Its jackwagons like that make a valid case for the continuing relevance of unions.
You can make compelling arguments about efficiency, corporate responsiveness, the global marketplace…but there is always the business owner, when forced to choose between workers’ safety and saving money, will choose to cut corners.
Imagine if there was a bad accident, and the only working door was crushed, and won’t open
In those situations, it’s not always so easy to think rationally
Some guys might grab the inside door handle, in an effort to get out, because they forgot that their cheapskate boss was unwilling to fix the door latches
And they’ve lost precious time
If they’re lucky, they’ll remember to lower the windows
But let’s face reality . . . some of us are pretty big, and will have a hard time crawling out the window
The Boss and company owner needs a reality check occasionally,his cousins(which used to be my employer) would let you put up with a seat that wouldnt work correctly and the seat cover would be damaged among other things and would ridicule you if you had a safety concern at they very beginning they wouldnt even furnish ear plugs,I caught a lot of heat because I would occasionally confront them,last time it cost me my job,the bad thing was the other guys were sheep and wouldnt back you up-Kevin
@kmccume I sympathize with you and all who drive cars a business provides that you don’t feel comfortable or safe driving. My son in law worked as an insurance adjuster, driving to and from accidents in an SUV that handled terribly. Sure, it might have been important to have 4/Awd, but buying fleet cars because they are cheap, or worse yet, avoiding good maintenance on older vehicles( like yours) and forcing your employees to drive them, isn’t right. I know it’s easy for some of us to be a little judgmental, and sorry if it seems that way, but the employers often have their workers over a barrel, especially if it’s a job they need…and who doesn’t. It’s tough and no one has an easy answer.
The military ambulance I drove in the service though well maintained, was antiquated and just wasn’t as safe as it could be IMO, tooling down the highway at 65 to 75 mph going to a call. I felt a little guilty driving so slowly with a patient in the back, going to a hospital. But, getting there was as important as getting there quickly. No easy answers.
@kmccune, do you know who insures your company trucks? You might make an anonymous call and alert the to the unsafe condition of the vehicles. Maybe they will do something about it. Maybe not, but unsafe trucks might increase their liability in an accident, and that might get them to do at least warn your boss, raise his rates, or something else.
@keith
I completely agree with you about not making a situation worse by trying to teach the tailgater a lesson. Let’s face it … it’s only going to annoy and frustrate the tailgater, and it’s pretty much a certainty that he/she won’t learn anything. (Trying to teach any other driver a lesson is guaranteed to be an effort in futility and is doomed to fail.)
When surrounded by a nice large hunk of metal, most of us … myself included, I hate to admit … allow ourselves to react emotionally on occasion.
If you think about the purpose of driving, with some exceptions it is primarily to get from one place to another safely. On my better days, I try and keep in mind that if I can help others also get to their destination safely and without too much frustration, we’re all better off.
That’s the difference between seeing the guy in the rear view mirror who’s jumping back and forth between lanes and you move closer to the car ahead while thinking “You’re not getting in front of me, you jerk!”, or noticing him but just keeping an eye on him and thinking “I’d rather have him in front of me than behind or beside me!”.
As I said … on my better days!
A person was once telling a story to a police officer friend about a driver on the freeway who was driving erratically, occasionally crossing over the lane stripes, speed varying constantly. As he finally found some room to zoom around past the car, he could see the driver was texting. Our officer friend just smiled slightly and said “And do you really think you want to be in front of him?”
@JT,good idea-but the real problem is lax inspections and as long as part of the system fails to uphold thier part of the pyramid of safety,there will be problems.My biggest goal right now is to make to retirement age without hurting someone or dying on the Job,the cracks seem to ever widen-Kevin
Well, I’ve been tailgated more than once, I used to escort wide loads or long loads during the summer to make money. That meant that I couldn’t drive any faster then the truck. I was escorting a mobile home. Some guy in a Z car was on my bumper, now realized I have a amber flashing light on the top of my car with a wide long load sign. You can SEE the mobile home in front of me with a flashing light and a huge sign. And on top of that we were going the same speed as the traffic around us. This guy was only feet from my bumper, then he passed me and got right behind the mobile home, I radioed the driver that someone was between us and that he was very close to the back end of the trailer. The guy must not have been paying attention to where he was, because suddenly he tried to make an exit. I say tried because he took out a 4x4 holding up the exit sign with his car. He hit the 4x4 right in the center of his front bumper. I radioed the driver on what happened, and he asked me just what was he supposed to do? He’s hauling a 16 x 80 trailer it’s not like he was going to stop and help. I often wonder if the guy learned anything that day.
I’ve been rear-ended twice (while stopped at traffic lights). Nothing like looking in the mirror and seeing the name brand of the other car’s windshield wipers, just before the crash. Hate tailgating. Same kind of “Oh No!” feeling.
Left Mansfield to go to Columbus on I-71. Keeping “assured clear distance” to the car in front of me. A guy pulls into the gap, so I back off a little. The gap is filled again. I back off again. This repeats many times.
Next thing I know, I am in downtown Cleveland!
I exited 279 N in Pittsburgh once at 60 MPH with a Mitsubishi Eclipse less than a car length behind me. I gently swerved around a 5 gal. pickle bucket and he caught it right in the middle of his front fascia. It made quite a sound!
I have been driving legally (age 15) for 46 years ( learned to drive when I was 13). 11 years commercial. I have experienced what I think are several variations of “tailgaters”. 1). Some drivers through some weird “herd instinct” must be close to the vehicle in front of them. they don’t seem to be angry or in a hurry. 2). Drivers who are “running late” and are frustrated. It’s not my problem that you can never allow enough time to not be late! 3). “The road rager”. Though you have done nothing wrong they think you have and usually express their rage by tailgating. A couple of years ago I was following a late model Honda Civic on a 2 lane highway at night. I was at more than a safe distance. They turned on the road where I turn to go home. They pulled across the road and stopped. As I passed them they pulled out and tailgated me with their headlights on bright! After a few seconds I realized they thought I had been following them with my brights on and needed to be punished. I flicked my brights a couple of times and they turned theirs to low beam and backed way off. 4). The tailgater that will not pass. This one took me a long while to figure out. With no oncoming traffic for a mile they will not pass. I would pull as far to the right as I could, slow and even hand signal them to pass. I finally realized they did not want to pass. They wanted me to increase my speed. It is a “control thing”!
I believe some tailgaters feel they have power when they’re on somebody’s ass and that guy either speeds up or moves over
I will assume that many of those tailgaters have low paying, dead-end jobs and a horrible relationship with their significant others
It’s pathetic, but that feeling of power is probably the only satisfaction they get in their petty lives
"Years ago, I was driving an underpowered car, and the light turned yellow. I knew I wouldn’t make it across before it turned red, so I stopped."
It reminds me of my favorite humorous accident report. “As the light turned red the car in front of me unexpectedly stopped”. I can’t believe the number of posters stating that tailgating is not dangerous as the speed differential is not that much! If you hit the vehicle in front of you off center at a 5 mph speed differential you have probably accomplished a PIT maneuver. You know. The one law enforcement uses to spin the fleeing vehicle!!!
“The vehicle in front of me unexpectedly stopped.”
Don’t these yahoos know that they’re supposed to leave enough distance, so that they won’t hit the guy in front when he “unexpectedly” stops?
LOL
If someone flashes their brights at you and yours aren’t on, it might be a good idea to check your headlights’ alignment to make sure they’re pointed where they are supposed to be.
I work for AT&T. We have to do defensive driving courses every six months. It used to be the tap on the brake pedal thing for a long time. It in the past 7 to 8 years they changed it. The brake thing will anger people, then you have possible road rage. Now the proper thing to do is to very slowly decrease your speed. I do it all the time, and it works beautifully. They are in a hurry so they just get out from behind you and pass.
“Now the proper thing to do is to very slowly decrease your speed. I do it all the time, and it works beautifully”
That is the proper thing to do, but I have to tell you that it doesn’t always work beautifully.
A few years ago, I was being tailgated by a woman, despite the fact that I was already driving slightly over the speed limit, and there were cars in front of me. And, when I say, “tailgating”, I am talking about the “3 feet in back of my rear bumper” type of tailgating.
So…I slowly decreased my speed, and she did not back off.
I then decreased my speed a bit more, and she still did not back off.
At the next traffic light, she stopped next to me, angrily asked something along the lines of, “What do you think you are doing?”, and my response was, “The closer you get, the slower I go”.
She cursed at me, and proceeded to make an illegal left turn, narrowly avoiding an accident. However, I’m sure that she still thinks that she is an excellent driver and that I am nuts.
“she cursed at me, and proceeded to make an illegal left turn”
So much for the theory that women are better behaved
So much for the theory that women are better drivers
LOL