, I always leave the lawful amount of space in front of me, 10 mph for every 10 mph the vehicle is going but every time someone comes along, usually a compact, gets in front of me so I slow down to the correct length again & another person will do it. People in larger vehicles do it to but mostly the smaller cars. It's a never ending cycle! I've been thinking of writing the PD & DPS, telling them they can bring in more revenue if they start ticketing these people breaking the law plus all cops have dash cams & body cams on them. Everyone is in such a hurry these days & for no reason as I stated. Almost 11 years ago when I was riding my Harley back from Milwaukee, I hit pouring rain from Hurricane Gustav in Arkansas, so I rode in the slow lane. Most of the high wind had died down, it was just 180 miles of pouring rain & the cars were so disrespectful coming up on my ass nearly hitting me, passing just enough to get back in front of me spraying water all over me making it more difficult to see & I would back off the normal length like I do. The truckers were different. I could see them coming in my rear view mirrors & they would get over about 100 yards behind me, pass & get back over in the slow lane about 100 yards ahead of me. Now people driving cars have gotten worse & so when I do get my Harley back together, it won't be a daily rider since I now have my truck. Most people don't use turn signals anymore if they ever did! It's like a free for all on the road plus with road rage these days & more. There are some motorcycle riders who think they are bulletproof & they are ones on crotch rockets because I can be riding the speed limit & they must be going 120 plus mph because they will pass & in a split second, they're only a tiny dot in front of me & many go in & out of traffic. It has gotten too crazy driving & law enforcement needs to do something about it! Don't get me wrong, there are also Harley riders who break the law but not near as much as those on sport bikes. There have been times when I would be on my Harley & as soon as a light turns yellow, I slow down for the red but as I'm sitting there & the light turns red, 3,4 & maybe even 5 vehicles will run it! I could go on & on & on but I think you all know what I mean.

Mike T-Idiocracy is now a documentary.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Mike T-Idiocracy is now a documentary.

Har!!! That is the funniest and most true statement I've read all week. I'm gonna tell my wife, shes gonna laugh, lol.

Today I decided to start teaching my son how to drive.
He has plenty of time until he is 16. BUT I figure that some concepts would be great to get implanted in that brain long before he is behind the wheel.
Basic concepts.
1. Protect yourself from bad drivers.
2. Assume people are stupid.
3. Look both ways, even when the light is green.

I started with these. Keep it simple. Get him to sit in the middle on the back seat and watch my driving.
If he gets in the habit of watching my driving (around a million miles of perfect driving record), learning early to watch and be aware, should help..

The looking both ways thing is definitely NOT practiced by all. Every day I see people walk across the street, not one look. A mother pushing a baby in a stroller, no look!
The little green guy says walk.. No worries, he's got you covered..
Same with the green light for cars.. Green, no look just go. It's crazy. No it's just stupid.

Anyway, it all ties together...
Protect yourself from stupid people.
Automatons.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Har!!! That is the funniest and most true statement I've read all week. I'm gonna tell my wife, shes gonna laugh, lol.

Today I decided to start teaching my son how to drive.
He has plenty of time until he is 16. BUT I figure that some concepts would be great to get implanted in that brain long before he is behind the wheel.
Basic concepts.
1. Protect yourself from bad drivers.
2. Assume people are stupid.
3. Look both ways, even when the light is green.

I started with these. Keep it simple. Get him to sit in the middle on the back seat and watch my driving.
If he gets in the habit of watching my driving (around a million miles of perfect driving record), learning early to watch and be aware, should help..

The looking both ways thing is definitely NOT practiced by all. Every day I see people walk across the street, not one look. A mother pushing a baby in a stroller, no look!
The little green guy says walk.. No worries, he's got you covered..
Same with the green light for cars.. Green, no look just go. It's crazy. No it's just stupid.

Anyway, it all ties together...
Protect yourself from stupid people.
Automatons.

While I learned to drive in a 'Car' starting at age 10 with my grandmother allowing me to drive her '64 Plymouth Valiant around the farm and up to the main road and then progressing to drive to the highway where Granny would take over until I was 14 when I could drive all the way into town (even though I didn't have any kind of a license) and took my driver's test in my grandparents '62 Chrysler New Yorker my very first mode of transportation was a Honda 90 Scrambler.

I got my motorcycle endorsement that same year at the age of 16 and it was the very first year that Washington State required a 'Motorcycle Endorsement'.

I had a good friend who had a Yamaha 80 and he was riding down the road (in town) when someone didn't stop at the intersection and his leg was broken. When his leg was 'set' it wasn't right and to the day he passed his left foot looked like it was at a 45 deg to his right foot.

I learned early on to take extra care when driving and it's saved my ass more than a few times and not always on a motorcycle!!!!!!

You are doing a good job with letting your child know that they need to be aware. What I'm adding is that they 'MAY' have this preconceived notion that the sheet metal that surrounds them will protect them. They are very much mistaken as I can attest to the damage done when I was in several auto accidents (none of which I was the driver).

I on the other hand know that it's not 'might' but WHEN I'm on my bike it's me and the steel that will hit me so I'm EXTRA CAREFUL.

By the way I do hope that you instill that Cell Phones aren't used while driving.

My wife told me that she feels that Im safe up in the big truck as Im out of the way being high up and Im protected much better than in a car. I just said " yes dear". I dont want to bust her bubble. Sure, I am safer than in a car, but ...

In this last one the one thing that really stuck with me was I didn't feel a thing. I seen him bounce off of me three times from the windshield and twice going down the side of my trailer but i felt next to nothing. It was odd. Seeing it but not really feeling much. And I was empty! Gross weight 30,000 lbs. Guessing the car was 3 to 4000 lbs.