(11-06-2014 02:48 PM)JPWMU Wrote: (11-06-2014 02:04 PM)John52168 Wrote: Most of us truck drivers............
Hey truck driver.....when I'm cruising at 75-80 and there is no car within sight behind me, why do you jump over right in front of me, causing me to slam on my brakes, only to continue at 56 while passing another truck going 55?
Good question and I wantedto think about it. First off, let me start out by saying, why is it so hard for people to do the speed limit on any road. 95 percent speed, 4 percent go to slow and only 1 percent actually obey the speed limit. The only states where it's legal to do 80 is Texas, Utah, and Idaho.
There are 7 states (MI, IN, MT, ID, WA, OR and CA) that still exercise in my opinion the most dangerous thing that can be used because most people are not good at judging speed and following distance. That thing is the split speed limit. There are a few cities 3 of which are in Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis) that employ a split speed. The theory behind a split speed was good but flawed. Advocates for it said it would crea te less vehicle interaction between trucks and cars. Fact of the matter is, it has created more interaction.
Thd designers of I-94 screwed up. When it opened up in 1959 they were not planning ahead and they were not thinking about public and commercial use (the Eisenhower Interstate System was built for military use only for quicker deployments). If they would have been thinking ahead both sides of the Interstate would have bren three lanes, not two, from Detroit to Chicago. The stretch of 94 from Dexter to Benton Harbor is outdated and needs to be widened to three lanes.
Most of the time it is hard to do 80 on 94 or any highway in southern Michigan for that matter anyway because you're going to run up on cars going 68 passing 5 trucks where 4 have been looking for a break in traffic so they can pass the first truck.
Most trucks in Michigan do 60. I occasionally do my vehicles governed speed of 65 especially when there are 5 or more cars behind me so I can pass a vehicle and get out of their way. If a truck is going over 70 mph most of the time they are an owner operator because most company drivers are driving a truck with the speed governed between 55-68 all in the name of fuel consumption.
If the nearest car far away and a truck decides to pass another vehicle either that driver is having a bad day or he/she does not care and they are driving a truck like they would a car.
If there are other cars around then they probably want to get the pass done and get out of others way. I will warn a motorist by turning my turn signal of my intentions. Either hurry up and get by me or relax and take a few seconds to let me either pass someone, mover over because of shoulder activity (law enforcement, road work, vehicles broke down) or to allow on ramp traffic to safely merge. Contrary, to popular personal opinions there are more than just one's self driving on these roads. The reason most trucks move over one lane for shoulder activity is because trucks create a draft and we don't want a person standing next to the lane of travel to get sucked up in that draft.
If it's me that pulls out then I'm sorry, but I have been looking for an opening to pass and I saw one with the nearest vehicle 1/4 behind me.
What I hate is when a truck (top speed 65) is trying to pass a truck (top speed 64 1/2) and the truck being passed doesn't back off.
One last thing: if your ever following me in a construction zone or a school zone, you will never get a speeding ticket. But, I also do not drive below the speed limit in those zones either.
