a reply to:
WeRpeons
It's hard to generalize on weather conditions and truck speed. In many conditions '4 wheelers' go too slow!
Especially with big trucks, too slow means cold rubber and not enough momentum to avoid loss of traction.
In certain conditions, ie, good visibility, yet slippery due to ice or snow, faster is better (within limits). Cars go 'slow' so as to be able to
stop. An experienced trucker needs momentum or he loses traction. He knows stopping isn't an option. He therefore will steer around an object-or a
stopped vehicle- rather than move too slow.
It approaches an art form. LOL. I will give you an actual example that I saw more than once. Going around a well banked curve too slow and if it's
slick enough, the vehicle will slide down that bank due to gravity and end up in the ditch. Yet with just the right amount of speed, that same vehicle
with the centrifugal force now available, counters the gravity and makes it around that curve!
I've watched Greyhound buses run 70 MPH on the Al-Can on solid ice- almost no traffic- then one stopped and thumped his tires. The thump cause the
bus to slide sideways off the highway and into the ditch! Yet he ran hundreds of miles in the same conditions at 70 with no problems...
What this video shows is a very rare occurrence and I'm not excusing the drivers.
A good trucker drives much closer to the 'edge' than an average driver. He has certain advantages that cars do not. He also has disadvantages. He
also has knowledge that you do not.
Most average drivers would be stunned at the amount of driving information they don't know!
Bottom line, these guys were taking the option of least consequence. Nowhere to pull off, no ability to stop, therefore steer around a problem, too
slow results in loss of traction- a stunning concept for most-and the chance of being rear-ended. (as this video shows.)
They lost their last option by having both lanes blocked. it is their fault/responsibility.
In all honesty, I would probably have been driving similarly. The difference is I would have deliberately gone into the median trying to keep the
truck upright thus avoiding a collision and getting towed out after the mess was cleaned up.
I could go on and on about that road, no exits for miles, exits tend to be worse than the road itself due to lack of use and the heat provided by
vehicle tires and engine heat....so on.
Glad I wasn't there...