Stay On Your Side of the Yellow Lines!!!

[JerryTaylor]

Having a truck rear end my Volkswagen bus that was going a legal 46mph in Montana interstate at about 10am does not help me respect your opinion of my need for an upgraded license. The first thing I ever towed on the road was a 24ft boat with my Chevy Suburban starting in ‘94. No harder to handle than the 2ft trailer behind my lawn mower. I now have a 37ft RV and tow a Ford Edge. Sometimes I have to unhitch at gas stations. But I have been driving an RV of 32ft or greater and never had an accident in either my Suburban or in my RV.

[fratermus]

Originally Posted by pumper9x9

The attached picture is a screen shot that shows an A: inattentive driver (cell phone,

D. some shaving an apex, probably to reduce lateral force

I'm not saying it's right, legal, good, or smart. I'm saying there are other possibilities that explain the phenomenon.

Motorcyclists can do this within the lane proper, since they are single-track vehicles. One of the bad habits of motorcyclists is keeping tires in the lane but having the (leaning) body in the opposing lane in left-handed curves.

[richard5933]

Interesting thread. Two points to add...

First, it's not always the large vehicles you have to watch out for. A couple of years ago we were driving our coach through Iowa on a winding 2-lane state highway. The driver of an oncoming small Honda fell asleep. Total time between me seeing him break the center line and the head-on collision was about 2 seconds. Other driver didn't make it. Fortunately we both walked away, but the coach was totaled. Ditch on the right, oncoming traffic on the left. No where to go to escape this one.

I now watch all oncoming traffic much more carefully on roads which are not divided. I wish there was an idiot light on the roof to let us know who's not paying attention, but all you can do is watch for driver's whose face is looking down or away from the road.

Second point is lane position. I was taught both in high school driver's ed and later on when I got my CDL to keep centered in the lane. If you hug the curbside lane marker, you've got nowhere to go when something happens on your left. You're stuck. Doesn't always help (see above) but it might, especially on roads with wider lanes.

[akeagle]

Motorcyclists can do this within the lane proper, since they are single-track vehicles. One of the bad habits of motorcyclists is keeping tires in the lane but having the (leaning) body in the opposing lane in left-handed curves.

Probably not relevant to this thread, but bikers must be aware of and avoid the possible "grease strip" in the middle of their lane. Crossing it with a significant amount of lateral force can result loss of traction and a bad accident.