Gord, the amount of this sort of driving on I-5 in Washington State (Amazonland) is truly staggering. I wanted to riff off your point on Friday 8/22's WarRoom interview re: Amazon's haulers.
In March I was driving northbound from south of Washington state's capital, Olympia, to north of the city on I-5. It was about 2130 hours, dark, raining as is usual for winter in those parts, everything slick and shiny, clouds of roadwet rising and churning and visibility sub-optimal but not terrible.
Approaching the small airport south of the city I was in the center lane in my CX5, cruise control set to the speed limit, which goes from 70 to 60 around the Home Depot store. There were cars in the right lane positioning themselves for upcoming exits to that commercial area. Left lane was wide open except for intermittent and responsibly passing faster drivers. People were leaving good following distance, following speed limits nicely, using turn signals, and with patience for conditions and each other. Remarkably comfy.
RV mirror suddenly blinded me with high beams coming up fast, then flashing high low high low, very fast and repeatedly/aggressively. Giant truck, and before I could react, he was--no exaggeration--5 feet behind me or less. I could feel the cushion of air in front of the truck buffeting my car. At first I thought he was asleep at the wheel and going to tail-end/roll over me. But he was clearly alert: he'd drop back a few feet, then race forward, then drop back, then race forward, blinding me with the lights.
There was nowhere for me to go--cars in the right lane, and the couple vehicles in the passing lane slowed down a bit, apparently confused by the truck's insane disregard of physics and rules of the road.
Then the driver started long blasts on his horn, still flashing, still riding right on my tail. Left lane cleared, but driver didn't use it (technically not allowed I guess). I kept checking mirrors to see if I could get right or left, but the flashing lights and bulk of the truck behind me obliterated visibility, plus the truck was throwing up clouds of mist.
This went on easily 3 or 4 miles. I honestly thought I was going to die, and maybe others would too. I was also braced for another driver to react (understandably) in a way that would cause a problem. Plus we were coming up on the area where I-5 merges with another interstate, 101, south of the capitol and a site of many crashes.
I'm not sure what happened, but eventually the truck got in the left lane and blew past me, easily accelerating to 75 or more blowing his horn, then cutting back to the middle lane, racing ahead into traffic, doing the same thing up there to other drivers. I could then see to get into the right lane, when a gap opened. I took the next exit, pulled over when it was safe, and sat there shaking and sweating till I could collect myself to drive.
As he passed, I could see the Amazon logos. And my thought was, man...again. For these trucks, and their drivers, frequently do this sort of thing on I-5 and other highways in Pugetopolis.
When I heard about the Florida crash, I felt nauseous, and then angry, and then I read that Singh, in the country illegally, had a CDL from WA state as well as CA.
This is the contempt in which these states' politicians hold their citizens. They have their schemes and scams, their donors and lobbyists and interests...and they don't give a fig what happens to people just trying to go about our lives. We hardly exist for them except as barriers to their schemes. A Mazda in the way of the Amazon shipment.
Today, what, a week since the Florida multiple homicide, we still don't know who the people were who were obliterated by Singh's disregard for traffic rules and laws. It makes sense that somebody doesn't want to prejudice upcoming court action with media content. But...they're just...gone. Invisible. Erased.
That could have been me, and other drivers around me that night.
This has been a serious issue in Pugetopolis. There have been several major crashes where it's clear someone is covering up reporting. One bad crash a couple years ago on I-5, between Olympia and the big military base JBLM, people who had witnessed the crash/were stuck in the subsequent traffic jam, were reporting via FB and Twitter that the truck driver, who survived and was wandering away from the crash site, was wearing specific clothing and a turban. Their comments were removed, and several were banned.
Thank you for doing what you do to shine light on this predation of normal, law-abiding people. If this comment is too long, I can remove it, I won't mind. I just wanted to share it with you. For every horrific crash, there must be many more people having experiences like I and those driving around me had that night. This crap's gotta end.
I appreciate your kind and thoughtful remarks, and the sharing of your story with me. Unfortunately, behavior such as you were subject to has become all too common, and much of it is downstream of the mass insourcing of people who were raised in a culture where driving is more or less prosecuted with total anarchy.
I truly appreciate long and substantive comments, so need for any apology. Keep em coming.
Gord, the amount of this sort of driving on I-5 in Washington State (Amazonland) is truly staggering. I wanted to riff off your point on Friday 8/22's WarRoom interview re: Amazon's haulers.
In March I was driving northbound from south of Washington state's capital, Olympia, to north of the city on I-5. It was about 2130 hours, dark, raining as is usual for winter in those parts, everything slick and shiny, clouds of roadwet rising and churning and visibility sub-optimal but not terrible.
Approaching the small airport south of the city I was in the center lane in my CX5, cruise control set to the speed limit, which goes from 70 to 60 around the Home Depot store. There were cars in the right lane positioning themselves for upcoming exits to that commercial area. Left lane was wide open except for intermittent and responsibly passing faster drivers. People were leaving good following distance, following speed limits nicely, using turn signals, and with patience for conditions and each other. Remarkably comfy.
RV mirror suddenly blinded me with high beams coming up fast, then flashing high low high low, very fast and repeatedly/aggressively. Giant truck, and before I could react, he was--no exaggeration--5 feet behind me or less. I could feel the cushion of air in front of the truck buffeting my car. At first I thought he was asleep at the wheel and going to tail-end/roll over me. But he was clearly alert: he'd drop back a few feet, then race forward, then drop back, then race forward, blinding me with the lights.
There was nowhere for me to go--cars in the right lane, and the couple vehicles in the passing lane slowed down a bit, apparently confused by the truck's insane disregard of physics and rules of the road.
Then the driver started long blasts on his horn, still flashing, still riding right on my tail. Left lane cleared, but driver didn't use it (technically not allowed I guess). I kept checking mirrors to see if I could get right or left, but the flashing lights and bulk of the truck behind me obliterated visibility, plus the truck was throwing up clouds of mist.
This went on easily 3 or 4 miles. I honestly thought I was going to die, and maybe others would too. I was also braced for another driver to react (understandably) in a way that would cause a problem. Plus we were coming up on the area where I-5 merges with another interstate, 101, south of the capitol and a site of many crashes.
I'm not sure what happened, but eventually the truck got in the left lane and blew past me, easily accelerating to 75 or more blowing his horn, then cutting back to the middle lane, racing ahead into traffic, doing the same thing up there to other drivers. I could then see to get into the right lane, when a gap opened. I took the next exit, pulled over when it was safe, and sat there shaking and sweating till I could collect myself to drive.
As he passed, I could see the Amazon logos. And my thought was, man...again. For these trucks, and their drivers, frequently do this sort of thing on I-5 and other highways in Pugetopolis.
When I heard about the Florida crash, I felt nauseous, and then angry, and then I read that Singh, in the country illegally, had a CDL from WA state as well as CA.
This is the contempt in which these states' politicians hold their citizens. They have their schemes and scams, their donors and lobbyists and interests...and they don't give a fig what happens to people just trying to go about our lives. We hardly exist for them except as barriers to their schemes. A Mazda in the way of the Amazon shipment.
Today, what, a week since the Florida multiple homicide, we still don't know who the people were who were obliterated by Singh's disregard for traffic rules and laws. It makes sense that somebody doesn't want to prejudice upcoming court action with media content. But...they're just...gone. Invisible. Erased.
That could have been me, and other drivers around me that night.
This has been a serious issue in Pugetopolis. There have been several major crashes where it's clear someone is covering up reporting. One bad crash a couple years ago on I-5, between Olympia and the big military base JBLM, people who had witnessed the crash/were stuck in the subsequent traffic jam, were reporting via FB and Twitter that the truck driver, who survived and was wandering away from the crash site, was wearing specific clothing and a turban. Their comments were removed, and several were banned.
Thank you for doing what you do to shine light on this predation of normal, law-abiding people. If this comment is too long, I can remove it, I won't mind. I just wanted to share it with you. For every horrific crash, there must be many more people having experiences like I and those driving around me had that night. This crap's gotta end.
I appreciate your kind and thoughtful remarks, and the sharing of your story with me. Unfortunately, behavior such as you were subject to has become all too common, and much of it is downstream of the mass insourcing of people who were raised in a culture where driving is more or less prosecuted with total anarchy.
I truly appreciate long and substantive comments, so need for any apology. Keep em coming.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/psychology-indian-drivers-impatience-risk-taking-utter-rohit-singh-jkuic/