This is unreal.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story...storyid=210547



You can't even tell what type of pickup truck it was. I looked through the pics first, and until reading the article I didn't even realize there was a truck.

 

I didn't realize there was a truck in there at first either.

Truck was a Chevy _____ with the Z71 package.

RIP.

 

Damn...trucks like that are pretty heavy duty and can take a beating. Just imagine what that would have looked like, if it were a car versus a truck. wacko.gif rip.gif

 

And I thought my day was bad. Gotta keep things in perspective.

 

+1

The other day the clerk at a store asked if I were having a good day. She didn't get it when I said "anyday you're not getting shot."

That truck got pwnt. THIS is why I refuse to let people tailgate me. I'll go 45 in a 70MPH zone until they realize the other lanes are faster, before risking being ^ that guy.

 

The article suggested the truck didn't realize the semi was stopped and slammed on his brakes. Considering the reaction time and stopping distance of a full school bus, combined with the impact of the other school bus... it just sucks. I would think the bus driver would've been able to see over the truck and notice the semi was stopped. dunno.gif

sad nonetheless

 

Not tailgating allows adequate time for the OODA loop to complete when you still have room to stop.

 

Do you follow any rules when trailing another vehicle? Something I was taught was to pick a landmark on the side of the road, and allow at least 3 seconds to pass from the time they pass-by to the time you get there. Add 1 second for every additional risk that's present (e.g., rain/weather conditions, low visibility, etc.)

 

I find it easier to use shadows (I mostly drive during the day). Every car casts a shadow even when there are no landmarks. The shadow of a car in front of me clears one of the lane-dividing stripes, and I count Mississippis until i drive over the same stripe. Then again I have been doing this for a while and I have normal depth perception. Usually i go with a following distance that seems safe, and if I wonder about it I'll count . . . and I'm usually pretty close, somewhere in the 2-3 sec. range. At night the technique is similar, but you use the time when the glare from the other guy's headlights stops shining, on the markers in adjacent lanes.

For people who drive close to the speed limit, safe following distances are something that happen automatically around here.

For tailgaters behind me, it depends on speed. If we're on a highway and I can't see your entire car in my rearview mirror, or in a low speed setting if I can't see your headlights (or bottom of windscreen! ) then you're going to be slowing down until you notice there's nobody slowing down in the other lane.

Jamming on the brakes is stupid. I just lift off the gas. For a while I had a sign on the back of the car (it faded from sun exposure) "I am going too slow because you are too close" in 1" high letters, and it worked. When the sign came off, the dumbassery behind my car got closer. I need to make another one of those. . . .