I know most of you car drivers often want to pass us big-trucks. That's fine, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do this... and lately I have been seeing more and more of the wrong way. You friggin' car drivers are dangerous, sometimes without even realizing what danger you're putting yourselves and the professional truckers in. So please pay attention to these RULES FOR PASSING TRACTOR-TRAILERS:
1. Wait for a LEGAL passing zone. On two-lane roads this means when the broken yellow is on your side. If it is on the other side, or it is double-yellow, it is ILLEGAL and UNSAFE to pass. Don't do it. Also, you should really be passing on the LEFT whenever humanly possible. If a truck has his right-turn signal on and is trying to get over to his right... give him the space to let him do it. He's probably TRYING to get over so you can pass him legally instead of you zipping past on the inside as if this is NASCAR.
2. When passing, wait until you can see the ENTIRE truck (top to bottom) in your rear-view mirror and not just the truck grille before you move back over to the right. Give the trucker that space.
3. Do not pass a truck and then slow down. No. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. If you felt the need to pass the truck in the first place, you darn well better be traveling faster than that truck is going. This is one of the most irritating things you could possibly do. If the truck is traveling at a perfectly reasonable speed but you just don't like being BEHIND the truck, well that is too fucking bad. Either back off or pass and be going faster. End of conversation.
Doing those few simple things will make life much safer for you, trust me. And you will be driving correctly.
1. Wait for a LEGAL passing zone. On two-lane roads this means when the broken yellow is on your side. If it is on the other side, or it is double-yellow, it is ILLEGAL and UNSAFE to pass. Don't do it. Also, you should really be passing on the LEFT whenever humanly possible. If a truck has his right-turn signal on and is trying to get over to his right... give him the space to let him do it. He's probably TRYING to get over so you can pass him legally instead of you zipping past on the inside as if this is NASCAR.
2. When passing, wait until you can see the ENTIRE truck (top to bottom) in your rear-view mirror and not just the truck grille before you move back over to the right. Give the trucker that space.
3. Do not pass a truck and then slow down. No. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. If you felt the need to pass the truck in the first place, you darn well better be traveling faster than that truck is going. This is one of the most irritating things you could possibly do. If the truck is traveling at a perfectly reasonable speed but you just don't like being BEHIND the truck, well that is too fucking bad. Either back off or pass and be going faster. End of conversation.
Doing those few simple things will make life much safer for you, trust me. And you will be driving correctly.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
dr_lizardo:
Ford Escort the car. Bad Stretch of 91 north between Springfield and Chicopee. New England has all kindsa things in it to make one straddle the fence as to whether it's a good place to live and work.
if:
All sage advice. I don't know what the rest of the country's like, but I can't imagine how annoying it must be to drive a truck in RI. I used to drive 24 ft rentals frequently in a past life and I spent most of my time screaming and swearing.