yes i speed i will not go over 90 (becuase the rangers got the governer)and yes when i approach the car in front of me they usually make like the red see and part (i think its becuase it looks big and with the brushguard really makes em move) while in my van i have no problem doing 90-95 but people just stay right there in the way. I do not go from lane to lane to pass people but a lot of people do if theese people holing the left lane would move over to let the others pass you would not have as many accidents either.

 

>>Regarding the intimidation factor of a pickup, have you ever
>>had a full size 3/4 or 1 ton pickup behind you at night,
>>with PIAA HID headlights, fog lights, and roof clearance
>>lights on? Heck, I drive one and it would intimidate me to
>>see one behind me! With all those shiny things all over the
>>place, it's hard to tell the difference between my F-250 and
>>a much larger truck.


ummmmm, one thing id like to say about this post.....when i see lights of any kind closing on my car, bronco or 50,000# tanker(with lots of clearance lights on it) i dont care what kind of shiny things it has on it, ill move if i have time or stay where i am if i dont. that applies in the daytime also. most people in smaller vehicles have no respect for large trucks. i suppose they figure,like most people do, that it'll automaticaly be the truckers fault and they can win the litigation lotto.

bottom line is: if you can tell what kind of lights a truck(of any kind) has on it.......your spending tooo much time in your rearview mirrors. you could have been out of the way and that truck out of your life by the time you figured out what lights it had on it.


PLEASE *THINK* ON THE ROADS FOLKS, MY FAMILY WANTS TO SEE ME JUST AS MUCH AS YOUR FAMILY DOES YOU.




Read not to condemn but to consider

 

>PLEASE *THINK* ON THE ROADS FOLKS, MY FAMILY WANTS TO SEE
>ME JUST AS MUCH AS YOUR FAMILY DOES YOU.
>
About the best words I've seen in this 4 page thread.

 

]Your assumptions are quite invalid, to say the least.
>First, I am not blind; in fact, I have better than 20/20
>vision.

That goes without saying. Even if you had glasses, they correct to 20/20 or better.


I chose to install HID lights in place of the
>factory ones for improved lighting when I drive on roads
>that have no street lights;

Most roads I drive on are only lit by the lites on my truck. Are you scared of the dark?

Fog lights aid in lighting the
>highway dividers & lane markers. Furthermore, they make my
>vehicle more visible to other drivers, helping to avoid
>being cut-off or driven into by others who do not pay as
>much attention to the road as I do. There are good reasons
>for the roof clearance lights, but to be perfectly honest
>they simply look pretty cool.

I've driven trucks that have over (60) clearance lights on top of and around the cab and on any given night I have had people just flat out ignore me. You need those blue & or red flashing lights to stand apart from the crowd and get respect. Also some type of screaming siren helps. But I have seen these people being ignored also.

>I won't even comment on your remark about moving out of the
>way, because your indication that you do not use the passing
>lane as your own shows that you are a sensible driver (at
>least in that respect).

I pay more road use and fuel tax in a year than you pay for fuel/gas in many years. And no I don't own the road. Some states hate me so much they won't allow me in the left lane.
>
>Sometimes I drive slow. Usually I drive fast. When I'm
>going slow, I get out of the way and let fast drivers pass
>me. One single-lane roads, I've even been know to pull
>aside as a courtesy to others behind me.

Me too! Everyday,everynight all the time.



What irks me is
>when other slow drivers can't apply similar courtesies to me
>when I want to drive faster than them.

Remember it's a free country and they have ever right to drive where ever they want to. They shouldn't impede traffic but brain dead morons far out number senseable people. It's too easy to get a license in this country. And so what if I don't have one I can still drive cuz it's my right as I have seen printed here in other posts.


That's when I'm glad
>I drive the vehicle I'm in -- people tend to clear out of my
>way more frequently; more so than when I drive a smaller
>vehicle. But, to be perfectly honest, I think all those
>lights do make a difference; I get even more respect after
>the sun goes down than I do during the day.[/b]

I glad for you that you demand and get all this respect. I sure wouldn't want to rain on your parade.

 

Can't argue with this guy. He makes sense -- and he's got some pretty cool vehicles.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 26-Nov-02 AT 08:44 AM (EST)]>"175 feet to stop at 65mph and 300 feet to stop at 85mph"
>So where do you get YOUR numbers?

Physics. It would take too much typing to go into the equations, but I did find a site that describes stopping distances (and provides a stopping distance calculator) at:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/stopdistcalc.html

I'm using a coefficient of friction of 0.8, which is really pretty optimistic for a pickup. It would probably be more realistic to use 0.7 or lower, which would make the stopping distances even longer.

One important thing to remember is that if your road speed doubles, your braking distance quadruples.

>"the driver going 85mph would hit the truck "
>How do you figure? You just said he would be stopped in
>300', which means he'd either just barely touch the 18'er,
>or he'd get there after the truck had pulled out & away.

300' is the braking distance - but you still have to add the reaction time, which on average is about 1.5 seconds. Even an excellent driver will take perhaps 0.75 seconds, and in that time the truck will have moved either 71 feet closer (@65mph) or 94 feet closer (@85mph). So, total time to stop would be approximately 246 feet from 65 mph or 394 feet from 85 mph. As I said, that's figuring on a good driver who is paying close attention - most drivers would take substantially longer.

Working out the numbers further, the guy going 85 mph would still be going 40+ mph when he hit the truck...because in the approximately 3 seconds it'd take him to reach the truck, it wouldn't have any chance of speeding up out of his way.

>"Our brakes are simply not designed for that sort of thing"
>Pickup/MPV/SUV brakes are designed to stop their OWN weight
>PLUS the weight of passengers, a bed with some cargo, and a
>trailer. Car brakes are only designed for passengers & a
>little cargo. It's true that expensive sports cars' brakes
>are SERIOUSLY overbuilt, but they're rare. And many newer
>trucks have 4WABS, just like the sports cars.

On this one I speak from experience - back when I worked as an EMT, I often pushed my cars and trucks to the limit on the way to meet the squad...going over 100mph wasn't unusual. On the trucks I had to back off quite a bit, because they took forever to stop from a high speed - one quick stop from high speed and hitting the brakes was like stepping on a wet sponge. The newest truck I did that to was my 2001 F150 - which had ABS and 4 wheel disc brakes. In an emergency situation (a woman flagged me down because her husband was having a heart attack) I did an emergency stop from a little over 100mph - ABS engaged the whole time. The truck stopped straight and true, but by the time I was down to 30mph or so the brakes were overheated and it seemed to take FOREVER to get completely stopped. When I stopped the brakes were nearly gone, but luckily I was already at my destination. And, this was in an unloaded truck.

The brakes on the Superduty trucks aren't really any better, either...they're larger, but IMHO are still undersized for the weight of the truck. As far as I'm concerned, all the automakers need to do a much better job with brakes on full-size pickups and SUVs...I think they're still living in the late '80s when all the speed limits were 55mph. Since people are driving SUVs and trucks like cars nowadays, they should start equipping them with brakes that can handle it. Unfortunately, the automakers are all run by beancounters who won't let us add any cost to the vehicle unless it's absolutely necessary...the only way the "powers that be" will authorize better brakes is if they think the investment will pay off somehow. People who love cars & trucks should never work in the engineering department of an automaker or supplier...because once you find out how the system really works it becomes pretty depressing.

However, even with proper braking ability the stopping distances I listed above would still apply.

>I know that 1/3 second is too close, but that's the way
>traffic moves in Memphis. Any further and you get cut off
>so often you'd be backing up!

That I can understand...sometimes all you can try to do is leave as much room as possible, without leaving so much that other people cut into it. In that case, I usually try to look 3 or 4 cars ahead of me so that I have more time to react if there's a problem.

I also try to avoid cities.

LK

 

I don't know why they call it common sense- it is so rare. I have had my worst wrecks and closest calls when driving safely. Any body that has driven I-95 accross the Thames river in New London, CT, knows people are morons. I left Groton one afternoon, drove accross the bridge at 55-60, the speed limit, when all of a sudden, this Chrysler New Yorker cut in front of me doing less than 40. And the driver was on a cell phone. I realized this was the same guy who had cut me off three times in Groton earlier. Even with a stop at Wal-mart, he managed to find me again. As if it wasn't bad enough, right after he cut me off, another car followed him over at 25! I almost had to stop on the highway, nearly got rear-ended, and my brakes wound up completely failing later that day. I blame it on these morons who do not understand what mirrors are for. I was the only vehicle in the right lane. They had no excuse. I shouldn't have locked up and almost hit the guardrail, I should have plowed the back end of at least one of them. It would have been their fault. I had another time, doing the 25mph speed limit on Briggs street, headlights on, in the right hand lane, when someone ran a stop sign on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD, and hit my truck. The cop said if I hadn't been there, they would have gone over the curb and into the woods! In Phoenix, same thing, same truck. Doing 40mph on the dot up 59th ave, some chick in a T-bird pulled out into my lane, and stopped! I locked up the brakes, and with my top heavy 'Yota, nearly rolled it. Please pay attention.

Jared

 

My opinion on speeding, well, I have no idea... I have not had a properly functioning speedometer in the last 4 years, and, I just go with the flow of traffic... Sure, my last truck had a heavily built 300 I-6 and this one a 460, but, that is no reason for me to put the pedal to the metal and hold it there until it just won't go any faster. I find that by not having a needle to tell me how fast I'm going, I have much less of an urge to see how fast I can go. I just go along with traffic, and, occasionally, I'll take a look at the tach and see how fast I am going... Where I live now, and in most other places I have lived, most of the roads are two lane, some with a passing lane now and then.. So, this whole fast lane thing is not something I have an opinion on...
One thing I have found with this F250, is that for the two months I lived in the city, I did not get cut off once, and, if someone merged from the right, they generally didn't get too close to me.. I'm thinking the beat up boit's orig. to the truck, which was rolled over) had something to do with it...
Where I live now, travel at night is risky buisness even if you have LOTS of candlepower and can see in the ditches because of the moose... Most transports here have moose catchers, and, no less than 6 150W or more lights facing forward in addition to the headlights.. Some of those guys have aircraft landing lights... For my truck, it's high and low beams wired with relays and set up so that the high beams are highs and lows. I also have a pair of 150W lights that will go on the nose, and be wired so that they will only be on with the high beams... that way, hit the dimmer switch, and, you don't blind someone...
Evan
86 F250 HD XLT Lariat Explorer 4x4 ex. Extended Cab: 460 with factory 2.25" catless duals to the muffler(still running the stocker aaargh)
/T19(syncroed granny low)/BW 1345/3.55 geared Full Floater 10.25 and Dana 50 TTB/ 265/75R16 Hankook FR04's on 16x8 Whitespokes(street tires... Need mudders)
78 F150, 351M/C6, eventually to be repowered with a 400

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 27-Nov-02 AT 04:45 AM (EST)]the thing is a lot of people dont understand driving yes a taller vehicle is going to shine more light in your mirror and that lets you no that there is a bigger vehicle behind you and a lot of times it is a semi, most people driving these little go carts and mini vans that love to pull out in front of them all the time and do 40 then decide they want to get off at a exit then decide its the wrong one i dont think it is a big truck issue i think it is lack of driver knowlodge i see it all the time and if you obsevre you will see it to

p.s people that drive these little cars and mini vans think they are running nascarr circuit or cart racing they weave in and out of traffic all the time watch and you will see what i am saying and also my truck on the rear bumper says your fault not mine and the front bumper has teeth take it how want to

i do recommend safe driving since i have a perfect
record bad 78 f 250

 

 

I must live in a fantasy world. When I'm on one of several interstates in my region, all I have to do is turn on my left turn signal and the driver in front of me gets the idea pretty quickly. No PIAA's, no bumper scraping, no drama, just a discreet flash.

Of course driving a 5,500 lb. Expedition may help my cause somewhat.

 

it seems to me that unless you are in the act of passing someone, you shouldn't be out in the "passing lane." BTW, you don't pass people while doing the speed limit, you get passed. the most annoying part about those who feel it is okay to do the speed limit in the "passing Lane" is that it makes life more difficult and dangerous for all. if you are doing hte speed limit, stay out of the passing lane, you don't belong there, pick one of the slower lanes.

i tend to drive too fast, and i accept responsiblity for what happens at speed, but please, if someone is coming up quickly behind you, have the common courtesy to get out of the way, then pull back in to hte passing lane to cruise.

besides, do you know that the person behind you doesn't have a perfectly good reason, besides liking to drive faster than you cautious drivers, for driving as fast as he/she does?

Merlin
'02 Supercrew

 

>Ok, you have convinced me, speeding is perfectly safe. Now
>can you please convince these people;
>
>> you have to love sarcasm. these people compile statistics about accidents, and invariably, the person speeding is said to be at fault. assuming that because we go faster than what the state says is safe, we must be reckless. (by the way, if we always did what the sate and feds said was safe, no one would leave thier homes, oh wait, home can be dangerous too.) maybe the accidents were caused by stupid people who don't bother to look in their mirrors before the quickly change lanes, pull out into traffic, lock up thier brakes as they enter the freeway because there isn't a hole they think they can fit into and generally, make the road more dangerous because they are ignorant of basic road courtesy.

it is easy to say it was someone else's fault, looks better on our insurance and in our conscience

this is not to say that some people who speed aren't dumber than a box or rocks. most people are taught to operate a vehicle, not to drive, and before you jump on me saying they are the same thing, they aren't, not even close, they are vastly different.

 

"coefficient of friction of 0.8, which is really pretty optimistic for a pickup"

The coefficient of friction is NOT related to the type or size of vehicle to which the tires are attached - only to the 2 materials between which the friction is measured, and to whether or not they're sliding in relation to each other.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Nov-02 AT 03:56 AM (EST)]This was an F-350 that got wiped by a tractor trailer.

http://www.jems.com/firerescue/im/e0112a_1.jpg

I guess he got in the way?

I guess that no matter how big your truck is there is always someone bigger

(PS I found this pic surfing around on the net)