Don't know what you think

[Sonnyboy]

I read a thread a couple of days ago that has stayed with me. A few bikers sitting at a traffic light were killed by a dump truck that ran thru them. My first thought was another 'dumb axx' truck driver. Then I realized that I was thinking this while driving my truck down the road. Then I started thinking about how many times I've said the same thing about cagers while they are cutting you off and slamming on the brakes to get off the exit you are passing instead of falling behind the 'big truck'. Or how I've had guys on bikes pass me at better then a hundred, and we have all seen the wheel stands in traffic on the road. We have all sat next to motorcycles so loud that you can't tell if your radio is on. But I have always considered myself a biker. Well that got me to thinking. When I drive my truck I am a trucker, my car, a cager, but most of my free time I am a biker. But I like to think I am one of the 98 out of a 100 that you pass with out a problem, lets you in when you have to get over and yes....does use his signals when turning. That's when I realized that most people you are on the road with, not during rush hours though, mind where they are and actually know what they are doing. It is the idiots no matter what they are driving or riding that make the impression and keep us on our toes. It is those 2 out o a 100 that keep my head on a swivel. My two cents anyway

[MiCarl]

I hope you're not doing paperwork while driving your truck......

 

I'll agree that most people are surprisingly competent drivers and often go out of their way to accommodate my motorcycle. There are a small percentage though that really make me scratch my head.

 

I will disagree on the rush hour thing. It seems to me that at rush hour the drivers know which lane to be in, where their turn is etc. And while more congested the traffic and drivers seem more predictable during rush hour. It seems to me like from 10-3 a fair portion of the drivers neither know where they are or where they are going.

[Wolf]

I hope you're not doing paperwork while driving your truck......

 

I'll agree that most people are surprisingly competent drivers and often go out of their way to accommodate my motorcycle. There are a small percentage though that really make me scratch my head.

 

I will disagree on the rush hour thing. It seems to me that at rush hour the drivers know which lane to be in, where their turn is etc. And while more congested the traffic and drivers seem more predictable during rush hour. It seems to me like from 10-3 a fair portion of the drivers neither know where they are or where they are going.

 

You should drive in the D.C. rush hour, might change your mind on that one.

[vic venture]

You would rethink rush hour on 1-24, 1-40, or especially I-65 in Nashville also. Even if it is one person in the car, they will jump in the HOV lane so they can get to the selected exit in a hurry while diving out of it if they think they see a cop ahead and then cross several lanes of traffic to make the exit. All without slowing down. I average getting cut off twice a day. There also seems to be a magnetic field that will not let turn signals work here though it does take a lot of effort to reach for them.

[MiCarl]

You should drive in the D.C. rush hour, might change your mind on that one.

 

Good point. Here in Michigan, all six people that have jobs know how to drive.

[rsstar]

First off the truck driver that hit those bikers was on drugs and has since been arrested and is facing multiple charges. I for one would like to save the taxpayers a lot of money and just shoot him, but that's another rant !!

I drive a motor coach (bus) commercially and have been for over thirty years. I take great pride in my driving and ALWAYS think about the 50 or so people sitting behind me. Driving a motor coach you HAVE to do it better and smoother. I have turned down work because I didn't feel 100% and anyone that drives commercially and drives impaired in ANY way should lose his/her CDL for life.

As far as other drivers complete concentration and attention is required to stay out of trouble. Drivers (not all but a large percentage) these days think mainly about number 1 and less and less about other people in their attitude. Abrupt lane changes, riding the left lane, driving while doing a miriad of other things at the same time is just commonplace and to most drivers of the younger generations, the norm. Whether I'm in a bus or my pickup my attention is the same. The only thing different is, the margin I give myself is greater in the bus. I find that people will cut me off in the bus just as fast and as often as they do when I'm in my pickup. A lot of people think that the bigger vehicles can stop faster than a normal car.

Since my last accident I don't own a bike anymore but when I did my attention and state of mind was much heightened from driving anything else. And even though I considered myself a VERY safe and attentive rider I still got T-boned in an intersection. You can try to watch and predict what other people are going to do but you can't fully know.

As for rush hour driving I avoid it like the plague. But my most recent trip (on a bus) through Houston convinced me that they were the worst drivers in the world. And San Antonio had the rudest drivers. When you're trying to merge a 55 passenger bus onto the freeway and the idiot cagers won't let you in and seem to purposefully block you, that is just plain rude and should allow the use of deadly force. It just further strengthens my opinion that if you're not a baby boomer you DON'T KNOW how to drive !!!

[Sonnyboy]

:detective:Don't forget the toll booth drivers too. We have three roads with tolls and it can really get your heart rate going as you negotiate through everyone trying to get to the shortest line no matter how many lanes they are from it.

In richmond we also have a new event this spring...the pothole dodgers. Staying away from them as they change lanes without checking the lanes they have now dodged into first can be fun. they are not to be out done by the pothole stoppers...those that come to a complete stop and inch into a pothole like a child dipping there toes in the water to see how cold it is.

[Yammer Dan]

I live way out in the Sticks in west by God and still manage to get run over pretty often!!! I don't want any where near the big cities!!!

 

!#**%$**!@!! IDIOTS are everywhere!!!