Driving habits of others is very stressful.

by Ronald Matheny
(Scottdale, PA USA)

As a professional driver, which requires the majority of my workday to be on the roads and highways, can be a very stressful moment.

As a professional truck driver, I do understand that there are all levels of driving skills amongst drivers. There are many factors for why there are drivers on the highways which have varying degrees of driving skills. It used to be at one time, most schools provided driver's training as part of the school's curriculum. But due to budget cuts and lack of government funding, most of these programs have been eliminated. Instead of beginning drivers receiving professional instruction, most are learning their driving skills from parents. Basically what we have are bad drivers teaching new drivers bad driving habits. These poor driving habits are a contributing factor to unsafe driving conditions.

One thing most people do not realize is that accidents are not something that just happened. Accidents happen because someone errored in judgment. These errors could be a number of things. Someone fails to use proper turn signaling to alert other drivers of what their next action is going to be. If you are going to be making a turn off from the road, one should activate the turn signal a minimum of 100 yards before making the turn. Using the turn signal while you are in the middle of the turn does nothing to warn the driver of your intentions. Then there are those that never use turn signals. This can create a very hazardous situation.

The next potential dangerous situation are lane changing and passing. I cannot count the number of times during the day I will see a vehicle a half a mile or more in my mirrors in the fast lane exceeding the speed limit 10 mph or more just to catch a tractor trailer. Just when they finally catch up and could safely pass they hang back there by the rear of trailer and just stay there. I don't think people realize how much they are putting themselves in danger by doing that.

There are rare occasions where there could be a tire blow out, which in turn could throw a blown tire through the windshield. There could be a disabled vehicle that is not quite fully on the shoulder of the road, where the truck driver may need to move over a bit to allow proper clearance.

Then there are the people who use their bright lights at night to pass a tractor trailer. Unlike a regular passenger vehicle, which has the potential to tilt the windshield mirror to darken it for bright lights, truck drivers do not have that option. At night our mirrors see approaching vehicles just fine with low beams on. When the bright lights are shining through our mirrors, it is like having someone taking a bright flashlight and shining it right into our eyes, literally blinding us which makes it difficult to see the road. Every driver that thinks, by using bright lights to pass a tractor trailer, makes it safer is far from the truth. Just don't do it for your safety.

In this brief story, I have only touched the surface of driving habits that create possible accidents. I could literally discuss a number of scenarios which can make the driving conditions very stressful due to lack of knowledge and no respect for others on the roads. Hopefully I was able to convey some factors that could make the highways a little safer for all of us.