Today, we covered how we follow other vehicles down the road.
Did you know that according to the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course for Professional Truck Drivers, a fully loaded truck at 80,000 that is traveling at speeds of 65 miles per hour on good and ideal roads and conditions needs about 525 feet to stop?
Something else to think about, a car in the same weather and road conditions needs only 316 feet to stop at 65 miles per hour. Big difference, right?
So, when you are driving your truck down the road, you must leave enough room in front of you while you are following those cars out there. They can stop in a much shorter distance than we can, and if they suddenly apply their brakes and need to come to a stop, they will be nothing more than a messy speed bump to us if we are tailgating them.
Did you also know that once a car at 65 miles per hour has had its brakes applied, that the brake lights come on after they have already traveled about 35 feet? So, if that driver suddenly has to apply the brakes, it may be too late.
One time, when my family was visiting Pennsylvania, my parents and my sisters were in a car traveling on the turnpike. They said that a big rig began tailgating them. They were already traveling at the posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour. This was back in 1986.
Then, as my father was driving the car, my sisters were getting scared because the truck was so close. My father sped up and so did the truck. Before they knew it, they were traveling at speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour while that truck stayed right on their tail. My family was clearly frightened by this whole episode.
Finally, the truck driver decided to pass them on a downhill and as quickly as he showed up behind their car, he had dissappeared. They couldn't believe what they had just gone through. My sisters were crying and my Mom was deep in prayer for their safety. My father was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal because their fate was in the hands of his ability to control the car at high rates of speed in unfamiliar territory.
After they traveled several miles, they came upon a sight that they couldn't believe. The truck that had been tailgating them was pulled over on the side of the turnpike in a parking area. The driver was nowhere to be seen. Probably in his sleeper catching up on some sleep and letting his logbook catch up with him.
Now, this scenario was real. It should not have been. There is no reason why anyone should be traveling so close to someone else that they cause that driver to be forced down the road at speeds other than that which is posted or safe.
If my father had blown a tire on the car, or if there were debris in the road, or worse yet, an accident ahead of them, they would have all seen a fate that we just don't want to even imagine.
Kind of a gorry story, but it needs to be told. It is very important that we keep our distance from the vehicles in front of us.
United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) says that we should keep about a 7 second distance from the vehicle in front of us when we are traveling at speeds greater than 45 miles per hour.
When you count that off at 65 miles per hour, it doesn't seem that far away. When conditions change in front of the vehicle you are following and they have to change their driving habits, that 7 second following distance will close up in such a quick time that it will feel like you are traveling at 100 miles per hour or more. It's that quick. A snap of a finger.
You can keep a good distance no matter what the conditions are. Poor visibility, keep your distance even farther, or just pull over in a safe place until the conditions improve. In heavy traffic, slow down to a mere crawl and keep about 3 car lengths between you and the vehicle in front of you. If someone invades your space, it's okay. They were going faster than you when they cut in. Just let off the throttle and you will regain it. You don't need to brake unless traffic comes to a stop. But as you see, you can keep your distance just by staying back. It is less stessful on you and your equipment.
Tailgating is also very fatiguing. Where is your focus? It's on the vehicle in front of you, not on the road or your job at hand. You stare at that vehicle because you don't want to hit them, yet you feel that you must be so close that you can read the tags on their license plates.
Next thing you know, they take an exit and you remain on the highway. Now what? You have nothing to stare at anymore and you begin to relax because you were so focused on that vehicle in front of you. You begin to feel your eyes get heavy and yawning becomes almost constant.
Before you know it, you want to pull over and go to sleep. By keeping your distance, you don't have to fatigue yourself and you can get to where you need to go just as quickly and safely. Pace yourself. Give yourself time to get where you need to go so you don't have to push others out of your way. Don't be the bully of the road, whether you are in a car, truck or RV.
Safety is number one with all of us out on the road. It takes everyone together to keep each other safe out there.
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