Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 09:50:01 -0500
Reply-To: Joel Walker <jwalker@URONRAMP.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <jwalker@URONRAMP.NET>
Subject: Re: Tail lights 'n gators (vent)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> God I HATE tailgaters and it seems there are more of them than not these
> days! It's a really agressive and stupid thing to do. I feel like the
> biggest morons can put me and others at risk.......and a bunch of them
STILL
> DO IT IN HEAVILY RAINY/FOGGY CONDITIONS!!!
after all these years of driving, i think i've got it figured out:
people tailgate because they are NOT thinking about what they are doing.
it's that simple.
most folks out there think they are still in their living room, sitting in a
chair. they do not realize they are in a 4000 lb piece of machinery,
hurtling along at 88 feet per second (or faster!) ... that's "only" 60 miles
per hour. think about that for a second. whoops! you just went 88 feet!!!
... or about 30 yards/meters! from the 30 yard-line to the goal line. from
home plate to first base ...in ONE second!!!
so basically, most drivers are complacent and stupid and negligent. pure and
simple. and, regrettably, they are like that in other parts of their lives
as well.
so what do you do? well ... you just have to try to stay away from them, and
watch out for them. sort of like walking through a herd of cattle... be
careful where you step and watch out for the horns. :)
now, the 18-wheelers, that's another story. they are just morons, intent on
hurtling down the highway to make money. they think they are getting paid by
the hour instead of the mile. trouble is, the trucking companies are hiring
anybody who can pass the CDL test (and most any moron can pass it!! if you
can read English, you'll probably get at least a 60 on the test). and these
new drivers have no idea how to judge speed and distance in a 80,000 lb
truck. plus they get pissed off at cars because of the traffic volume. well,
hell, fellow, if you didn't know there were gonna be other people on the
road, you're in the wrong job! for someone who supposedly is a
"professional" driver, the vast majority of them are idiots nowadays. it
didn't used to be that way, about 10 years ago ... but all these new
driving-school graduates are basically morons who were/are incapable of
handling/driving their own automobiles safely, and now we've allowed them to
drive monstrous trucks! i used to notice maybe one bad truck driver out of
ten, but now those numbers have reversed themselves ... it's rare to see a
truck driver who plans his lane changes and watches his speeds. mostly they
roar up behind you, trying to intimidate you out of THEIR way ... cause they
are paying much higher taxes than you (really? i thought the trucking
COMPANY paid all those taxes, not the drivers!) and they're bigger than you
and they'll run over you if you don't get out of the way.
had a bad wreck because of that just a couple of days ago ... trucker was
coming down a hill and tailigated a car ...got too close and bumped the car,
spinning it out of control .. turning it sideways in front of the car ...
pushed it sideways for almost a mile before the truck got stopped. luckily
no one in the car was hurt ... but it could easily have gotten really nasty.
anyway, them's my rantings and i'm sticking to 'em! :)
joel
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