> My pal Dave said that he was riding in a HUGE pick-up with a
> friend who doesn't brake until the very, very last second and he
> was trying to tell this (moron? Idiot?) guy that the truck was so
> big, and so heavy that it wasn't going to stop on a dime like a
> Prosche 356 or something. I always look in the rear view, and hang
> on!
>
> Dave also agreed with me that pick-ups and SUVs should have a
> seperate operators license and testing-like motorcycles do. First,
> there's the speed illusion problem-it's hard to tell how fast
> you're going until youn look down and see that you're doing 90.
> And with things that size, at freeway speeds, most drivers do not
> have the skills to bring the vehicle under control when something
> goes wrong. And that's how people get killed and little cars get
> squished like bugs!
Sorry Laura, but sometimes those little car drivers act like idiots...(not
all, just some!)
(I learned to drive in a 76 Ford Country Squire station wagon, and have
driven many size vehicles up to and including 2 1/2 ton army trucks... I
don't think anyone with any sense needs a different license for a pick-up.
SUV's on the other hand should be confiscated and crushed. (Average SUV
driver around here- female in her 30's or 40's, 4'6" wt 85lbs, with a
surgically attached cell-phone at her ear and an attitude akin to king kong.
Talk about killer penis envy!)
I was towing, with my 88 Ford F-150, about ten years back, a small Honda
Civic I had just purchased from the Navy Yard auction(total- $17.50!) to my
home. I was traveling at about 50mph in a 50 zone on a 4 lane state
highway(non-limited access) when a woman in a small sedan decided she has
room to pull out in front of me, which she promptly did, cutting me off
short! I had to crash the brakes and slow down fast, with the additional
weight of another car in tow. I managed to avoid any impact, and she soon
got up to speed, and I followed at a safe distance. Shortly after again
reaching 50, with this same gem of a driver in front, I approached a
traffic signal in her wake. It turned yellow as she was within two car
lengths- and she locked the brakes to a stop. That particular traffic signal
has a looooong yellow- a very heavily traveled road. Again, I am forced to
slam the brake pedal to the floor. This time, the truck jumped and bounced
to a tire chirping halt- culminating in a very slight whisper tap to her
rear bumper- of which I was un aware till she got out. I got out She yells
to me- "You HIT me!" to which my beyond Monty Python tone replied "You
STOPPED! You STOP for Red! The light was YELLOW! You were already In the
intersection!~ Are you NUTS?" At which point she quickly and quietly got
back in her car and drove off. I turned around and headed back to the cab of
my pickup, and noticed the guy behind me laughing. I shrugged and smiled as
if to say "Where did she learn to drive" while shaking my head.
A car will only respond as you tell it to- I agree any person who rushes up
and jams on the brakes is an idiot- but we don't need a Pick-up license-
just better training, and more cops to ticket the idiots. And we need all
drivers to exercise circumspection- you are responsible not only your own
vehicle, but for those vehicles around you as well!(NJ traffic law requires
this responsibility)
Scott(waiting to see how he looks in his small red Herald- soon...)
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