Something to think about while driving

Stealhead · 02-25-14, 11:35 PM

I witnessed something today that I think every driver should have in their mind while at a traffic light.

Just recently I joined on as a partner in my cousins trucking company.Well in this company everyone drives some (we do flatbed) so I have been riding and driving with my cousin and some of the other drivers to get some experience with flatbeds.

Well today I did a quick regional job in Kentucky the truck I am driving is a 379.Well we get off the interstate onto a 4 lane divided highway.At the first traffic light another 379 with a hopper pulls up next to me.I guess he was in a hurry cause he got up to about 67MPH cause I was going about 63.So a mile or two up the road he gets ahead and gets into the right lane there is a Honda Accord on up the road in the left lane.

So I see another traffic light down the road about 2 miles away as I get closer I start letting off because they always seem to change for me.Sure enough it does from my vantage point I'm about 400 yards away when it turns yellow the other 379 is about 110 yards in front of me and the Honda is closer maybe 200 yards from the light when it goes yellow.

So I start slowing down the Honda starts slowing down.The other 379? Hell no he keeps it mashed to floor lights been red for 4 or 5 seconds by the time he goes under the lights.

And there are cars ready to go luckily they where either lethargic on the light change (which was green for them) or they saw "Peterkilt"(Peter-killed-it) coming and waited.

Just saying even if it is green you might want to look and see if anyone else is running the light specifically if you are up at the line.It is bad enough to get hit by a car or pickup that might run a light a semi is gonna kill you and your dog back at home and knock your neighbor into next week.

Remember everyone else "sharing" the road is an idiot and they will kill you if you let them.

What a risk that driver took and for what to arrive 20 seconds sooner.

em2nought · 02-26-14, 12:35 AM

Well, I'm glad it wasn't a green Volvo with a sleeper.

TG626 · 02-26-14, 12:47 AM

I've seen this a lot here in Cali. Funny thing, in MD where I used to live, the lights are all timed so that the time it takes for the lights on road a to go from yellow to red, it takes for the light on road b to turn green. Lots of time for clowns like that to run the light.

Here their red and your green switch at almost the exact same time. I think the other way is safer...

kranz · 02-26-14, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by em2nought

a green Volvo

hey, that's my car!

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I wasn't going that fast...but slightly above the limit. Saw the yellow light, started braking and stopped where I should. But the lorry driver behind my tail must have thought that both of us would 'make it' through the yellow.
Well, what I saw was his cabin nose-dive very, very, very deep but he somehow managed not to crash my back.

Jimbuna · 02-26-14, 05:06 AM

Here in the UK they are known as 'amber gamblers'.

Wolferz · 02-26-14, 06:15 AM

That's when you get accident reports like...

"A green light anticipator was struck by a yellow light accelerator"

AVGWarhawk · 02-26-14, 06:29 AM

Shame there was not a red light camera taking pictures so a violation notice and fine could be mailed to the owner of the truck. What I don't understand is drivers who depend on their CDL to survive drive like idiots. It does not take much to lose their safety rating and get black balled by companies offering loads to transport.

Wolferz · 02-26-14, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Shame there was not a red light camera taking pictures so a violation notice and fine could be mailed to the owner of the truck. What I don't understand is drivers who depend on their CDL to survive drive like idiots. It does not take much to lose their safety rating and get black balled by companies offering loads to transport.

Those are known as Billy Bob truckers.

Here in PA a moving violation while driving your POV in a construction or school zone will get your CDL yanked poste haste.

Because you're supposed to know better.

Ducimus · 02-26-14, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Just saying even if it is green you might want to look and see if anyone else is running the light specifically if you are up at the line.It is bad enough to get hit by a car or pickup that might run a light a semi is gonna kill you and your dog back at home and knock your neighbor into next week.

Oh yea. Courts aside, there is one universal rule of the road, "He who's biggest wins". I don't think a lot of people realize it can take a long time for a tractor to slow down. I think this every time i see some idiot dart in front of one, especially as a light is changing. Inertia's a bitch.

Wolferz · 02-26-14, 09:35 AM

Driving today holds the same advice as the X files...
Trust No One!

Sailor Steve · 02-26-14, 09:53 AM

That happened to me back in '75. My wife and I were driving up a regular city street and were slowing down for a red light. We were still fifty feet from it when it changed green. I accelerated back to 30 mph and was crossing the intersection when a guy trying to beat the yellow light (5-6 seconds late) plowed into us, hitting the passenger side of the car just a few inches behind my wife. Nobody was hurt, and there were several witnesses to testify that the other guy was way late on the light, so I was in no trouble.

When I was first driving my dad told me "The only time you ever run a yellow light is if you are already too close to stop when it changes." My own version is "If you have to accelerate to beat the light, you're doing it wrong."

Oberon · 02-26-14, 10:41 AM

I believe my grandfather once said to my mother when she was learning to drive that one should drive as if there was the possibility to run into a copulating elephant around the next corner.

fireftr18 · 02-26-14, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Just saying even if it is green you might want to look and see if anyone else is running the light specifically if you are up at the line.It is bad enough to get hit by a car or pickup that might run a light a semi is gonna kill you and your dog back at home and knock your neighbor into next week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolferz

That's when you get accident reports like...

"A green light anticipator was struck by a yellow light accelerator"

No other comment needed. Seen too much of the result.

02-26-14, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Remember everyone else "sharing" the road is an idiot and they will kill you if you let them.

What a risk that driver took and for what to arrive 20 seconds sooner.

This is so true.
I am driving to Hamburg on a regular basis, round about 60km. The crap I see on this short trip (45-60minutes) is amazing and brought me to the very same conclusion: Do not rely on anyone here, keep your distance, keep your concentration up, enjoy a safe trip... while on the left lane a lunatic races by with ~200km/h while the streets are wet and rainy, visibility is low... wtf hello!??

Just go and shoot yourself in some backyard if you can't wait... but don't try to kill others on the streets damnit...

Tango589 · 02-26-14, 11:43 AM

I drive by the rule 'might is right'and always let the big stuff go first, unless I'm pulling away from light next to a big-rigs' cab and can out-pace him before the lanes merge into one. On a multi-laned roundabout NEVER try overtaking a lorry if you're both going right as he will very quickly take your road. I've seen this happen and the result was not pretty.

02-25-14, 11:35 PM	#1
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Something to think about while driving I witnessed something today that I think every driver should have in their mind while at a traffic light. Just recently I joined on as a partner in my cousins trucking company.Well in this company everyone drives some (we do flatbed) so I have been riding and driving with my cousin and some of the other drivers to get some experience with flatbeds. Well today I did a quick regional job in Kentucky the truck I am driving is a 379.Well we get off the interstate onto a 4 lane divided highway.At the first traffic light another 379 with a hopper pulls up next to me.I guess he was in a hurry cause he got up to about 67MPH cause I was going about 63.So a mile or two up the road he gets ahead and gets into the right lane there is a Honda Accord on up the road in the left lane. So I see another traffic light down the road about 2 miles away as I get closer I start letting off because they always seem to change for me.Sure enough it does from my vantage point I'm about 400 yards away when it turns yellow the other 379 is about 110 yards in front of me and the Honda is closer maybe 200 yards from the light when it goes yellow. So I start slowing down the Honda starts slowing down.The other 379? Hell no he keeps it mashed to floor lights been red for 4 or 5 seconds by the time he goes under the lights. And there are cars ready to go luckily they where either lethargic on the light change (which was green for them) or they saw "Peterkilt"(Peter-killed-it) coming and waited. Just saying even if it is green you might want to look and see if anyone else is running the light specifically if you are up at the line.It is bad enough to get hit by a car or pickup that might run a light a semi is gonna kill you and your dog back at home and knock your neighbor into next week. Remember everyone else "sharing" the road is an idiot and they will kill you if you let them. What a risk that driver took and for what to arrive 20 seconds sooner.

02-26-14, 12:35 AM	#2
em2nought Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3,485 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Well, I'm glad it wasn't a green Volvo with a sleeper. __________________ em2nought is ecstatic garbage!

02-26-14, 12:47 AM	#3
TG626 Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: USS Seal - Somewhere in the Pacific Posts: 268 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 3	I've seen this a lot here in Cali. Funny thing, in MD where I used to live, the lights are all timed so that the time it takes for the lights on road a to go from yellow to red, it takes for the light on road b to turn green. Lots of time for clowns like that to run the light. Here their red and your green switch at almost the exact same time. I think the other way is safer... __________________ T. E. Thompson, LTCDR Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Seal (formerly S-40 (SS-145))

02-26-14, 05:06 AM	#5
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,450 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Here in the UK they are known as 'amber gamblers'. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

02-26-14, 06:15 AM	#6
Wolferz Navy Seal Join Date: May 2007 Location: On a mighty quest for the Stick of Truth Posts: 5,963 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	That's when you get accident reports like... "A green light anticipator was struck by a yellow light accelerator" __________________ Tomorrow never comes

02-26-14, 06:29 AM	#7
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Shame there was not a red light camera taking pictures so a violation notice and fine could be mailed to the owner of the truck. What I don't understand is drivers who depend on their CDL to survive drive like idiots. It does not take much to lose their safety rating and get black balled by companies offering loads to transport. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

02-26-14, 09:35 AM	#10
Wolferz Navy Seal Join Date: May 2007 Location: On a mighty quest for the Stick of Truth Posts: 5,963 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	Driving today holds the same advice as the X files... Trust No One! __________________ Tomorrow never comes

02-26-14, 09:53 AM	#11
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	That happened to me back in '75. My wife and I were driving up a regular city street and were slowing down for a red light. We were still fifty feet from it when it changed green. I accelerated back to 30 mph and was crossing the intersection when a guy trying to beat the yellow light (5-6 seconds late) plowed into us, hitting the passenger side of the car just a few inches behind my wife. Nobody was hurt, and there were several witnesses to testify that the other guy was way late on the light, so I was in no trouble. When I was first driving my dad told me "The only time you ever run a yellow light is if you are already too close to stop when it changes." My own version is "If you have to accelerate to beat the light, you're doing it wrong." __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

02-26-14, 10:41 AM	#12
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	I believe my grandfather once said to my mother when she was learning to drive that one should drive as if there was the possibility to run into a copulating elephant around the next corner.

02-26-14, 11:43 AM	#15
Tango589 Still crazy as ever! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: A little south of sanity Posts: 3,375 Downloads: 180 Uploads: 1	I drive by the rule 'might is right'and always let the big stuff go first, unless I'm pulling away from light next to a big-rigs' cab and can out-pace him before the lanes merge into one. On a multi-laned roundabout NEVER try overtaking a lorry if you're both going right as he will very quickly take your road. I've seen this happen and the result was not pretty. __________________ Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...