Trucker demands right of way

[proliance]

I don't claim to know much about laws in other countries, but in the US no vehicle has the right of way. The laws state that you may be required to yield the right of way, but the other driver can never claim to have it.

I drive about 45,000 miles/year, almost all of it on the Interstates. Let me say that truckers in the US used to be respectful that they are slow and would avoid purposefully getting in someone's way and slowing traffic down. I don't know why this changed, but on almost every hill a trucker will merge into the passing lane and slow down traffic by 20 mph. And they don't care how long they stay there. Traffic will back up and there will be a hundred cars in the passing lane, all going well under the speed limit and all wondering why the hell somebody is at the front of the line going 52 mph up a hill. Does your company force you to drive a truck with a limiter? That sucks, but you accepted the job, not me.

In this clip I'm climbing a long hill and I'm in the passing lane passing a line of vehicles. I'm already going at least 15 mph faster than the trucker and he should respect that I'm in the passing lane doing what it's designed for. I'm passing him.

I know I'll have to put up with some people saying "Why didn't you just slow down and let him in?" but I've got people behind me as well. And I don't deserve to be murdered because some guy doesn't understand that slower traffic is required to stay to the right.

 

[flank]

Looks like you went in the dirt?

 

[Sunny]

Once the blinkers are on, they come in.

At least he sped up afterwards.
I see stupid truck drivers changing lanes even when they see me driving fast and coming up close on the passing lane and then they don't have the juice to speed up once they come in front.
I had to slam brakes and then follow the slow elephant for miles.
Some are so dumb, they do that even when it's uphill and they know they can't accelerate anymore and some even decelerate due to 5-6% uphill.

 

[S P]

Shoulda just let him in. There was space, he had his signal on well in advance, and you could see him already angling for the maneuver. There's people behind you? So? Truck had plenty of speed and had already passed the vehicle in the right lane by the end of the video. This falls into a grey area for me. Yes you had legal "control of the lane" and maybe the truck driver should have seen you coming and not switched over, but consider that a) they're in a damned truck, b) have nowhere the speed and maneuverability of a car, and c) have nowhere near the visibility, and d) this was kinda a jackass maneuver on your part and poor road manners.

Like this ahole the other day who saw someone signal and intentionally sped up to block them, and then got on their brakes to match speed.

And this guy in the white van who came from a mile behind just to get by the bus!!!!! Gotta pass the bus!!!!!!!!

And at least here in Maryland, right of way is EXPLICITLY defined for many different situations. If only people would actually follow them.

http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/transportation/title-21/subtitle-4/

 

[CheckYourLights]

Something similar happened to me as well.

 

[S P]

^^^ Well that one is clearly the truck driver's fault!! They just signaled at the last second and started coming over, and didn't even look, nor did they give you any time to react! Nice save on that one.

 

[dash riposki]

Some truckers will make the statement 'My turn signal ain't asking your permission to come over. It means I'm coming.' They believe this, until they get ticketed.

If you want a new car, let them hit you.

I don't know how thick traffic was behind you? Sometimes it's easy to get stuck behind a slower vehicle like that pickup, and have no chance to pass it, due to left lane being clogged with other vehicles. It sucks, doesn't give him the right to do what he did.

 

[Tim]

It seems to me that the guy in the right lane was going much slower than the truck. The trucker would have had to slow considerably to avoid him. However, I do know what you mean. An area on I84 near where I live coming east out of the Delaware River it climbs immediatly bringing trucks to a crawl well below 40mph while cars in the left will still be at 70-80mph. Then, there is always that one trucker who will be doing a whopping 1-2 mph faster than the other ones and just swings out into the left to pass them. Of course he can't get by at a reasonable pace until cresting the mountain and by this time all the 4 wheelers need new brakes for coming up on the nearly stopped traffic. This is a place where New York state should post a "Trucks Right Lane Only".

 

[Sunny]

Something similar happened to me as well.

1. Signaled too late and changed too soon after that. It's like I said before, their turning blinkers supposed to clear the lane but it doesn't.
2. Which dumbA$$ designed blinkers that blink red? I have confused red stupid blinkers with someone's tapping brake just to realize they are changing lane.
Those of DCT members who are here with red blinkers, think about it, other drivers have hard time seeing your blinkers specially in rush hour traffic and reflecting sunlight.
I almost hit a Ford F150 today. He had to exit and was signaling. I only saw one side and thought he was doing just like me, stop and go. Only realized when he started coming into my lane and I saw the full back side of the pickup.
Stupid design.
3. You had good shoulder to drive on.