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Sometimes you are minutes away from falling alseep behind the wheel. Sure you can try to plan things out but oftentimes you are going to be having that feeling when you hadn't planned to--the only safe solution is to pull over as quickly as possible and take a snooze. My husband doesn't drive semis but he does drive box trucks and every day at a certain rest stop he pulls over and sleeps as he has almost fallen asleep more than once making the trip.
Why do the trucks on the side bother you?
Most residentail/rural highways are not going to have a berm to pull over onto--so what does that leave?
oftentimes you are going to be having that feeling when you hadn't planned to--the only safe solution is to pull over as quickly as possible and take a snooze.
If it is "often times" then it is "poor planning".
Understood there are occasional situations that a driver can become tired due to unpredictable circumstances. In those cases, it may take an extra five minutes to locate a legal place to pull over.
I think it bothers Charles cuz he doesn't drive semis.
I don't drive semis either, but it doesn't bother me if they are parked completely off a traffic lane. Strange what happens in California bothers an Alabamian.
A semi parked along a rural road would take up nearly half the road.
Few rural roads are built with shoulders wide enough or strong enough to support a loaded semi.
Tell you what, you pick a location on any truck route in the US.
I, as a "virtual trucker" planning my trip in advance, will consider that the location I estimate I will need to take a sleep break. So, I will need to find a convenient place, or three convenient places within a half hour of that location.
Go ahead. Within five minutes, I will show you a google maps street view or legitimate rest stop or some place suitable for a truck to pull over and sleep.
It all goes back to the first statement in the first post in this thread: Poor planning does not constitute an emergency.
I also can't understand why this would bother someone. It's like driving by and seeing a sign on the side of the road. As long as its not IN the road it doesn't affect me. I see no problem in lettign anyone and everyone pull over to take a break without it having to be an emergency. The only reason cars don't do it is because there is danger of some other driver getting sleepy and running on to you even if you are on the shoulder. For big trucks thats not a factor since it would take another big truck for them to even feel it.
I live in Florida and I can't say I ever remember seeing a truck pulled over on the side of the road. If I did I'm sure it wouldn't bother me at all.
Ah, he's from AL, it all make sense now! I live in a big, populated city. Every single exit of the interstate leads to a very crowded neighborhood. When you take the 5 up to Los Angeles, there is really no place to pull off the highway. It's a very busy stretch of interstate that could take 4 hours of driving during peak travel times. I have no issues with trucks on the side of the road. The biggest hazard on the road is idiot drives, that text, talk on the phone, read the paper, tend to the kids in the back, eat, etc. If you're going to be hit and killed on the road, chances are it will be by a distracted driver. The only possible problem I can see with the truck being parked on the side is that a distracted driver will run into it because they were too engaged in their cell phone conversation. But then, that's worthy of a Darwin award.
Ah, he's from AL, it all make sense now! I live in a big, populated city. Every single exit of the interstate leads to a very crowded neighborhood. When you take the 5 up to Los Angeles, there is really no place to pull off the highway. It's a very busy stretch of interstate that could take 4 hours of driving during peak travel times. I have no issues with trucks on the side of the road. The biggest hazard on the road is idiot drives, that text, talk on the phone, read the paper, tend to the kids in the back, eat, etc. If you're going to be hit and killed on the road, chances are it will be by a distracted driver. The only possible problem I can see with the truck being parked on the side is that a distracted driver will run into it because they were too engaged in their cell phone conversation. But then, that's worthy of a Darwin award.
Where I live in Arizona we don't have that many roads and the ones we have - off the interstate - are quite narrow. Truckers just don't have a lot of options.
Where I live in Arizona we don't have that many roads and the ones we have - off the interstate - are quite narrow. Truckers just don't have a lot of options.
When I drove to AZ from here, I noticed that there weren't any places to pull off the highway from San Diego all the way to Phoenix. Just about every single truck stop was closed and the weigh stations were not in service. Doesn't leave many options!
It's the lesser of two evils:
I'd rather have an exhausted trucker park on the side of the road where I, as a responsible defensive driver, can reasonably avoid him.
Alternatively, I'm on the road with a drowsy individual piloting 40 tons @ 70 mph, and there's no set of defensive driving skills that can save me.
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