Trouble with tailgaters

[rocky5517]

New Jersey is just the state of tailgating. I live out in Bethlehem now but I lived in NJ for 27 years and still commute I78 every day to basking ridge. Every day I wake up and check my phone to see if someone decided to get in an accident on my commute, causing a half hour delay. More than once I've run into cases where we're driving along doing 75-80 in the left lane and all traffic comes to an immediate stop with people flying onto the shoulder to avoid an accident, either due to traffic build up or people slowing down because of the sun.

I'm glad I have the Brembos on my Mustang, they've saved my ass a few times for sure. Same with the Wilwoods on the Marauder and the Stoptechs on the M5. I always have to be mindful of the people behind me though as I don't need a Rav4 in my trunk.


You know what would decrease the number of commuter related accidents? If more companies allowed telecommuting (aka working from home)

I see a lot of really serious accidents an 78, especially Eastbound. A lot more than on turnpike and Parkway. Because most of them involve trucks, I wonder if the long distance drivers using 78 are on their "last leg" of the trip, NY being only 15-30 miles away) and keep on pushing the limit to get finished even though they're tired. What do you think?

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[Hadelson]

I see a lot of really serious accidents an 78, especially Eastbound.

My real job has me travelling up and down NE Roads. I78East between NJ Border and 287 split in the morning is extremely dangerous road from sunrise to 8:30 AM. Road is laid out due east and the rising sun blinds the drivers between these times. It is also a major commute lane for people working in the Central NJ area and access to NYC. Now the trucks. It's jammed up on Mondays with inbounds into greater Northeast. Late Monday into Tuesday, jammed up with trucks heading outbound from the NE. Process starts again Wednesday mornings and repeats itself.

 

[offroadkarter]

I see a lot of really serious accidents an 78, especially Eastbound. A lot more than on turnpike and Parkway. Because most of them involve trucks, I wonder if the long distance drivers using 78 are on their "last leg" of the trip, NY being only 15-30 miles away) and keep on pushing the limit to get finished even though they're tired. What do you think?

I think its a mix of distracted driving and people falling asleep at the wheel.

My real job has me travelling up and down NE Roads. I78East between NJ Border and 287 split in the morning is extremely dangerous road from sunrise to 8:30 AM. Road is laid out due east and the rising sun blinds the drivers between these times. It is also a major commute lane for people working in the Central NJ area and access to NYC. Now the trucks. It's jammed up on Mondays with inbounds into greater Northeast. Late Monday into Tuesday, jammed up with trucks heading outbound from the NE. Process starts again Wednesday mornings and repeats itself.

You've described my life. In fact this very morning, I believe I had just made it past exit 12 when my ETA to work spiked up by 20 minutes. Somewhere around Lebanon, eastbound, a chevy express van from Michigan absolutely ass blasted a new dodge ram. Van's whole nose was shoved in and the tailgate and bed of the ram had to be knocked in at least a foot or more.

I am sure I'll wake up in about 4 hours (ugh) check my phone and it'll say "53min ETA, traffic getting heavy" as it does every morning.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I see a lot of really serious accidents an 78, especially Eastbound. A lot more than on turnpike and Parkway. Because most of them involve trucks, I wonder if the long distance drivers using 78 are on their "last leg" of the trip, NY being only 15-30 miles away) and keep on pushing the limit to get finished even though they're tired. What do you think?

Eastbound is going to have a morning sun glare problem that's at least as bad for truck drivers as it is for us four-wheeler drivers.

Commercial drivers are strictly limited with respect to on-duty and actual driving time. If anything is making them push harder toward the end of an 11 hour drive time or 14 hour on-duty time, it's the inflexibility of electronic logs (that are now mandated with only a few exceptions). Log violations go against the driver, pretty much regardless of reason. And receivers have been known to refuse loads that arrived later than scheduled.

Trucks may be involved in many accidents, but fault has been shown to lie with the "four-wheeler" driver more often than not. One of the reasons many truck drivers now run dash cams.

My son and son-in-law both drive 18-wheelers.


Norm

 

[ctandc72]

As a former motorcycle rider - who commuted 9-10 months out of the year and rode in all conditions - rain or shine and averaged about 10K miles a year on a motorcycle....I will say that the problem lies in the simple fact that most people aren't paying attention to driving. It really is that simple. Most of the time it's their phone, a passenger, their radio or simply zoned out. I remember the "good old days" when people who cut you off / drove like assholes - they were simply being assholes. To me that's preferable over other "drivers" who cut you off etc because they simply DON'T SEE YOU because they aren't paying attention.

I will tell you - that being a rider made me a MUCH better driver over the years. I taught a few of my buddies to ride street bikes and initially they would think I was joking that while I was riding in traffic I basically "played a game" of knowing what color / type of vehicles were surrounding me. I always rode with one earbud and music playing - (in VA - ONE earbud is legal - two is not) it helped me rather than distracted me. I got so used to watching other driver's head motions / body language through their mirrors or their windows (looking to jump in another lane, or not looking where they were going - distracted) and picking up on how other people were driving that I tended to predict when they were going to jump over a lane unexpectedly or when they were going to have to slam on brakes because of the car in front of them etc. I still do it.

I tried to pass a lot of that on to my now 22 year old son. Coincidence or not - his driving record is spotless.....but he still gets penalized by insurance companies for being male, unmarried and under 25 years old regardless. LOL.

Much of it is tunnel vision. People don't drive defensively at all. They drive passively. They simply see the car as a way to get from Point A to Point B and many times they are focused on anything BUT their driving. It's only getting worse. While better automotive technology is great - I feel it's making drivers less and less involved. Blind spot detection, reverse cameras, parking assistance - that's all great. It's reducing accidents...but at what cost?

What happens when technology fails? I work with it everyday - there's no way I'd ever trust my life solely to a safety feature in a new vehicle. Call it "trust but verify".

As far as large commercial trucks - the problem is that most drivers do not have a clue about the simple physics involved in a truck that EMPTY with a trailer can weight 30,000lbs or more. They simply can't stop like a vehicle that weighs less than 4,000lbs.

I've been driving a stick shift daily for 30 years. I downshift and engine brake without even thinking about it. I also end up flashing brake lights when I notice drivers behind me not paying attention.

That's just my two cents. That and $1.50 might buy you a cup of cheap coffee.

 

[Norm Peterson]

As far as large commercial trucks - the problem is that most drivers do not have a clue about the simple physics involved in a truck that EMPTY with a trailer can weight 30,000lbs or more. They simply can't stop like a vehicle that weighs less than 4,000lbs.

Never mind that 18-wheeler truck tires are built with such qualities as durability and low rolling resistance more in mind than maximum grip. Pilot Sport Cups, RE-71's or Hoosiers, they're not.

I wish you could have coached the rider who shot out from behind a car turning off from in front of him and who suddenly found himself staring at traffic - this being in a traffic circle no less - that was nearly at a full stop.


Norm

 

[ctandc72]

Never mind that 18-wheeler truck tires are built with such qualities as durability and low rolling resistance more in mind than maximum grip. Pilot Sport Cups, RE-71's or Hoosiers, they're not.

I wish you could have coached the rider who shot out from behind a car turning off from in front of him and who suddenly found himself staring at traffic - this being in a traffic circle no less - that was nearly at a full stop.
Norm

I was doing an iron butt ride years ago. It was like 3am, on a lonely stretch of interstate - I think in GA - when I was leisurely passing a tractor trailer. One of his trailer tires let go. No wobble, no warning, just the sound of a 40mm cannon going off about 5 feet from me. Something whizzed by my face. A piece of tire most likely. After that day I never rode beside a tractor trailer if AT ALL possible. I passed quickly. I once got pulled over for passing 80mph in a 65mph zone when passing a tractor trailer. Handed the trooper my license / registration and he asked "Do you know why I pulled over?" When I replied with "Probably because I was over 80 when I passed that truck.." He gave me a weird look. I simply told him I'd rather deal with a ticket (totally clean record) than deal with another tire blowing up right next to me. He gave me a warning and mumbled something like "better you than me.."

As for riders - you can almost always tell about the experience of the rider by whether or not they are wearing gear. When I see a guy on a sport bike (I rode sport bikes and sport touring type bikes) riding in shorts or jeans and a t-shirt with athletic shoes, I always give them a wide berth. If you ride enough on the street and in traffic, it's only a matter of time before you go down. It doesn't matter how good you are or aren't. Eventually you WILL have a get off. Anyone who has ever experienced asphalt at even low speeds -when wearing just normal blue jeans / pants or god forbid shorts - and who STILL doesn't wear decent protective gear, doesn't have much of a self-preservation instinct, so I keep my distance.

 

[rick81721]

Install a set of MAK cat-deletes, an x-pipe, and a Roush axle-back exhaust and you will never have someone tailgating you.

This. I drive in jersey all the time and never had an issue with tailgaters. Exhaust always in sport mode!

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