jmsellens@watmath.UUCP (John M Sellens) (04/25/85)
As soon as it is safe, pull over to let the truck pass. Note the name of the company and the tractor or trailer number, or licence number. Write to the trucking company with enough information that they will be able to figure out who was driving it (i.e. date/time/location). Watch company come down hard on the driver.
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (04/26/85)
I seem to remember, about 7 years ago, of somebody suing one of these tailgaters for "psychological distress" (It seems they were in the right lane, the trucker remained 1 foot behind the guy's bumper for over 100 miles and never pulled around to pass, regardless of what the first driver did.), as he had his entire family in the car, and won the case for quite a bit of money. Of course, the incedent was fairly excessive... -- James C Armstrong, Jnr. ihnp4!abnji!nyssa Chap with wings there, five rounds rapid!
mike@enmasse.UUCP (Mike Schloss) (04/29/85)
> I seem to remember, about 7 years ago, of somebody suing one of these > tailgaters for "psychological distress" (It seems they were in the > right lane, the trucker remained 1 foot behind the guy's bumper for > over 100 miles and never pulled around to pass, regardless of what the > first driver did.) Didn't someone (Steven Spielberg) do a movie on this?
man@bocar.UUCP (M Nevar) (05/03/85)
>> I seem to remember, about 7 years ago, of somebody suing one of these >> tailgaters for "psychological distress" (It seems they were in the >> right lane, the trucker remained 1 foot behind the guy's bumper for >> over 100 miles and never pulled around to pass, regardless of what the >> first driver did.) > >Didn't someone (Steven Spielberg) do a movie on this? Yes. It was a made-for-tv movie that came out in the early seventies. It was called Duel! At the end, the driver kills the trucker. It was a great movie. Last year, some studio tried to cash-in on Spielberg's popularity by releasing it to theatres, but I don't think it caught on. Mark
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/06/85)
I don't know what all of this fuss is about tailgating 18-wheelers? I do it often. I find me an 18 wheeler, call him on my CB, tell him I am tucked up under his bumper, and practically take my foot off the gas. We call it drafting. A lot of truckers go allong with it and keep in touch as to when he is going to slow down or hit the brakes. You would be surprised at how much gas you can save by drafting. |-) T.C. Wheeler
bobn@bmcg.UUCP (Bob Nebert) (05/08/85)
> I don't know what all of this fuss is about tailgating 18-wheelers? > > I do it often. I find me an 18 wheeler, call him on my CB, tell > him I am tucked up under his bumper, and practically take my > foot off the gas. We call it drafting. A lot of truckers go > allong with it and keep in touch as to when he is going to > slow down or hit the brakes. You would be surprised at how > much gas you can save by drafting. |-) > T.C. Wheeler If you think some bozo is not going to try this .............
ugzannin@sunybcs.UUCP (Adrian Zannin) (05/15/85)
> I don't know what all of this fuss is about tailgating 18-wheelers? > > I do it often. I find me an 18 wheeler, call him on my CB, tell > him I am tucked up under his bumper, and practically take my > foot off the gas. We call it drafting. A lot of truckers go > allong with it and keep in touch as to when he is going to > slow down or hit the brakes. You would be surprised at how > much gas you can save by drafting. |-) > T.C. Wheeler Excuse me T.C., but the discussion (at least when I started it) was about 18-wheelers tailgating YOU, not you tailgating them. Care to tell us how you feel about having it the other way (the truck about 1 ft. off your rear bumper)? I'd like to hear from you. -- Adrian Zannin ..{burdvax,rocksvax,bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksanne,watmath}!sunybcs!ugzannin BITNET: CS24173@SUNYABVA
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/20/85)
Excuse me Adrian and the others who didn't finish reading the article. If you will notice there is a |-) at the end of the article. Doesn't anyone bother to finish reading something before flaming? If you folks will read the title of the article it says, "Tailgating Truckers". That is the funny part. It should read Truckers Tailgating. Oh! Never Mind. (With apologies to Sat. Night Live News) T. C. Wheeler
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/20/85)
On the real subject of trucks tailgating, I have had little trouble since I installed a CB. If I see one coming up, I first look for somewhere else to be by the time he gets too close. If I can't get out of the way, I call them and let them kno call them and let them know that I will get out of the way as soon as possible. This seems to work quite well, at least for me. I also tell them when they have made it past me and that it is clear to move over or whatever. 99 percent of the drivers are reasonable and appreciate the information. I have never had a problem so for. Manys the time I have run in front of big rigs on ice covered roads to pass ice patch information back to a line of trucks. I was driving a VW bug back and forth some 300 miles twice a week and I got to know a lot of truckers. The only thing a trucker wants from someone in a small car with a CB is a little respect. I tend to give them that and have found that they respond in kind. There are, of course, that 1% that are complete jerks. They are not too hard to spot as they seem to tear down the highway oblivious to anyone else (come to think of it, we have car drivers of the same mentakcd bin mentality). A good rule of thumb is to get out of the way of any truck that is going down a hill. He is probably trying to get up enough speed to make the next hill without having to slow down to 5mph and shift to granny low. T. C. Wheeler