You Mean People Don't Love The DOT?

This post is an off shoot from another thread but it got to long so I thought I would give it's own thread. The comment that caused me to take notice was....

For some reason I love to bend the rules. My greatest satisfaction comes when I can proudly think to myself, "Up yours DOT!". They are an obstacle that you have to overcome. I will never forget how one of my classroom safety videos started out with "DOT is your best friend out there on the road..."

I don't take the attitude of Us against Them when it comes to the dot. I look at it like this. They have a job to do just like I have a job to do and if I am doing my job to the best of my ability then I will never have to worry about the dot. Have had two inspections in the last 5 months and both have been clean. Sometimes I think the dot should be a bit tougher with some drivers.

The thing is we, as in the trucking industry, has put ourselves in the position we right now. We are the reason the law makers are passing new laws instead of enforcing the ones they have already. We have no one to blame but ourselves and now we are paying the price for it.

While it's true most of us are adults and know our limits it's the few that spoil it for everyone. We, the trucking industry as a whole, all have to do the right thing or we all pay the price. If we all were doing what we are supposed to be doing drivers would not be falling asleep behind the wheel and causing major wreck or driving off the road.

So everytime someone thinks they get over on the dot, it's not the dot they are saying "Screw You" to, it's saying "Screw You" to every driver out here on the road that is actually trying their best to do their job and stay out of trouble.

The picture below shows why we need the DOT out here on the road. We can not regulate ourselves.

Below is a picture I took. Notice anything not right about it? Probably most people would not see much in the picture. Now what if I pointed out the lines on the ground in the middle of the road? I bet something is nagging at you. Forget everything about the picture except the guy changing lanes with the boat and the truck behind him. Look at the lines on the ground. Notice how much space is in between each line in the center of the road and then notice the line from of the truck to the rear of the boat. Now do you notice anything wrong with the picture? I estimate roughly 10 to 15 foot from the trucks front bumper to the back of the boat. Wonder how I know that? Look at the car behind the truck and where he is in the road and where his car fits in between the two dashes and look at the spacing between the truck and the boat again. That blue car could not even fit in the amount of spacing between the truck and the boat.

Sad thing is this picture is only one of the hundreds of things I see out here on a daily basis. I know first hand about the four wheelers not being safe as I have showed everyone the video from my dash cam but for even one yahoo to drive a truck like this is reason enough for DOT to be out here doing the job we can't do ourselves. We can't police ourselves so someone has to.