Some people...

So, I jump on the freeway to head to work, and immediately, a semi-truck bears down on me. I don't care. You've got two lanes, use them.

Flashing his lights, and even a quick honk, and finally, he gets frustrated enough with me driving 55mph in front of him, that he decides to pass. He passes on the left, and I think that's then end of me having to deal with him. Wonderful.

When his trailer tires get to my window, I realize that there is a lot of noise coming from one of them, and I glance over, and see that he has one tire that is completely flat, split radially, wide open at the edge of the sidewall, and shredded bits are being flung all over, and what is being held on, keeps slapping the pavement with each torturous revolution. I brake just a bit to give him some space, much to the chagrin of the truck behind me, from whom I get more headlight flashes. Whatever. Same rule applies.

I keep my eye on this one truck though, thinking one of two things is going to happen. He's going to realize that he has a flat, and is going to pull over. Or.. and more probably, being only 20 miles or so from the docks, he'll probably try to make it to his destination with the flat tire, hoping that no further problems will arise.

At this point, I should mention that once, a long time ago, while driving a different car, I was behind a semi-truck whose tire let loose. The tread of the carcass split, and was run over by the car in front of me, which compressed it, giving it enough spring to leap into the air, and come down on my hood and windshield with enough force to crack the windshield, and lay a dent across my hood, and fenders, as if someone gift-wrapped my car, and tied the bow too tight. NOT something I want to have to pay to get fixed any time soon. So now, I leave much more space in front of me when there is any kind of speed involved. Call me gun-shy, but I have seen what can happen, and choose - actively - not to participate.

You'd never guess what the dude in the semi-truck did today. Yeah. He kept on going. Awesome.

Now knowing what will, at some point, lie ahead of me, I left extra room in front of me all the way to work. Little did the insistent people behind me know that there was going to be, at some point in my commute, a need to swerve to avoid hitting some large portion of a tire. So, with that information neatly in hand, I exercised caution in keeping the gap ahead of me large enough to identify and react to any such threat. This, apparently, was not a popular position on the matter, as expressed by no less than fifty drivers of cars, trucks, and semi-trucks, who impatiently honked, flashed lights, sped around me at inappropriate places, like an exit-only lane to the right, and gore points for on and off ramps alike. Now, mind you, I never really had more than 100' in front of me - a little more than the length of a semi-truck, and plus maybe one car. I was going the speed of the vehicle in front of me. Yes, every time someone jumped in that gap, I slowed to let it grow again, but come on - aren't we supposed to be operating in this manner anyway?

In my life, I have received two tickets for "tailgating", or following too closely. When I got the first one, there was on the books, some measure of what "too close" was - some formula with car lengths for every ten miles per hour. I argued, that if I obeyed that, I would continually get cut off every three seconds, but I got the ticket anyway. The second one, I didn't bother arguing, but rather, I looked up the law, and figured I'd contest it. By that time, the law had changed to simply a "safe" distance. I was able to identify hazards through the window of the car in front of me, so I was able to fight that ticket and win. Thast stated, here, we have one of these potential threats on the road in front of us. I know this to be a fact: There was a semi-truck, on the reeway, ahead of me, with one tire, and potentially more, that was going to come apart, and spread debris all over the freeway, much of shich could do damage to sheetmetal, glass, and maybe even rubber - all creating a hazard for occupants of vehicles. I was being cautious about this fact, and I was getting flack for it.

I. Don't. Care.

And then it happened. I smelled the faint odor of burnt rubber. I saw a sea of brake lights wash across the freeway, and cars dart in several directions. Traffic moved through the mine field slowly, and I, because I knew it was going to happen, and had armed myself with room in front of me to react, lifted slightly off the gas, and wove through the shards of hot rubber and metal unscathed. The tailgaters behind me, honking and flashing lights had to contend with the surprise--or ignorance-- of the hazards on the freeway. I thought it was over. I keep watching for where the semi-truck missing a tire would pull off of the freeway, surely, he knew what had happened, and figured it would be best to stop and make repairs, right?

I waited, and watched, and saw nothing. I came to the next freeway interchange, and again smelled rubber burning, the air still whispy with smoke. He's still going.

My Step-Dad was a truck driver for many years. I learned a lot from him that the average person probably doesn't know. During our vacations as well, he would drive the pickup truck - the kind with dual rear wheels - with the camper on it, and a trailer for whatever recreation we planned on; boat, dune buggy, whatever. I knew that with the weight involved, if you lost air in one tire, the adjacent tire then had to carry the weight that is no longer being carried by the tire that has been lost. Naturally. Logically.

Here too, I wagered, that it would not be long - unless his trailer was empty, which it didn't appear to be, because it didn't 'bounce' like an empty trailer - before the other tire on that side of that axle was gonig t succumb to the forces acting upon it, and give up the gost. So, I maintained my distance. I knew-by smell- that the truck was still ahead of me. I could see the tell-tale bits of rubber still rolling after having been bounced up by someone's undercarriage, or compressed under someone's tire. I knew.

Once again, though, the people behind me did not. Again with the honking, and the flashing o their headlights, and passing at inappropriate places. Rushing only to find out that there is danger ahead of them after damage has been done. There was a trail of smoke steadily streaming off of the trailer every time I caught a glimpse of it on the next rise ahead of me.

I come to the next interchange, still smelling rubber, thinking that our paths have now diverged, only to find still bouncing pieces of rubber in the road ahead of me. I come around a bend, and see him. Still going, but his trailer is sitting so funny, it looks as though it could seriously fall over with just the right combination of turning and braking. On he goes. Vehicles ahead realize, with the source of the danger so close, that it is best now, to just go around him. And they do. With fury. As I get near enough to be concerned with flying bits of tire, I see him finally pull off the freeway, likely continuing on, blindly to his destination - surely not far now. I watch as he brakes down the off-ramp, as sparks fly from his now bare rims scraping at pseed along the pavement, having stopped rotating because there was no tire to offer resistance to the clamping force of his brakes. Just as I pass his cab again - finally.. FINALLY, I can see him look in his mirror, and I can see the shock, and mild panick appear on his face as he wonders what the heck is going on.

This person should not drive a truck.

And you should think about the person in front of you - they might have a reason for doing what they are doing. It might be a good one. And just because you are impatient, gives you no reason to try to rush someone else. If you have an issue, just pass--safely--and go about your business. There is no need to be rude. Maybe they saved you from having to pay for a new windshield, or body work. The sad thing is, you will never know.