Usually, the saying is: Respect your elders. After all, those who have been around longer are wiser than you and know more so you must respect that. Well, when you're on the road it's not about age, but about size.
I drive a traffic-packed route to work every single morning. I've seen my fair share of accidents, road rage and wide open stretches (blissfully). I've also seen my fair share of 18-wheelers and cargo-carrying trucks. They're big, lumbering vehicles that take up a lot of room on the road. They are slower than all the other cars around them, taking ages to gear up and gear down. They don't zip from lane to lane and they don't speed off as soon as the light turns green, or the road opens up. Slow and steady wins the race for these guys.
And I respect that. Others, it seems, do not.
All too often have I seen cars cutting off these giants on the road -- poking the bear. They zip around 18-wheelers (or bigger) slamming on their brakes in front, riding in their massive blind spots and honking when these giants are slow to get moving.
I don't get it.
Would you yell at someone carrying a massive amount of luggage at the airport to get out of your way? Would you cut them off in line because you knew they'd be slow to move forward (to exactly the same location as you, anyways)? Would you dart around them like a little gnat, dangerously close to their trolly wheels just to gain a few seconds?
No, because as people outside of our vehicles we generally don't behave like that.
Yet, somehow on the road we become these obnoxious little creatures nipping at the heels of larger delivery trucks, dump trucks, construction vehicles and any other slow-moving cars on the road. Even in flowing traffic I've seen vehicles play a morbid game of tag with big rigs, darting around them as they try and get away from the slower-moving giants.
To me, it's just not worth it.
In all honesty, I like following massive trucks in traffic. Because it takes them so long to gear up, they often don't brake. They leave a great deal of space in front of them (which is always quickly filled with fast-moving, gnat-like cars) so they can just coast, which means the traffic behind them can coast too without hitting the brakes over and over again. I might be going slower than most, but my ankle thanks me for it later.
For those who like to poke the bear on the road remember this: They are much bigger than you. Their braking distance is humungous compared to yours. Drivers of these vehicles have also often been behind the wheel and on the road for days and are in no mood to put up with your sh*t, and they are in just as much of a “rush” as you are.
Give them the respect they deserve.
I drive a traffic-packed route to work every single morning. I've seen my fair share of accidents, road rage and wide open stretches (blissfully). I've also seen my fair share of 18-wheelers and cargo-carrying trucks. They're big, lumbering vehicles that take up a lot of room on the road. They are slower than all the other cars around them, taking ages to gear up and gear down. They don't zip from lane to lane and they don't speed off as soon as the light turns green, or the road opens up. Slow and steady wins the race for these guys.
And I respect that. Others, it seems, do not.
All too often have I seen cars cutting off these giants on the road -- poking the bear. They zip around 18-wheelers (or bigger) slamming on their brakes in front, riding in their massive blind spots and honking when these giants are slow to get moving.
I don't get it.
Would you yell at someone carrying a massive amount of luggage at the airport to get out of your way? Would you cut them off in line because you knew they'd be slow to move forward (to exactly the same location as you, anyways)? Would you dart around them like a little gnat, dangerously close to their trolly wheels just to gain a few seconds?
No, because as people outside of our vehicles we generally don't behave like that.
Yet, somehow on the road we become these obnoxious little creatures nipping at the heels of larger delivery trucks, dump trucks, construction vehicles and any other slow-moving cars on the road. Even in flowing traffic I've seen vehicles play a morbid game of tag with big rigs, darting around them as they try and get away from the slower-moving giants.
To me, it's just not worth it.
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| Photo: Sébastien D'Amour |
In all honesty, I like following massive trucks in traffic. Because it takes them so long to gear up, they often don't brake. They leave a great deal of space in front of them (which is always quickly filled with fast-moving, gnat-like cars) so they can just coast, which means the traffic behind them can coast too without hitting the brakes over and over again. I might be going slower than most, but my ankle thanks me for it later.
For those who like to poke the bear on the road remember this: They are much bigger than you. Their braking distance is humungous compared to yours. Drivers of these vehicles have also often been behind the wheel and on the road for days and are in no mood to put up with your sh*t, and they are in just as much of a “rush” as you are.
Give them the respect they deserve.