Archives

The two messages exchanged and the pic pretty much tell the story.
Manager's name suppressed, but would be easy to determine.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

From: *Hobbit*
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 3:06 PM
To: (Safety Manager)
Subject: incident report w/ picture

Hi -- we talked earlier today. Here's the picture I
snagged of the misbehavior going on:

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/pix/misc/81abenaqui.jpg

It was taken somewhere in the Burlington/Woburn area, eastbound
on 128, on 15-May-2010 at 12:54 PM [a little earlier than I had
indicated on the call, but that's what my camera data says].
I noticed the situation first behind me, and it didn't change
as the pair came past me and continued on ahead -- i.e. it
wasn't like the blue car had just jumped in front of the truck.
This was all at normal speeds for that road, around 55 or a
little less; if the lane stripes are the standard ones this
shows about one 40-foot interval between the vehicles; at 55 MPH
or about 80 feet per second, that's a half-second of following
distance maintained over the long term. Not the example of
professionalism you want to be demonstrating for the motoring
public, I suspect.

You'll notice a nice comfortable buffer ahead of *me*...

I do try to do my little part when convenient and safe by calling
this kind of stuff when I see it -- sometimes at the expense of
my own trip-time if I am actually the one involved and I feel
threatened, and efforts to communicate the discomfort and desire
for more distance have been ignored/blown off. As balance, I do
call in the occasional *good* behavior when I see it and want to
encourage companies/drivers/whatever to keep up the good work, as
I drive with full situational awareness and tend to notice such
things. I believe this is the first such event I've noticed with
Abenaqui in particular, and I do see your units fairly frequently
around here.

Thanks for whatever you can implement to permanently correct the
problem and hopefully eliminate these incidents altogether...

_H*

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
[his initial reply bounced due to a mis-named server problem so
he tried calling; I gave him an alternate mail account with
less rigid spam-filtering and finally got the reply.]
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Subject: RE: incident report, picture
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 14:27:34 -0400
From: "(Safety Manager)" <sm@abenaquicarriers.com>

Hello. Thank you for providing an alternate email address.
I will show the miss-spelled server name to my I/T Department.

First of all, I really appreciated you providing me your observation
on my drivers behavior. I also thank you for sending me the picture
documenting the event. I was able to review the data provided by our
equipment's onboard computer system and confirm the location, time
and global positioning of our unit.

Our professional drivers are required to be certified in the
principles of space cushion driving known as the Smith System
of Defensive Driving. The training requires that our commercial
motor vehicle drivers maintain a minimum of 6-8 seconds of
following distance from the vehicle in front of them. As evidenced
by your photograph, it is quite obvious our driver was traveling
less than the required minimum distance.

I have reviewed this incident with the identified driver and it
was agreed that he is to be assigned to one of certified Smith
System Driving Instructors and receive remedial training in
maintaining proper following distances.

I am pleased to hear that you have seen our units regularly and
hope this is the first and only negative incident that you encounter.
We pride ourselves on the professional behavior of our drivers and
need this feedback to ensure that they meet and exceed the
expectations we require from them.

Again, thank you for your assistance is keeping our highways safe
for all motorists.

My highest regards,

Safety Director
Abenaqui Carriers, Inc (http://abenaquicarriers.com/)
38 B South Rd
North Hampton, NH 03862

Well I hope more of this happens. I never think to get pictures when it does. Very happy to see some of us do. Where I live they would fine me for taking the picture. Far to many good folks are killed daily by these lumbering giants and nothing ever seems to change. Some of these drivers are just plan maniacs, but it is so hard to nail them. Unless you have documented prof you can not pin them down. I believe trucks should all be fitted with devices that warns drivers and documents issues when they happen. Black box system. Better yet use the trains for all hauling! :confused: This guy will not change. H

Ok.........truck driver is being a bit beligerant, thats a given, but fer real......yer in a prius.....git in the right lane. Nice job on catching that hobbit.

Sid, if he's traveling at the speed limit, why should the Prius driver have to get into the right lane? From the picture it appears there are at least 3 lanes at that location so if the trucker wants to go faster there is another lane for passing. Additionally, if the pair passed Al they may have simply been driving faster than the average of the right lane. Perhaps the Prius driver is preparing for a left exit?

I drive a first generation Insight and though I spend most of my time in the right lane I shouldn't be disallowed from other lanes just because I have a small car.

Thanks for the efforts, Al!

In addition... there's yet more traffic in front of that blue Prius. Just WHAT would it moving over accomplish? For realz, yo.

From the picture it appears there are at least 3 lanes at that location so if the trucker wants to go faster there is another lane for passing. Additionally, if the pair passed Al they may have simply been driving faster than the average of the right lane. Perhaps the Prius driver is preparing for a left exit?!
I don't recognize this exact location but:
- The Prius might be in the second lane from the right because the right lane is an exit-only lane. The further tanker blocks the view of the road sign but it's possible.
- The Prius may be in that lane because the right lane ends just ahead. This happens a lot in the Boston area, sometimes with no warning signs whatsoever!
- It's possible that the trucks can't move into the lane to the left if it is the left lane. For sure in parts of CT and I think in some areas of MA, semis are prohibited from using the far left lane.
- Truckers tend to avoid the far right lane because they don't want to get tangled up with traffic merging onto and exiting the highway.

In any case the tanker is WAY too close to the Prius, and the fact that it is a gasoline tanker is even worse.

No left exits, no pending lane drops. Just plain ol' sustained
tailgating. Trucks are prohibited from the left lane through
this stretch [and most of that "beltway" containing I-95 around
Boston] so it *is* the hammer lane for the truck, but that's
no excuse as *everyone* was moving 50 - 55 or better.
.
Is there really any reason to try and pick holes in this one?
Driver in the wrong, end of story.
.
_H*

The trucker definitely shouldn't have been following that close.

When I saw the picture I wondered if the tanker was following the tanker ahead of him and trying to press through the traffic to stay in contact. I couldn't zoom the image enough to check if the front truck was also placarded for aviation fuel (1863).

If the driver hadn't delivered to the airport before he'd want to follow somebody because he'd be nervous about the security checks at the gate.

Scary! :eek:

Good catch, and props to the Safety Manager!

Hi Al:

Thank you for snapping the pic and moving it forward. I can bet that driver was mighty embarrassed when his boss called him in for a little chat afterwards... Nothing like a pic to say WTF were you doing out there while driving a tanker full of high octane AV Gas or similar down the road.

Wayne

I see it both ways, the truck should not have been tailgating, BUT the Prius should have also gotten the message and moved right long enough for the semi to pass him if he chose to.

I see this all the time in my area. People too dumb to realize that certain lanes go faster so when they have traffic on their bumper they continue the course and within a few miles there is a line of 30 cars behind them all tailgating each other, all because one car is too belligerent to move over causing even more danger to other drivers because you have 30 car pileup rather than everyone driving safe distance back.
There are times I am in a bit of a hurry doing 65 or 70 in a 60 mph zone, and in the left lane I still have people on my butt 10 cars deep and passing me in the right lane, usually not even allowing me time to move over. These roads also have it posted every 5-10 miles "Slower traffic use right lane".
There have been times I called the sheriff and highway patrol to come out and start monitoring speeds but they usually just say "ok we got someone on the way". Yet when I come back the same route to go home 30-60 minutes later, not a single cop in sight the whole route and traffic doing the exact same thing.
Basically if the speed limit is 60, you have the choice of either 50-55 in the right lane or 75 in the left lane.

Hi Talikani:
Basically if the speed limit is 60, you have the choice of either 50-55 in the right lane or 75 in the left lane.
While we endorse choice, we do not endorse speeding no matter which lane you choose. Worse yet, it’s a big rig that has a 60 to 0 mph stopping distance of over 2 football fields. This is not Car and Driver with a cone telling you when to mash the brakes from 60 mph but real world where you perceive, react and then slam on them. At 60, you have traveled almost 1/2 a football field before you ever touch your brakes in a car, truck or on a bike due to perception and reaction delays. Those semi's should not be going 1-mph over the limit EVER let alone the fuel they are wasting in the process of speeding.

Think about that 40-ton semi on your bumper the next time you are in heavy traffic knowing full well that if you even touch your brakes, he or she is attempting to KILL you and your family because they were in too much of a hurry and wanted to save 30-seconds over the next 10-miles?

Good Luck

Wayne

6 to 8 seconds of following distance-that is 540- 720 feet at 60 mph?? 2 football fields- can this be right??
What highway is so sparely populated that trucks are 2 football fields apart?

Charlie