Why do people have such a problem with semi trucks?

im not against them, but i guess it would be cause they drift across the lines, if their brakes go out, the wrecks are catastrophic, their blind spots are HUGE

I don’t hate them until they try to pass another row of semi trucks when they’re doing approximately .00000019293 mph faster and it takes them 2 and half hours to pass them all. Nothing on the road drives me more insane.

I don’t have a problem with them unless they are doing ridiculous things on the road. The road I have to take to get anywhere has a lot of gas stations, truck stops, etc. and when truckers pull out in front of me…making my life flash before my eyes I get unhappy.

Because most people don’t even know how to drive a car properly, and cannot understand the skills and dangers involved in driving trucks. The main reason trucks are involved in accidents is because of the irresponsible actions of car drivers. When I am driving I always help the truckie by giving signals in plenty of time, not cutting in too close, and ensuring I don’t slow them down on hills by speeding up until I can find a safe area going downhill to let them pass.
They always thank me my flashing their indicators from side to side after passing, that is their way of thanking a responsilble driver.

I’ve been driving over 40 years, and have maybe once seen someone cut in front of a semi truck and slam on their brakes.

The semi had trouble not hitting the guy, and he was immediately pulled over by the police. I figure he got a ticket for reckless driving (which is about the same as drunk driving).

Other than that, I haven’t seen any of what you’re talking about, including the several times I’ve driven cross country.

They are dangerous machines and a lot of ‘em are being driven carelessly and agressively. That’s a fact.

We all know they take longer to stop than cars & trucks, yet they’ll climb right up on your bumper at 70 mph with 2 open lanes to their left.

It’s the bad drivers give the others a really bad name.

I’d like to adress Kevin K. (I didn’t thumbs down you Kevin) But yeah this is a problem, and usualy the guy doing the passing gets blamed. I’d like to refute that. In my opinion, it’s the guy that’s getting passed is the one being the jerk.
More and more companies are governing their trucks now that the fuel prices are going up, and most of these guys driving them don’t have any concept of courtesy when driving a governed truck. Governed means there are speed limiters on them. I drive for a company that is famous for slow trucks, JB Hunt. There are several companies like mine who’ve been governed all along, and we all know who each other are and what they are governed at. My truck is set at 63. a FedEx pulling doubles, is governed at 65. If I’m getting passed by FedEx, I’m not going to keep him out in the left lane for 15 miles, I’ll back out of the throttle and let him come on around. An ABF truck is governed at 60 mph. I haven’t encountered one of their drivers yet that won’t extend me the same courtesy when I’m passing him. These new guys with governed trucks don’t have any concept of this courtesy. They will keep the driver passing in the left lane forever, they don’t care. They just sit there staring straight ahead (not even checking the mirrors) as I’m running neck and neck with them losing my freakin mind. The worst ones are the ones who do this after you got in the left lane so they could merge, they are the reason I got over in the left lane in the first place. These guys aren’t real truckers, we call them steering wheel holders. A pro knows he has to react with traffic. This is part of it. So give the guy getting passed the parade of middle fingers and not the guy passing, ok?

should be why do trucks have such a problem with cars……………

I would have to believe it’s because everyone is concentrated on themselves getting to where they are going and they do not understand just what may happen………….

I appreciate the difficulty that semi truck drivers face so I’m not one of those drivers that cuts them off. But a lot of these semis have cut me off or put me in jeopardy because they aren’t good drivers. They change lanes without warning, wait until the last minute to change lanes, don’t yield when coming on to the highway, tailgate, etc. It seems to be getting worse.
Some semi truck drivers are great and should be rewarded. There are so many problems with society today that it’s not just truck drivers that are the problem. Everything feeds off each other. It’s all interconnected.

Its not a problem with most of them, its a problem with a few of them that make everyone hate them. There is nothing more annoying than semi’s driving in the fast lane when it says no trucks in left lane. With that big of a machine, they need to go the exact speed limit and stay in one lane. That way there is no problem with them switching lanes and clipping someone, or jackknifing and causing multiple injuries.

Everyone that answered this question, with the exception of other truck drivers, should take a trip or two in a semi. You will have a whole lot better understanding of why truck drivers do what they do.
For the one that says he’s been driving 40 years and only once seen someone pass a truck and slam the brakes, I’m here to tell you I’ve been driving a tractor trailer for over 20 years and it happens to me at least 3 times a week, every week.
For the one that gets upset when a truck comes up on your rear with 2 open lanes to the left. Maybe those lanes look open to you judging the size of your car. Maybe that truck driver knows that hill coming up is going to slow him down and he doesn’t want to get stuck out there blocking fast traffic. Your car is a whole lot more manuverable and accelerates a lot faster. Why don’t you just move to one of those other lanes instead of risking your life messing with the truck.
For the one that says they drift accross the lines. You are driving a car that is 4 1/2 feet wide, I’m driving a truck that is 8 1/2 feet wide. That means you have at least 4 feet of lane more than me. It wouldn’t hurt a bit for you to give the truck a wide birth and don’t ride beside the truck any longer than neccesarry to pass.
Kevin K, I agree with 100%. Try being in a loaded big truck doing 70 miles an hour and having one of these idiots pull out to pass at 40 1/2 to pass someone doing 40.
For the one that says we should do the exact speed limit, No we need to exceed the speed limit, so that we can get up an incline at a resonable speed and so that we can average a resonable speed to get your freight where it’s going on time. We are on a several 100 mile trip and have a schedule that we have to keep relitively close to. We are not on our way to Grandma’s house or home from work, or running late for work because we overslept.