I've noticed a strange new trend in the trucking industry...

[tt1]

APPARENTLY if a driver has his signal on it automatically gives him the right of way...case in point:

I'm driving down the interstate in the right lane doing the speed limit. There is a truck passing me, he's not passing me real fast and not real slow all the while he has his right signal on. I figure he will get up past me and move over...Just as he is about half way passing me he JERKS his truck violently into my lane, how he missed me I will never know but did nearly run me off the road.

He then hits his brakes hard lays on his horn as long as he can and falls in behind me and takes the next exit...At this point it becomes apparent to me I should have known by his signal he wanted me to SLAM on my brakes so he could get over to make his exit.

Now when I got home i pulled out my 23 year old CDL manuel to see where I missed this, couldn't find it anywhere then I thought it must have been updated in all that time that a driver with his signal on has the right of way...

This has happened to me twice in the last month and since it has never happened in all my 23 years of driving I figured it has to be a new CDL requirement...

Perhaps the newtimers can catch me up on the new regulations....

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by tt1

APPARENTLY if a driver has his signal on it automatically gives him the right of way...case in point:

I'm driving down the interstate in the right lane doing the speed limit. There is a truck passing me, he's not passing me real fast and not real slow all the while he has his right signal on. I figure he will get up past me and move over...Just as he is about half way passing me he JERKS his truck violently into my lane, how he missed me I will never know but did nearly run me off the road.

this could be a situation where he NEEDED that exit and was trying to pass you as you say, but he was going to miss that exit. now, he could have been NOT paying attention as to what he was doing. he could have been on his cell phone, or he could have just been on "cloud 9".....who really knows.
but, his reaction of "jerking the steering wheel" is a sign of road rage, no matter what..........you should have gotten all the info you could from his truck/trailer, ad called it in to his company.....i know i WOULD HAVE, AND DONE SO in the past....

now onto YOU......you saw his turn signal.....why didn't YOU THINK, LOOK, AND SEE what was ahead of you....?? if you were able to SEE the exit ahead, you COULD HAVE "assumed" many things, as we all can start guessing.....but, an exit up ahead.......???? you gotta be thinking that MAYBE he needed that exit. you COULD HAVE slowed down a bit.......then if he didn't need that exit, at least you at that point, prevented him from "jerking that truck" into your lane.........

He then hits his brakes hard lays on his horn as long as he can and falls in behind me and takes the next exit...At this point it becomes apparent to me I should have known by his signal he wanted me to SLAM on my brakes so he could get over to make his exit.

there you go, you finally "realized" he needed that exit........

Now when I got home i pulled out my 23 year old CDL manuel to see where I missed this, couldn't find it anywhere then I thought it must have been updated in all that time that a driver with his signal on has the right of way...

with road rage accidents, and assaults on people, you're lucky right now he didn't get any info from your truck/trailer and isn't out looking for you anytime soon.....gotta watch out for the "loonies" out there.......

as for the driver's manual.....and the laws....i think its more of a common sense, and curtosey (sp?) situation than anything else.......

This has happened to me twice in the last month and since it has never happened in all my 23 years of driving I figured it has to be a new CDL requirement...

there you go again......admitting (basically) that you do not allow people to take an exit, in effect, becoming a road-hog.......the next time, if there is one, you will be the sole cause of any tragic accident......and possibly, being charged with a road rage incident as well.....you are perpetuating the situation, maybe not by purpose of doing so, but by your driving in a lane that people need, and dis-allowing them access to an exit.....i can almost gaurantee you right now, had that been a 4 wheeler, and he had a gun, you'd be either dead or hurting real bad from this.........because he'd hunt you down...........he can always take another exit after he shoots you, and you'll never get any license plate from his 4 wheeler....you'd be too busy trying to stay alive.....

Perhaps the newtimers can catch me up on the new regulations....

i ain't no "newcomer", been doing this crap for 20+ years myself now.......

[tt1]

Thank you PRO1DRIVER I should have know it was all my fault I should have known he wanted to exit I guess I should have known as he was trying to RUN ME OFF THE ROAD that it was indeed MY fault all along and I didn't have the courtesy to slam on my brakes endangering other motorists so he would not miss his exit...warning to all motorists watch out for my BRAKE LIGHTS...

I should take it from a PRO1DRIVER how inconsiderate I have been all these 23 years I have been on the road with ZERO accidents I've had it all wrong all that time...

Thank you newtimer for straightening it all out for me...

[Nogood]

You get what you pay for. Case in point!

Companies get the type of drivers that they are willing to pay for. You pay cheap wages and have virtually no benefits, then expect "dumb-***" drivers. And this is what everyone should look out for while we are on the highways. As the economy worsens, the quality of drivers will also.

[BuzzBeez]

It's just another case of poorly skilled drivers out here that can't plan ahead for their exit and expect eveyone else to cover theit *****.
Whenever they're beside me and the turn signal comes on, I just let them hang out there for a while/let some traffic back up behind them so maybe they'll realize how stupid they are, then I back off (again). But like you say, expect them to do anything, including cutting you off.
Just remember, many of these have the "me first" attitude and don't care about the rest of us.

[shoeman]

Originally Posted by tt1

Thank you PRO1DRIVER I should have know it was all my fault I should have known he wanted to exit I guess I should have known as he was trying to RUN ME OFF THE ROAD that it was indeed MY fault all along and I didn't have the courtesy to slam on my brakes endangering other motorists so he would not miss his exit...warning to all motorists watch out for my BRAKE LIGHTS...

I should take it from a PRO1DRIVER how inconsiderate I have been all these 23 years I have been on the road with ZERO accidents I've had it all wrong all that time...

Thank you newtimer for straightening it all out for me...

I think Pro1 is just having a bad day! I'm with you TT1, never had an accident and have been driving a truck for 20 years. If I were that driver and screwed up and was gonna miss my exit.... guess what, I would miss my exit, turn around at the next one and make it all safe and sane. My truck is already slow. If I had to hit my brakes and give way to every moron truck driver or car driver out there that couldnt plan ahead 2 miles i would pull out whats left of my hair.
Pro1driver, I have to say your response was a little less than Pro in my book. Why are you blasting the driver in the right lane of traffic minding his own business. Usually you make some good sense so thats why i'm thinking you might be highly medicated or something right now!