After having my GT500 for almost a year and putting 14K on her, I finally ran out of luck. Was N. bound on 95 in N.C., heading home from Fla. A semi pulling a flatbed trailer was in front of me and the driver had tools and other materials on the flatbed, w/o any cover. As luck would have it and before being able to get past him, some metal piece came flying off the back, took one bounce and hit the car. I initally thought it hit the undercarriage and felt I'd dodged the bullet. At the next gas stop I saw that it had destroyed the drivers side headlight and bucket as well as putting a 4" long gash on top of the LF fender above the light. I guess I was lucky as it surely would have penetrated the windshield, has it struck it. I'm really sick about it but I guess it could have been worse. My real concern is the deterioration of responsible drivers on the road and the truck driver who would not secure his load when drivng on an interstate. I have really notice the lack of courteous truck drivers over the many years of traveling back and forth to Fla. They now seem to think they can drive 80+ MPH with impunity and have no problem sitting in the left lane, if they are traveling below the speed limit, forcing you to pass on the right, despite a courteous blip of the lights to request he move over. After having spent a month in Germany last September, and drivng the autobahn, I can only say that they have got it right. Trucks stay in the right lane, do not speed and are COURTEOUS!! Sorry for the rant but I have noticed that trucker's driving habits and professionalism has taken a dive over the years. My dad, who traveled extensively, during the 50's and 60's bemoaned the change he saw when traveling in the 90's, prior to his death. Long story short, it will cost $1000.00 to repair the Shelby and I'll have it done in a few days. Comprehensive will cover it short the $100.00 deductable. If there are any professional truck drivers on this site I welcome your input. I just think my observations are credible and if I'm wrong,I'm more than happy to hear other's opinions. Thanks for listening and I hope I haven't offended anyone.
Irresponsible Trucker damaged my Shelby !
- Thread starter 03reptile
- Start date
Wow, man thats sad to hear. Any pics of the damage?
I run a fleet of over the road trucks and I will agree with you to a certain degree. The professionalism of the truck driver has deteriorated over the last several years. BUT, so has almost every other industry. I am not defending the moron who did not have things secured properly on his trailer, nor do I condone speeding. Trucking is having a real tough time right now with $4.00 PLUS fuel cost. It is harder and harder to find quality drivers today. I think it is getting harder to find quality people in most professions today. Most of the older truckers are not happy about the younger generation. I am sorry you had a bad experience with a trucker, but I think that the truck running 80 miles an hour is the exception today as the trucks running 80 mph get about 4 miles per gallon. I have turned all my trucks down to 66 mph to try to save fuel. We only see and remember the bad things that truckers do, but the small percentage of BAD guys give them all a bad reputation. If you notice someone on the side of the road that needs asistance, most of the time it will be a trucker who will stop the see if they can help.
From an old guy in florida with a gt500!!!
From an old guy in florida with a gt500!!!
I am not in the trucking industry but I used to defend them to the hilt.
I don't defend them as much now.
Yes, the majority are respectful, courteous and professional, but the minority of poor drivers is increasing. More and more trucks are staying left, forcing one to pass on the right. What's with that!!!
As far as tieing off loads, that's always a concern.
I have had big cars, little cars, fast cars, slow cars and multiple motorcycles.
I never feel safe around them. I do everything I can to stay clear.
I don't defend them as much now.
Yes, the majority are respectful, courteous and professional, but the minority of poor drivers is increasing. More and more trucks are staying left, forcing one to pass on the right. What's with that!!!
As far as tieing off loads, that's always a concern.
I have had big cars, little cars, fast cars, slow cars and multiple motorcycles.
I never feel safe around them. I do everything I can to stay clear.
Mike,
I agree with your assessment. One or two bad apples do spoil the basket and yes there are many truckers out there that act professionally and courteously. I do, however, see the majority of them driving at least the speed limit and many above it. I would hope that many truck companies do set limiters on their trucks. I think the majority of the troublesome truckers are independents who have no one to answer to. I'm an old guy, as well, and grew up in Florida. I go down and back about six times a year in the Shelby, so theres no carbon build-up. All our relatives are there, but since my daughter and her family are moving back to Md, (from Fla.) I don't anticipate a permenant move anytime soon. Grandchildren take precedent.
Professionalism has taken a hit in many occupations and I guess its just the nature of the country right now. Thanks for your insight!
I agree with your assessment. One or two bad apples do spoil the basket and yes there are many truckers out there that act professionally and courteously. I do, however, see the majority of them driving at least the speed limit and many above it. I would hope that many truck companies do set limiters on their trucks. I think the majority of the troublesome truckers are independents who have no one to answer to. I'm an old guy, as well, and grew up in Florida. I go down and back about six times a year in the Shelby, so theres no carbon build-up. All our relatives are there, but since my daughter and her family are moving back to Md, (from Fla.) I don't anticipate a permenant move anytime soon. Grandchildren take precedent.
Professionalism has taken a hit in many occupations and I guess its just the nature of the country right now. Thanks for your insight!
Sorry for your luck but why didn't you get his plate #, report him and get his insurance to cover? I had a Lowes truck loose a sheet of plywood on the highway and shatter on my hood of the S. Followed the dude(yeah he didn't stop right away) and when he stopped I told him what transpired and after a moment or so of trying to worm out of it he came clean. Called Lowes and trust me they bent over backwards to make it right. Paid for the hood to be painted and gave me nearly 1K for my time. Again, sorry about your luck. later Ron
:rockon::rockon: Very cool. I've never seen or heard of anyone collecting over the amount of damages. That just put Lowes way up on my list.
Sorry to hear what happened, this happened to a friend of mine. He caught up with the truck, took some camera phone pics of the truck, "not his car", and proceeded to get the info of the trucking company from the door of the truck, plates, etc.
Next month after making some calls, he had all of his damage paid for from the trucking company.
Good luck with all the details.
Next month after making some calls, he had all of his damage paid for from the trucking company.
Good luck with all the details.
Truck Driver here for 12+ years now.
First off - Unless something broke during transport, there's really no excuse for unsecured loads. Sorry to hear that.
As for the courtesy. Well, Drivers are people too, and we all have our limits. Courtesy goes BOTH ways. Or at least, it should. It was only a matter of time before the complete lack of courtesy shown towards Truck Drivers came full circle.
And please keep in mind, I drive both Big Trucks and cars, so I do see both sides of the argument. Regardless of what you're driving, it just sucks anymore.:shrug:
After 1.5+ million miles, I have waaay too many things to say about this, from both sides, to even get started...
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Primetime:
Unfortunately, I had decided that the object had hit the undercarriage due to the sound it made and where I thought it impacted the car. As l said, after stopping I learned differently! In retrospect, I should have written down his tag number and the description of the truck, but I didn't. I'd also be willing to bet that he was an independant judging from the look of the truck, and I'd have had a helleva problem trying to collect. Oh well, spilt milk. I have noticed that on much of Georgia's 95 interstate, trucks are prohibited in the left lane, which helps, but usually only applying to the areas with three lanes. Also there are periodic signs saying "slower traffic keep right" which are substantially ignored by everyone. My suggestion to the State highway administrations would be to change the signs to read "keep right except to pass" This might go a long way to help smooth the flow of traffic. This left lane bandit issue is becoming more and more prevelent these days and passing a semi on the right is courting disaster. This is not rocket science and for the life of me, I can't understand why something isn't done about this. It was sooooo pleasant driving in Germany where everyone seems to cooperate and they all use proper lane discipline. We could never have open speed limits due to the poor training we receive to obtain a driver's license in this country, but keeping right except to pass would sure help.
Unfortunately, I had decided that the object had hit the undercarriage due to the sound it made and where I thought it impacted the car. As l said, after stopping I learned differently! In retrospect, I should have written down his tag number and the description of the truck, but I didn't. I'd also be willing to bet that he was an independant judging from the look of the truck, and I'd have had a helleva problem trying to collect. Oh well, spilt milk. I have noticed that on much of Georgia's 95 interstate, trucks are prohibited in the left lane, which helps, but usually only applying to the areas with three lanes. Also there are periodic signs saying "slower traffic keep right" which are substantially ignored by everyone. My suggestion to the State highway administrations would be to change the signs to read "keep right except to pass" This might go a long way to help smooth the flow of traffic. This left lane bandit issue is becoming more and more prevelent these days and passing a semi on the right is courting disaster. This is not rocket science and for the life of me, I can't understand why something isn't done about this. It was sooooo pleasant driving in Germany where everyone seems to cooperate and they all use proper lane discipline. We could never have open speed limits due to the poor training we receive to obtain a driver's license in this country, but keeping right except to pass would sure help.
Hammrhead:
Thanks for your input. You are exactly right. Courtesy has definitely taken a back seat. My Dad taught me years ago how to drive on the open highway and especially how to be respectful of truckers, ie I let them murge from right to left lane so they can pass a slower vehicle by blipping my lights when they signal to pull out. I see most people speed up to block them from getting in front of them. I also don't sit alongside them and pace them as I see so many four wheelers do. They don't like it. I always get a blip from their cab lights to thank me for for letting them out. I guess I'm in the minority judging from what behavior I see out there. I've seen people cut truckers off and brake sharply in front of them as I'm sure you can attest to. It does go both ways, but I do expect truck drivers to be a cut above the other 4wheel idiots we see out here because it is their profession. Kind of like we expect police officers to be a cut above the rest of us in their personal lives,behavior and life style. I know the police must be aware of this issue but it seems that the governments, state or federal, have chosen to ignore the problem.
Thanks for your input. You are exactly right. Courtesy has definitely taken a back seat. My Dad taught me years ago how to drive on the open highway and especially how to be respectful of truckers, ie I let them murge from right to left lane so they can pass a slower vehicle by blipping my lights when they signal to pull out. I see most people speed up to block them from getting in front of them. I also don't sit alongside them and pace them as I see so many four wheelers do. They don't like it. I always get a blip from their cab lights to thank me for for letting them out. I guess I'm in the minority judging from what behavior I see out there. I've seen people cut truckers off and brake sharply in front of them as I'm sure you can attest to. It does go both ways, but I do expect truck drivers to be a cut above the other 4wheel idiots we see out here because it is their profession. Kind of like we expect police officers to be a cut above the rest of us in their personal lives,behavior and life style. I know the police must be aware of this issue but it seems that the governments, state or federal, have chosen to ignore the problem.
:beer::beer:
As for the "slower traffic keep right" signs. We have signs that say this - Exactly! They don't work either.
Hammrhead:
You missed my point. I think the "slower traffic keep right" signs which we all see have a psychological effect on people in that no one wants to consider themselves as being the "slower traffic" therefore, they stay in the left lane! Maybe saying "Keep right except to pass" would get through to most of the bobbleheads!! Just a thought.
You missed my point. I think the "slower traffic keep right" signs which we all see have a psychological effect on people in that no one wants to consider themselves as being the "slower traffic" therefore, they stay in the left lane! Maybe saying "Keep right except to pass" would get through to most of the bobbleheads!! Just a thought.
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Well, I travel back and forth to South Jersey twice a day. Over there they have signs that say "Keep right except to pass".
You guessed it! They are also ignored...:dw:
What they need is a sign that says:
Attention, the Left Lane is the PASSING LANE!
NOT the 60, 70, or 80 mph lane
NOT the 10mph over the posted limit lane.
NOT the lane you 'prefer' to ride in
NOT the lane you set your Cruise Control in
It is the PASSING LANE. This lane only exists to PASS slower traffic.
It doesn't matter if you are doing 155mph - If you are not passing - Get the F_ck Out of it!
If you choose to ignore this sign, expect to be pushed off the road by the vehicles directly behind you.
Have a Nice Day (In the Right Lane;-))
(And BTW, Please get off the cell phone and shove it up your ass.:-D)
I love it. Wouldn't that be great!!! Thats exactly the way the Germans feel about the left lane, only there are no signs telling you to stay out of the left lane unless you're passing. They all (with the exception of tourist and un-informed Americans) simply do it without being reminded. It is a great experience to drive there and I can't wait to go back for a visit. Oh if we were only as disciplined.
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I am sorry for what happened to your car. I am always carefull around trucks becouse I see some of these fools in truckstops across the country and it is sad. I geuss that the trucking industry is like all the rest. There is always bad apples out ther and they are the ones that get talked about. I have been over the road for 12 years and have owned my own rig for 6 of those. I am not going to say that i havnt made mistakes in my career but I try to be safe all the time, but i couldnt tell you how many times I have had to stab my brakes becouse some fool had to get around me to jump off the exit that he should have been in the right lane preppared to exit but he or she couldnt loose that half second. No excuse for the "left lane campers" but when in a heavy traffic areas with alot of enterance and exit ramps it is safer to stay left. I also wish that police would start doing somthing about the bad drivers on the road no matter what they are driving just giving speeding tickets does nothing. People dont care about the rules of the road anymore. They dont care that every other vehicle on the road is going somewere also......sorry about the rambling
That sucks man, I hope it looks better than brand new when fixed.
And yes I hate people that drive with an attitude...drive and share the road and if everyone is courteous everything works well.
And yes I hate people that drive with an attitude...drive and share the road and if everyone is courteous everything works well.
kingcobra2:
Thanks for the sentiment about my car. I agree that passanger cars are often troublesome for truckers and create some dangerous situations for them. They often seem oblivious as to how difficult it is to stop one of these big rigs when loaded. I agree also that many drivers just don't care about the rules of proper driving. Its "all about me "thinking. My pet peave about police on the Interstates is you most often see them hiding behind bridges or tree lines and giving radar tickets. Thats been my experience when traveling the Interstates. Its a money generating process for the states and does little to help identify the drivers who cause accidents or drive like idiots. If an officer is on patrol, moving with the traffic, he is a lot more apt to observe some of the dangerous manuevers by drivers and take enforcement action, rather than simply waiting behind a bridge to snag speeders. If you are out amongst them, your very presence causes most drivers to watch their speed and driving behavior which benefits us all. But as we all know, its about generating income for state coffers and that is more important. It really is a shame that driving has become so dangerous and difficult these days and we as a country fail so terribly in training people before issuing that license to drive.
Thanks for the sentiment about my car. I agree that passanger cars are often troublesome for truckers and create some dangerous situations for them. They often seem oblivious as to how difficult it is to stop one of these big rigs when loaded. I agree also that many drivers just don't care about the rules of proper driving. Its "all about me "thinking. My pet peave about police on the Interstates is you most often see them hiding behind bridges or tree lines and giving radar tickets. Thats been my experience when traveling the Interstates. Its a money generating process for the states and does little to help identify the drivers who cause accidents or drive like idiots. If an officer is on patrol, moving with the traffic, he is a lot more apt to observe some of the dangerous manuevers by drivers and take enforcement action, rather than simply waiting behind a bridge to snag speeders. If you are out amongst them, your very presence causes most drivers to watch their speed and driving behavior which benefits us all. But as we all know, its about generating income for state coffers and that is more important. It really is a shame that driving has become so dangerous and difficult these days and we as a country fail so terribly in training people before issuing that license to drive.
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That because they knew he could have sued for more. I don't like sue-happy people, but do the crime.....pay the price.
Well, I got the GT500 back from the body shop this morning and they did a beautiful job. I cannot tell anywhere that there was a dent in the top fender. I'm very pleased except for the $100.00 deductable I had to cough up. They put in a new headlight assembly and the car looks just like it used to. I will certainly give flat-bed trucks of any kind a wide berth in the future. Thanks for all the input.
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