Cutting Off Trucks Can Turn Road Warriors to Road Kill

Listen to the voice of authority, they tell you.

Pay heed to your elders, for they have the wisdom of years.

Hah.

If all Ventura County drivers believed this, everyone would drive slower than 65, use turn signals and give each other a break while changing lanes in the tight-packed rush-hour stampede.

But nooooo.

From the way some of you drive--and the way we do in certain rare moods--it looks like your inner teenager’s gotten ahold of Dad’s car keys again:

“Yahoo! Let’s lay rubber outta the driveway, pull big Gs through the cliff-side hairpins and haul. . . .

“What stop sign? What turn signals? Oh, you tryin’ ta pass me, punk? Are ya? I don’t think sooooo. Let’s draaaag, maaaaaan!”

Ever wonder how you look to someone driving the equivalent of a small warehouse on wheels, a 40-ton semitruck that takes up to a quarter-mile to bring to a stop?

Like a moron. Or worse: the threat of imminent doom.

Listen up. Here is a true voice of authority:

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Dear Street Smart:

I am a truck driver who drives through Camarillo three times a week and I would like to clear up a few misconceptions about big trucks:

1. Trucks move this nation. Without them we would have nothing.

2. That “demonic droning howl” of a downhill truck you wrote about last week indicates the driver is using his engine, or “jake brakes,” to slow the truck and prevent brake failure. They work in conjunction with a type of reverse engine combustion, which slows the truck without heating up the brakes, thus making a safe downhill commute for all traffic. After all, the Conejo Grade is one of the steepest six-lane highways in California, at 7% grade.

3. Tire shreds should be reported to the CHP as a road hazard, and most truckers either remove them if it’s safe to do so or report it.

4. Big trucks do destroy roads, but trucking companies pay a Public Utilities Commission fee to help cover pavement repair.

5. Trucks don’t make people late. People make themselves late.

6. If a truck wrecks, you should first consider the source of the accident. Most truck accidents are caused by autos.

Here are some DO’s:

* Make eye contact with truckers if possible, and remember to use your turn signals.

* Do not ride in the shadow of a trailer.

* Do not cut off a truck, because trucks need up to a quarter-mile stopping distance when empty.

I hope this helps your readers understand trucks more.

Henry Miranda, Moreno Valley

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Dear Reader:

Thanks for filling in us “four-wheelers.”

You’ll probably never convince anyone the dulcet tones of “jake brakes” at dawn are as sweet as a Mozart aria, but now our readers can understand the hideous din a little better.

And your “DO’s” could easily apply to ALL vehicles--although the stopping distance for a Yugo is probably just a wee bit shorter, unless the brakes have been used before.

It was a pleasure to hear from a pro.

****

Dear Street Smart:

Regarding your reply that there is no law or ordinance barring big trucks from Santa Rosa Road:

There are two large white signs, one at the west end of Santa Rosa Road near Hilltop Lane, facing eastbound traffic, and the other at the east end near Moorpark Road facing westbound traffic.

They read: “COMMERCIAL VEHICLES 3 OR MORE AXLES PROHIBITED EXCEPT FOR LOCAL DELIVERIES,” or words to that effect.

Kenneth Huang, Moorpark

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Dear Reader:

Ouch.

Clearly, Street Smart ought to spend a bit more time behind the wheel than behind the keyboard if he hopes to retain the respect of watchful readers.

But his information is only as good as his sources:

CHP Lt. Terry Enright, who last week told Street Smart no such laws exist, called recently to correct himself--the day before your letter arrived. If we had to guess from the tone of his voice, we’d say the lieutenant was blushing.

“I goofed when I told you that,” he said. “Basically truck traffic is allowed on Santa Rosa Road, but trucks of three axles or more are prohibited unless they’re making local deliveries or pickups.”

Enright--who runs the Conejo truck scales on the Ventura Freeway--also admitted humbly he should get out from behind the desk and into a cruiser a bit more often.

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Dear Street Smart:

I consider those who exclusively drive trucks for their livelihood to be professionals. We need them in our society, and anything inconvenient about the existence of the truck on the road is not their fault.

But not all persons who drive trucks are professionals. Small businesses may have general-purpose employees, who drive trucks with no more dedication than you or I might have in driving a rented Ryder. They do not have the professional trucker’s training or acute regard for road safety.

No, for them, the truck is akin to the forklift or the computer or any other element of a small business operation.

Gilbert S. Bahn, Moorpark

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Dear Reader:

Speaking as a three-time Ryder-renter (Street Smart’s prized antique dust-ball-and-widget collection does not fit into the old bumper car for a move) we have been thrilled and appalled at exactly how large a truck the average Californian can rent without special permits.

The weight limit on a Class C license (you’ll probably find one in your wallet) is 26,000 pounds. That’s 13 tons.

We never had the guts to drive anything larger than 9 tons--a shiny, 24-foot-box behemoth that stopped on a mile-long line of dimes laid end-to-end and had all the blind-spot vision of your average hibernating mole.

But thousands do, every day. You see them bombing up the left lane in your mirror on the Ventura Freeway (illegally), speeding into the hard downhill curves of the Norwegian Grade (foolishly) and drifting without signals across all four lanes of the Ronald Reagan Freeway into the carpool lane (arrogantly).

The safest of them drive pickups or bobtail trucks with our favorite little bumper sticker: “How’s my driving? Call 555-9797.”

Just watch out for the rest. A lot of them drive just like you. And they weigh a lot more.

NEXT: Red light. Green light.