🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <39AB397D.C012C02@aol.com>,
 The Wizard of Oz <never_was@aol.com> writes:
>"Matthew T. Russotto" wrote:
>> 
>> In article <39AAF8EB.D4CABB8F@aol.com>,
>> The Wizard of Oz  <wiz301@null.net> wrote:
>> }"Matthew T. Russotto" wrote:
>> }>
>> }> In article <39AADFA6.FAACF970@ix.netcom.com>,
>> }> Ken M. <poboxdc@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> }> }
>> }> }What is wrong with Route 81?
>> }>
>> }> Trucks.  Lots of them.
>> }
>> }       Nothing wrong with the trucks using the road they paid for. Each truck
>> }pays between $7000 to $9000 per year, per state, in "Highway Use Taxes".
>> }You pay how much?
>> 
>> Somewhere between $150 and $200, I'd guess.  But OTOH my car damages
>> the roads much less than a truck, mile per mile, and I go fewer miles.
>> 
>> I wasn't disputing the truckers right to be there, though;  only
>> pointing out that their presence makes driving less pleasant.
>
>	Care to guess how unpleasant it is for a truck driver, having to dodge
>little four wheelers who seem to be out there just to get in his way?
>Having to slow down to a grind on some of the hills on I-81, just
>because some car blocked him as he tried to build up some speed before
>he hit the uphill grade. And then that same car is still there in his
>way, doing 55 mph in the left lane, when he tops the hill and starts
>gaining speed going down the hill. 

< rest snipped >

This is exactly the point.  Cars and trucks on 81 have a very uneasy
coexistence.  A heavily loaded truck has a much smaller power/weight ratio
than a car, and therefore tends to vary its speed a lot -- slower on an
upgrade, and faster on a downgrade to get a good run at the next upgrade. 
Most cars, however, have cruise control and just run the same speed. This
is obviously going to be a nuisance for a trucker driving over rollers
where the truck's speed needs to fluctuate considerably between the ups
and the downs.  And cars get annoyed because they keep passing the same
truck on the upgrades that blasts past them on the downgrades.

Furthermore, trucks are much less maneuverable than cars and cannot stop
anywhere near as fast.  A car may be able to cut off another car when
diving for the exit ramp, but cutting off a truck the same way could be
disaster.

Sometimes on 81 a truck in the right lane will chug up a long upgrade at
45 mph and another truck will pass it going 46.  In heavy traffic this
forms a big clump of traffic behind.  When the left lane opens up, the
front of the clump starts to get by.  But meanwhile the back of the clump
is still going 45 and collecting more traffic.  After a clump like this
has formed, it persists long after the front is no longer blocked.  Even
though cars are getting out of the clump at the front, more and more cars
join at the rear.  It just continues to snowball and may even come to a
dead stop.  Have you ever been cruising along and suddenly hit a clump and
had to stop?  And then it's stop-and-go for awhile and then suddenly
you're out of it?  You don't pass an accident or construction or any other
explanation for it.  I'm conviced these clumps form naturally from minor
perturbations in the flow of very heavy traffic.

I'm not suggesting that trucks cause all these clumps.  Cars cause them
too, because people simply do not all drive the exact same speed.  One of
my pet peeves is the "cruise control nazi".  This driver's cruise is set
to 63 and he comes up behind a car doing 62.9 and so he switches to the
left lane to pass.  But will he lift his fat lazy foot off the floor and
tickle the gas pedal for a few seconds to get by?  Of course not!  He just
sits in the left lane for half the afternoon as he almost imperceptibly
passes the other car.

A variant on the "cruise control nazi" is the "cruise control zombie". 
This driver sets his cruise to 5mph below the speed limit and drives all
day in the left lane.  The zombie employs this strategy so he can drive
with minimal effort.  He slouches down in his seat, puts a foot up, leans
against the door, and stares blankly at the road.  By being the slowest
vehicle in the fast lane, the zombie never comes up behind a slower
vehicle that would force him to either brake or sit up, check a mirror,
and change lanes.  Meanwhile everyone has to pass the zombie on the right.

I like using cruise control on long trips as much as anyone, but it's
annoying when people act like its a game where they lose points if they
ever touch a pedal.