4-Wheeler Almost Hits Me

This isn't directed at Daniel or anyone....just a thought on watching your mirrors...

I've always been a huge proponent of watching your mirrors at all times. I think when it comes to safety, watching your mirrors should be one of your very top priorities - just a smudge under the importance of watching out your windshield. You have to know what is going on around you continuously and you'll almost always see that kind of stuff coming.

You keep glancing in your mirrors and noting the speed that everyone around you is running. Naturally you're aware of the speed everyone in front of you is running also. Knowing the speeds of all vehicles on all sides of you should give you a picture in your mind of what's going to be happening in the next few seconds. Who is going to switch lanes? Who is going to slow down or speed up? Who's getting on or off the ramps? Will someone be in the lane next to me or will it be clear? Is there a shoulder or (Heaven forbid) field or median I can use as an escape if something goes wrong in front of me?

Envisioning the speeds of all vehicles around you makes it pretty easy to predict what most people around you will do in the next 5-10 seconds. That helps you plan your "outs" or your "escape plan" in case something drastic happens around you. And remember, bad things don't just happen in front of you. I've had plenty of vehicles go sideways and start spinning alongside me over the years and a couple of times I swerved over enough to avoid contact. If I hadn't been watching my mirrors I would have been involved in a wreck that was happening 50 feet behind the cab that I had nothing to do with at all.

Daniel's situation is the perfect example of how glancing in your left hand mirror during the process of a right hand turn can help you avoid a wreck. Now who would've thought you should be watching the opposite mirror in a turn? Who would have thought someone was about to make a crazy move like that?

Well, if you saw him coming up alongside you that almost certainly would have thrown a red flag in your mind. In the process of watching your mirrors a minute or two earlier you may have noticed that he was driving aggressively and looking to pass people. Maybe he was tailgating you for a little while and you could see he was annoyed. So when you stopped to make a turn and you saw him suddenly come up quickly alongside you, you would have thought, "Oh geez. Here comes this guy. He's probably fed up with me and gonna do something dumb." Then sure enough, right on cue like you're a fortune teller, he makes some crazy move like that and you sit back safely and watch, shrug your shoulders (cuz it happens all the time out there), and calmly continue on safely with your trip.

Just another hour in another day for truckers.

If you want to do risky things like driving a truck and you want to do them safely over a long period of time you have to remain vigilant and yet have a calm, clear mind at all times. I have to say....I've always done a lot of risky things:

• 15 years of trucking
• riding dirtbikes
• snowboarding at 60+ mph down mountains
• climbing trees for two years with my tree service and hanging 30-90 feet up from a 1/2 inch rope with a chainsaw all day long

...stuff like that. I've never broken a bone, never had a stitch, never tore up anything - nuthin. I've had to go to the hospital once in my entire life and that was a few years ago because a cat bit me and I needed a tetanus shot. Seriously. The mistakes I've made over the years were fortunately small ones and of course by the grace of God a little luck made all the difference sometimes.

But let me tell ya....the most important line of defense you can have when doing something risky is to assume that you will see something happen almost every day that was a one in a million shot. Things you wouldn't have dreamed would happen even one or two seconds before it did. And when they're over, you're going to think, "My God I'll never see anything like that again the rest of my life and nobody will believe this when I tell em!" You'll see cars do a 360 and keep on going without leaving their lane. Total luck. You'll see a deer run full speed across 6 lanes of traffic moving 70 mph like he was shot out of a cannon, jump the middle barrier and guardrails, and make it without a scratch. You'll be driving along on a beautiful sunny morning in June in light traffic watching the scenery and suddenly a big rig will go barrel rolling one and a half times over at 70 mph right in front of you as parts and pieces and huge clumps of soil are shooting through the air in all directions like fireworks.

All of that stuff and 10,000 other things that were one in a million happened over the years. And that's just trucking. There are probably 10,000 crazy things for all of the various things I've done over the years.

So always assume that if something is possible it may just happen and you better prepare for it. As I drove down the road I continuously calculated what I thought might happen at any given moment. There was no such thing as "That's not likely enough to worry about". Everything that is possible is worth worrying about when you're driving an 80,000 pound rig in a dynamic environment all the time.

Brett, I can't tell if you think I wasn't watching my mirrors or not but I was. That guy was never in the picture until that so there was never anyone on my "he's reckless watch out for him" list.

And I was watching everything closely. But eventually you take your eyes off your left mirror and focus on your turn and then your right mirror gets the attention. This guy came up so fast that you just couldn't spot him unless you're watching your left mirror on a right turn. Some things you cannot control and this was it.

Brett, I can't tell if you think I wasn't watching my mirrors or not but I was.

I wasn't saying that at all. That's why I said in the first line that my comments weren't directed at you or anyone else. It's just some general thoughts on watching your mirrors and remaining vigilant for crazy things like that. What happened to you was an awesome example of how the craziest things can happen completely out of the blue in an instant.

Brett, I can't tell if you think I wasn't watching my mirrors or not but I was.

I wasn't saying that at all. That's why I said in the first line that my comments weren't directed at you or anyone else. It's just some general thoughts on watching your mirrors and remaining vigilant for crazy things like that. What happened to you was an awesome example of how the craziest things can happen completely out of the blue in an instant.

Yeah I posted that when I just woke up. Saw it after I posted it. Long night in Phoenix with my APU broken. Hardly slept! Eh.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Jeezzzzzz! They were late for their own funeral! After spending 8 years in the surgery department of a major medical center I've seen what happens to people after they are pulled from their twisted wreck of a car and it still surprises me how inattentive folks are when driving. Just glad they didnt trade paint with ya.

Oh, also, as a side note for you 2 wheel drivers out there, put a damn helmet on and wear some safety gear. Do not be the jackwagon that noodles around on his crotch rocket wearing shorts and a pair flip flops. I've seen how that plays out too many times.

Daniel when your apu breaks our bunk heater breaks will they allow you to idle the truck for a.c. or heat? I thought about that last night reading your other thread.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Jeezzzzzz! They were late for their own funeral! After spending 8 years in the surgery department of a major medical center I've seen what happens to people after they are pulled from their twisted wreck of a car and it still surprises me how inattentive folks are when driving. Just glad they didnt trade paint with ya.

Oh, also, as a side note for you 2 wheel drivers out there, put a damn helmet on and wear some safety gear. Do not be the jackwagon that noodles around on his crotch rocket wearing shorts and a pair flip flops. I've seen how that plays out too many times.

Years ago when I use to ride a motorcycle I always wore a helmet. No way I would not wear one. I know there are people that refuse to wear helmets and it's not the rides that cause the accidents. It's the other people that are around them most times with a few knucklehead exceptions out there.

Daniel when your apu breaks our bunk heater breaks will they allow you to idle the truck for a.c. or heat? I thought about that last night reading your other thread.

The only excuse to idle at Prime is if your APU breaks. Sadly, they aren't very durable so it seems they breakdown often. Bunk heater hardly ever have any issues.

I didn't idle all night, but I did wake up a few times to turn on my truck until it got a little colder because it simply got too hot in the truck.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I would have played them the song of my people at the next light along with the brights

I'm proud to be the headline in our newest article! Haha!