5 ms·

Statements like this make me cringe: > I’ve cost them time and money going down the hill. It’s a macho thing. Drive the hills as fast as you can and be damn su

Statements like this make me cringe: > I’ve cost them time and money going down the hill. It’s a macho thing. Drive the hills as fast as you can and be damn sure to humiliate any sonofabitch who’s got brains enough to respect the mountains. It's unfortunate that trucking is one of the last middle class industries left in the US. We need jobs like this, but at the same time I can't wait for automation to take the human factor out of this equation.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
jdavis703 9y ago
I hate drivers who go slow down mountains, especially in cars. They need to use the turn outs and let better skilled drivers pass them. It has nothing to do with gender or machismo, if you can't handle your vehicle at a reasonable speed you have no business on the road blocking other people.
- baruch 9y ago
  If someone feels safer driving slowly they are completely in their right to do so even if it is a detriment to others. They should if at all possible let others pass them and definitely not prevent such passings but it is not always possible for them to do so, and they may not know the road as well as you do to know in advance about some stop they could take to release the pressure. I'm not usually one of the slow drivers and I do get annoyed at the slow drivers when I can't pass them but I will still keep my distance and avoid trolling them with horns, lights or otherwise. The road is for everyone and some will be slower than me and some will be faster.
  - WaxProlix 9y ago
    Sure, but if you're a slow driver, take a minute every 10 to pull over and let the train of people behind you go by. It's just common courtesy.
  - jsolson 9y ago
    > I'm not usually one of the slow drivers and I do get annoyed at the slow drivers when I can't pass them but I will still keep my distance and avoid trolling them with horns, lights or otherwise. The road is for everyone and some will be slower than me and some will be faster. It's certainly their right to drive slowly, but in Washington state it is not their right to delay others: > Slow-moving vehicle to pull off roadway. > On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow moving vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in a line, shall turn off the roadway wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists, in order to permit the vehicles following to proceed. As used in this section a slow moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427 https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427
    - soundwave106 9y ago
      California also has that law: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=21656 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio.... Also Alaska (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#28.35.135 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#28.35.135) Also Colorado (http://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2016/title-42/regulation-of-vehicles-and-traffic/article-4/part-11/section-42-4-1103 http://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2016/title-42/regulatio...) And Montana (http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/61/8/61-8-311.htm http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/61/8/61-8-311.htm) Seems like a common regulation in certain states, particularly those with a lot of mountain terrain. (It is often not feasible in any circumstance to pass on the left on a mountain road, so I can see why these regulations popped up.).
    - baruch 9y ago
      I am not living in the US and am not aware of these laws, but they do make sense in the wording above. In the story these comments refer to the driver had no real place to stop his truck and I believe he was justified in going slow on a rainy/slushy road in a heavy track on a decline. If you are driving slowly you should be letting others pass you whenever possible. I'm actually quite amazed that you actually need laws for that (not that our drivers are better in any way, it is just common sense).
  - kbenson 9y ago
    > If someone feels safer driving slowly they are completely in their right to do so even if it is a detriment to others. Many states have specific laws regarding this which may make that untrue depending on circumstances. Here's a good overview[1] so you can look at your state's specific laws and see which apply. 1: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-ticket-book/chapter7-6.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-tick...
- codingdave 9y ago
  There are two sides to every story, and "reasonable" is an interesting word choice. A driver who knows their own limitations, and slows down to be safely within them IS being reasonable. A more skilled driver who feels stifled by those speeds would be reasonable if they watched for passing lanes, and used them appropriately.
  - fowkswe 9y ago
    The problem in my mind, at least in the US, is that we give licenses to 16 year-olds without proper training and turn them loose on the roads. This combined with the American machismo culture of driving like an entitled asshole make for situations where people think they are the skilled drivers, but in fact are out of control. Additionally we have an armada of truck drivers whose incomes are increasingly pinched by competition and ever dwindling wages that are pushing the limits of safety in order to make a living. This is how you end up with spun out SUV's and jackknifed semi's
- ams6110 9y ago
  You know how every time there is a snow/ice storm you see all those cars (SUVs in particular) spun out in the median and large semis jacknifed? Those are the drivers who thought they could handle their vehicles.
jessaustin 9y ago
The author and the drivers bitching at him on the CB are all assholes, just like all other long haul truck drivers who decide to leave the interstate to menace the rest of us. He was on Loveland Pass purely on a whim: "...having decided to skip the congestion at the Eisenhower Tunnel." The primary component of congestion in that location, except maybe eastbound on weekend evenings in winter, is long haul trucks. Unless they're delivering something to western Colorado (which in this case the author was actually doing), they don't belong on I-70 anyway, because I-80 is better in every way. The only long haul trucks that have any business on Loveland Pass are the hazardous materials trucks. There are two ski areas on that road, a bunch of snowboarders hitching rides back to the top, and nothing else. Considering how long it takes to get through Dillon, it isn't even faster than staying on I-70. Summit County sheriffs should find a pretext to ticket every truck that uses that road without reason.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

jdavis703 9y ago

I hate drivers who go slow down mountains, especially in cars. They need to use the turn outs and let better skilled drivers pass them. It has nothing to do with gender or machismo, if you can't handle your vehicle at a reasonable speed you have no business on the road blocking other people.

baruch 9y ago
If someone feels safer driving slowly they are completely in their right to do so even if it is a detriment to others. They should if at all possible let others pass them and definitely not prevent such passings but it is not always possible for them to do so, and they may not know the road as well as you do to know in advance about some stop they could take to release the pressure. I'm not usually one of the slow drivers and I do get annoyed at the slow drivers when I can't pass them but I will still keep my distance and avoid trolling them with horns, lights or otherwise. The road is for everyone and some will be slower than me and some will be faster.
- WaxProlix 9y ago
  Sure, but if you're a slow driver, take a minute every 10 to pull over and let the train of people behind you go by. It's just common courtesy.
- jsolson 9y ago
  > I'm not usually one of the slow drivers and I do get annoyed at the slow drivers when I can't pass them but I will still keep my distance and avoid trolling them with horns, lights or otherwise. The road is for everyone and some will be slower than me and some will be faster. It's certainly their right to drive slowly, but in Washington state it is not their right to delay others: > Slow-moving vehicle to pull off roadway. > On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow moving vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in a line, shall turn off the roadway wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists, in order to permit the vehicles following to proceed. As used in this section a slow moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427 https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427
  - soundwave106 9y ago
    California also has that law: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=21656 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio.... Also Alaska (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#28.35.135 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#28.35.135) Also Colorado (http://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2016/title-42/regulation-of-vehicles-and-traffic/article-4/part-11/section-42-4-1103 http://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2016/title-42/regulatio...) And Montana (http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/61/8/61-8-311.htm http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/61/8/61-8-311.htm) Seems like a common regulation in certain states, particularly those with a lot of mountain terrain. (It is often not feasible in any circumstance to pass on the left on a mountain road, so I can see why these regulations popped up.).
  - baruch 9y ago
    I am not living in the US and am not aware of these laws, but they do make sense in the wording above. In the story these comments refer to the driver had no real place to stop his truck and I believe he was justified in going slow on a rainy/slushy road in a heavy track on a decline. If you are driving slowly you should be letting others pass you whenever possible. I'm actually quite amazed that you actually need laws for that (not that our drivers are better in any way, it is just common sense).
- kbenson 9y ago
  > If someone feels safer driving slowly they are completely in their right to do so even if it is a detriment to others. Many states have specific laws regarding this which may make that untrue depending on circumstances. Here's a good overview[1] so you can look at your state's specific laws and see which apply. 1: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-ticket-book/chapter7-6.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-tick...
codingdave 9y ago
There are two sides to every story, and "reasonable" is an interesting word choice. A driver who knows their own limitations, and slows down to be safely within them IS being reasonable. A more skilled driver who feels stifled by those speeds would be reasonable if they watched for passing lanes, and used them appropriately.
- fowkswe 9y ago
  The problem in my mind, at least in the US, is that we give licenses to 16 year-olds without proper training and turn them loose on the roads. This combined with the American machismo culture of driving like an entitled asshole make for situations where people think they are the skilled drivers, but in fact are out of control. Additionally we have an armada of truck drivers whose incomes are increasingly pinched by competition and ever dwindling wages that are pushing the limits of safety in order to make a living. This is how you end up with spun out SUV's and jackknifed semi's
ams6110 9y ago
You know how every time there is a snow/ice storm you see all those cars (SUVs in particular) spun out in the median and large semis jacknifed? Those are the drivers who thought they could handle their vehicles.

jessaustin 9y ago

The author and the drivers bitching at him on the CB are all assholes, just like all other long haul truck drivers who decide to leave the interstate to menace the rest of us. He was on Loveland Pass purely on a whim: "...having decided to skip the congestion at the Eisenhower Tunnel." The primary component of congestion in that location, except maybe eastbound on weekend evenings in winter, is long haul trucks. Unless they're delivering something to western Colorado (which in this case the author was actually doing), they don't belong on I-70 anyway, because I-80 is better in every way. The only long haul trucks that have any business on Loveland Pass are the hazardous materials trucks. There are two ski areas on that road, a bunch of snowboarders hitching rides back to the top, and nothing else. Considering how long it takes to get through Dillon, it isn't even faster than staying on I-70. Summit County sheriffs should find a pretext to ticket every truck that uses that road without reason.