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Is there some kind of widespread anger at truck drivers? I've always found them to be the safest drivers on the road personally. Obviously their livelihood de

Is there some kind of widespread anger at truck drivers? I've always found them to be the safest drivers on the road personally. Obviously their livelihood depends on their driving record so this is no real surprise.

dpcan 15y ago
It only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a truck driver to jade your opinion of all of them - or at least to be nervous every single time one comes within a 100 feet of you. I don't flip off truck drivers, but I get an uneasy feeling every time I'm around them and I try to avoid them.
- bigohms 15y ago
  Complacency and misplaced trust is a big danger when operating any moving vehicle. Your wariness is warranted, on a sweeping highway curve, I once watched a large truck devour a compact car because it cut too much into the right lane during the turn. Similarly, all it takes is one texting teenager to trust the fact that they're going straight, while in fact they've just cross into oncoming traffic.
- anonymous246 15y ago
  From your comment, it doesn't seem like you were ever almost killed by a truck driver. Were you? Then why so afraid? I second the previous poster that in my experience big-rig drivers are the safest.
- munificent 15y ago
  > It only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a truck driver to jade your opinion of all of them How is that statement any different than "it only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a woman driver to jade your opinion of all of them" or "because of a white driver" or "because of an old driver"?
  - nate_meurer 15y ago
    Maybe not much difference, but I would say that it's rational to be cautious around very old drivers (as well as very young), since this demographic is statistically far more dangerous behind the wheel than average.
seandougall 15y ago
I think it may be a regional thing. I can't count the number of times truck drivers have nearly run me off the road by swerving into my lane for no discernible reason and then braking (when there's no other truck to pass and nothing to brake for). But while that happens all the time in Northern California, I've never had it happen elsewhere. I drive down I-5 through the Central Valley all the time, and the truck drivers there are wonderful. I'll happily brake for them; it's the SUV drivers who cause the problems around there (and who are probably the ones flipping off the truck drivers).
- ulisesroche 15y ago
  I definitely felt a lot better when entering California, where they're required to stay on the right lane, and not to pass cars, than when I was going through El Paso, and my mom and I were almost killed by two passing trucks who swerved into my lane, in plain daylight, as if we weren't there. I didn't flip the bird, but I would have if they'd be able to see me. I wonder why more states don't have similar regulation?
  - Avenger42 15y ago
    Within Houston, we often have the left lane (of at least 3) marked as "no trucks", but as soon as I get too far out of town, all the roads drop to 2 lanes and such a rule would be impossible due to the amount of truck traffic.
  - masterzora 15y ago
    Out of curiosity, I have to ask where you were in relation to the truck? They have humongous blind spots that you really should take care to stay out of and if you were in one I'm not surprised if you almost got hit. A number of relatively new drivers are still getting used to dealing with their blind spots and need to learn better, but people really need to be careful about where they are. EDIT: Not saying you were necessarily in one, but most times I've seen cars "being run off the road" or "nearly getting hit" they've been in the wrong place so I've taken to asking.
    - 15y ago
jrwoodruff 15y ago
More like impatient people in a rush focused only on getting from point A to point B as fast as possible. I've heard many stories of the ridiculous things 'four wheelers' do and are generally unaware of around trucks. Next time you're frustrated at a truck driver, just remember, he's bigger than you, and he knows it. Treat him that way and the you'll be fine. If you forget that, don't be surprised if you end up with a missing side mirror.
- knieveltech 15y ago
  ... or chocked under an axle.
- anonymous246 15y ago
  My favourite idiocy is people cutting close in front of big rigs (they think they're being very smart but they're occupying the trucks' stopping distance).
code_duck 15y ago
Some highways are now absolutely filled with trucks, to the extent that they outnumber passenger vehicles - I80 for example. While truckers are for the most part professional, not all of them are - like the one who intentionally gave the impression of being about to smash my car between his rig and another truck north of NYC a few years back. Passenger vehicles are not on equal terms when traveling with trucks, safety wise. As someone who travels by auto often, I would definitely prefer to see fewer trucks crowding the roads.
ams6110 15y ago
These days most are safe, based on personal observation. In years past, many were cranked up on amphetamines and drove like they owned the road. Mandatory DOT drug testing and enforced drive/rest time regulations cleaned a lot of this up.
sgoraya 15y ago
>> Is there some kind of widespread anger at truck drivers? I'm just one data point, but I've driven the I-5 in California between the bay area and southern CA a lot (about 180,000 miles on my 2005 Tacoma truck) as well as Hwy. 99 in the same vicinity. I'd say that I've become apathetic towards truck drivers in general. I've been nearly run off the road twice (once where I was sure I was going to wreck real bad - got lucky), been cutoff, etc. by truckers more times than I can remember. Most truckers are safe, but the ones that are not can really skew your perception. Considering, in most cases, when a 18-wheeler causes an accident (I've witnessed a few), there is little damage to their truck or to themselves...the 'regular' car on the other hand is usually destroyed with devastating injury to the occupants. This story made me feel like a jerk for moment (I've flipped off truckers before) - but the emotional aspects of the story can be applied to everyone else on the road too. Truckers are not the only ones that have to drive for their livelihood or have personal issues to deal with.
- malnourish 15y ago
  Just like irrational fear of airplanes, truck drivers suffer a bad rep because of the availability heuristic[1]. *Edit: The article and comments also relate to the fundamental attribution error[2], where we often think someone is a "jerk" if they are speeding for example, but we often fail to take into account their perspective and situation. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error
- brutimus 15y ago
  Having spent a lot of time in a truck, I can tell you it's extremely difficult to cope on high-traffic roads. Most car drivers will crowd around you giving you no chance to change lanes, etc. Sometimes you have no choice but you just start creeping over and scare everyone out from around you. Obviously most truckers know what they're doing and they won't actually run you over -- it's bad for them, too. When I'm out on the highway in a car and I see a truck ahead of me trying to get over into my lane, I'll most likely slow down to hold up the lane behind me and give them a quick headlights flash to they can get over. I'm sure the other cars hate me for it, but who cares.
bmj 15y ago
This reminds of me the Pedro the Lion song "Big Trucks."
arthurgibson 15y ago
Every driver has had some life or death situation with a "semi-truck". I believe the widespread anger goes towards anyone driving a huge vehicle that a normal car has trouble seeing around. Most of my personal anger goes towards city buses and anyone who drives a work van , most of these drivers speed, don't slow down in crosswalks, and cut you off in traffic.

dpcan 15y ago

It only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a truck driver to jade your opinion of all of them - or at least to be nervous every single time one comes within a 100 feet of you. I don't flip off truck drivers, but I get an uneasy feeling every time I'm around them and I try to avoid them.

bigohms 15y ago
Complacency and misplaced trust is a big danger when operating any moving vehicle. Your wariness is warranted, on a sweeping highway curve, I once watched a large truck devour a compact car because it cut too much into the right lane during the turn. Similarly, all it takes is one texting teenager to trust the fact that they're going straight, while in fact they've just cross into oncoming traffic.
anonymous246 15y ago
From your comment, it doesn't seem like you were ever almost killed by a truck driver. Were you? Then why so afraid? I second the previous poster that in my experience big-rig drivers are the safest.
munificent 15y ago
> It only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a truck driver to jade your opinion of all of them How is that statement any different than "it only takes one moment where your entire family almost dies because of a woman driver to jade your opinion of all of them" or "because of a white driver" or "because of an old driver"?
- nate_meurer 15y ago
  Maybe not much difference, but I would say that it's rational to be cautious around very old drivers (as well as very young), since this demographic is statistically far more dangerous behind the wheel than average.

seandougall 15y ago

I think it may be a regional thing. I can't count the number of times truck drivers have nearly run me off the road by swerving into my lane for no discernible reason and then braking (when there's no other truck to pass and nothing to brake for). But while that happens all the time in Northern California, I've never had it happen elsewhere. I drive down I-5 through the Central Valley all the time, and the truck drivers there are wonderful. I'll happily brake for them; it's the SUV drivers who cause the problems around there (and who are probably the ones flipping off the truck drivers).

ulisesroche 15y ago
I definitely felt a lot better when entering California, where they're required to stay on the right lane, and not to pass cars, than when I was going through El Paso, and my mom and I were almost killed by two passing trucks who swerved into my lane, in plain daylight, as if we weren't there. I didn't flip the bird, but I would have if they'd be able to see me. I wonder why more states don't have similar regulation?
- Avenger42 15y ago
  Within Houston, we often have the left lane (of at least 3) marked as "no trucks", but as soon as I get too far out of town, all the roads drop to 2 lanes and such a rule would be impossible due to the amount of truck traffic.
- masterzora 15y ago
  Out of curiosity, I have to ask where you were in relation to the truck? They have humongous blind spots that you really should take care to stay out of and if you were in one I'm not surprised if you almost got hit. A number of relatively new drivers are still getting used to dealing with their blind spots and need to learn better, but people really need to be careful about where they are. EDIT: Not saying you were necessarily in one, but most times I've seen cars "being run off the road" or "nearly getting hit" they've been in the wrong place so I've taken to asking.
  - 15y ago

jrwoodruff 15y ago

More like impatient people in a rush focused only on getting from point A to point B as fast as possible. I've heard many stories of the ridiculous things 'four wheelers' do and are generally unaware of around trucks. Next time you're frustrated at a truck driver, just remember, he's bigger than you, and he knows it. Treat him that way and the you'll be fine. If you forget that, don't be surprised if you end up with a missing side mirror.

knieveltech 15y ago
... or chocked under an axle.
anonymous246 15y ago
My favourite idiocy is people cutting close in front of big rigs (they think they're being very smart but they're occupying the trucks' stopping distance).

code_duck 15y ago

Some highways are now absolutely filled with trucks, to the extent that they outnumber passenger vehicles - I80 for example. While truckers are for the most part professional, not all of them are - like the one who intentionally gave the impression of being about to smash my car between his rig and another truck north of NYC a few years back. Passenger vehicles are not on equal terms when traveling with trucks, safety wise. As someone who travels by auto often, I would definitely prefer to see fewer trucks crowding the roads.

ams6110 15y ago

These days most are safe, based on personal observation. In years past, many were cranked up on amphetamines and drove like they owned the road. Mandatory DOT drug testing and enforced drive/rest time regulations cleaned a lot of this up.

sgoraya 15y ago

>> Is there some kind of widespread anger at truck drivers? I'm just one data point, but I've driven the I-5 in California between the bay area and southern CA a lot (about 180,000 miles on my 2005 Tacoma truck) as well as Hwy. 99 in the same vicinity. I'd say that I've become apathetic towards truck drivers in general. I've been nearly run off the road twice (once where I was sure I was going to wreck real bad - got lucky), been cutoff, etc. by truckers more times than I can remember. Most truckers are safe, but the ones that are not can really skew your perception. Considering, in most cases, when a 18-wheeler causes an accident (I've witnessed a few), there is little damage to their truck or to themselves...the 'regular' car on the other hand is usually destroyed with devastating injury to the occupants. This story made me feel like a jerk for moment (I've flipped off truckers before) - but the emotional aspects of the story can be applied to everyone else on the road too. Truckers are not the only ones that have to drive for their livelihood or have personal issues to deal with.

malnourish 15y ago
Just like irrational fear of airplanes, truck drivers suffer a bad rep because of the availability heuristic[1]. *Edit: The article and comments also relate to the fundamental attribution error[2], where we often think someone is a "jerk" if they are speeding for example, but we often fail to take into account their perspective and situation. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error
brutimus 15y ago
Having spent a lot of time in a truck, I can tell you it's extremely difficult to cope on high-traffic roads. Most car drivers will crowd around you giving you no chance to change lanes, etc. Sometimes you have no choice but you just start creeping over and scare everyone out from around you. Obviously most truckers know what they're doing and they won't actually run you over -- it's bad for them, too. When I'm out on the highway in a car and I see a truck ahead of me trying to get over into my lane, I'll most likely slow down to hold up the lane behind me and give them a quick headlights flash to they can get over. I'm sure the other cars hate me for it, but who cares.

bmj 15y ago

This reminds of me the Pedro the Lion song "Big Trucks."

arthurgibson 15y ago

Every driver has had some life or death situation with a "semi-truck". I believe the widespread anger goes towards anyone driving a huge vehicle that a normal car has trouble seeing around. Most of my personal anger goes towards city buses and anyone who drives a work van , most of these drivers speed, don't slow down in crosswalks, and cut you off in traffic.