I recently drove from Seattle to San Francisco and back. I went down 101 and returned on I5. So I had a good look at alot of 18 wheelers and the debris they casually strew on the pavemant! I can tell you I was almost never out of sight of shredded tires from large trucks. I can tell you the reason for this mess…….money!!! It is expensive to keep a big truck in good tires. It is far cheaper to run re treads and let them fall apart as you are rolling. (who wants to pay a recycling fee? not the trucking companies) It is much cheaper to just let the highway departments pick up the tires….if they would do the job.
California could make alot of money if they stopped the trucks at wiegh stations and fined the truckers for running ratty balding tires!
States could also make tons of money (at first) for enforcing speed laws on the big rigs. No one does that! Notice who gets stopped for speeding next time you take a road trip! Little sports cars, (especailly hot looking ones) and expensive suvs. Not to mention any minority driving same! But count the big rigs keeping pace with you or passing you up along the road! See if you EVER see one stopped for a speeding ticket? No matter that they are a much more dangerous rolling hazard than a small passenger car. The code of the road (from a Highway Patrol’s perspective) is that the trucker is a brother in service and should be given huge breaks. Never mind that the driver in the passenger car might be on a work detail as well. Perhaps the cops think that all non essential (not hauling freight) drivers should just stay home?
The most outragous thing I saw happen on my trip was when I came back to Seattle. Just north of the airport there was a big lighted sign warning truckers and all others hauling freignt that flammable cargo was NOT to go thru under the Seattle convention center (on I5) but to take an alternate route.Great Idea! Of course as I went thru under the convention center, right next to me was an 18 wheeler hauling gasoline! WTF? If these laws cant be enforced…..why bother? Just to harass a few unlucky drivers who get noticed by some patrol who has an axe to grind on a particular day? Once in a blue moon? If we enforced the laws and collected the fines, it would improve the budget and give police something useful to do, and they would not have to clean up the blood on the highway………………………not nearly as often!
2 responses so far ↓
Gayle // October 22, 2009 at 2:53 am |
I live between Nashville and Tulsa, Ok. I drive HWY 40 quite often. You mention the unsightly shredded tires all along the highway. The thing worse than the littering is the fact that those huge pieces of tire cause so many wrecks. We have no idea why some accidents happen, could it be someone trying to dodge those tire pieces…… Wonder how many older drivers have tried to miss one of them and end up over in another lane or God forbid even cross the center median and have a head-on with another car. Don’t tell me they don’t cause wrecks because they do…… Not only that they damage and tear up automobiles all the time. To date we, my immediate family have spent over $6,000.00 for repairs to our cars. Who are we suppose to call when our cars are damaged by those retreads laying around all over the roads….. You can’t avoid one if it is in your path at 65 to 70 MPH. It’s inpossible to miss. I am so sick of hitting those things. Someone needs to take this matter to our state Highway Department. If I knew who to call or who to go before, I would be happy to do so. I just hit one in a 2010 Mercedes
and I was scared to death. We just shouldn’t have to put up with driving an obsticle course on our highways. I hope someone will comment and respond on this matter. Who is responsible for the truck drivers using those kinds of tires? It’s WRONG
candacelange // October 22, 2009 at 1:47 pm |
Gayle, your reply is spot on. My only comment is that it is not just “older” drivers that hit these tires, but everyone who drives. I think you should contact your state lawmakers and complain. Get a group of people behind you and set up a stink to get the truck companies to straighten up their act. Find out who goes out to pick up the tires and enlist their support. (unless it is their rice bowl and they might lose their jobs…then they would not get on board) thanks for your response!