Slow vehicle safety

You need to exercise caution to avoid unintended effects of elaborate lighting on your vehicle. Test done decades ago by the Michigan State Police showed that some drivers drive toward elaborate lighting schemes. Impaired drivers are especially vulnerable to this candle moth syndrome. If the lights are too elaborate the impaired driver may be unable to figure out what it is he is supposed to do. They keep looking at the lights and drive right towards them.

Filming of construction warning sign reactions from overpasses bears out this difficulty by showing that a simpler sign is reacted to earlier than a more complicated one. The case I saw was for directional arrow boards. When the arrow board was set to a fixed single arrow that only flashed on and off the reaction of many drivers was earlier than when the same arrow board was set to the marching arrow mode in which the arrow moves across the board.

Keep in mind that it is difficult to research the problem without causing collisions, injuries, and even deaths. When the Michigan tests were done the test vehicle was located behind deflectors with sand barrels at either end. In spite of those precautions several drivers struck the deflectors. The common thread was that all of the drivers that struck the deflector were legally drunk. Realizing that this was a bad way to detect drunk drivers the test were terminated before conclusive data could be gathered. Dozens of drivers that did not strike anything were pulled over for unsafe lane change and found to be impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Impaired drivers are out there and elaborate lighting schemes may bring them right to you.

--
Tom

Convoy Route Decisions

This video reminded me how frustrating and dangerous it is to get behind slow traffic on a 2 lane highway.
Watch Double Overtaking FAIL Video | Break.com

I have recently heard that some MVPA convoys are CHOOSING 2 lane highways to travel as opposed to running down higher speed multi-lane Interstates/ Highways. It has been voiced by some convoy vets that it is safer. It may be safer for the convoy but is it the best decision?

If you had a choice to travel 2 lane or 4 lane, which would you choose, how would you brief the convoy about protocol (spacing etc.) and why?

I followed a Ural out of the mountains one day and I was the 7th unit in line to catch this guy. I had hoped the max. 50 Ural would ride the shoulder so folks could see
past him better or pull over once a few cars got stacked behind him. Instead, one
driver at a time pushed their head against the driver window and poked the nose of
the vehicle over the center line to see past this big square box on wheels. Eventually I
got by but couldn't help imagine the stress on the drivers of the semi's or 4 cylinder
cars in the line up behind me.

If I had my choice as a civi' passing a convoy, I would rather sit in the fast lane for a
week knowing I will eventually get by then risk a head-on.

As a heavily experienced Convoy rookie with 2 big trips under my belt I would prefer
to see all the girls and grannies giving me the finger as they drove by on a 4 lane road
then risking their lives in a passing lane with potential on-coming traffic.

We've discussed SAFE 2 lane protocol with spacing between the vehicles to allow
passers between units when 2 lanes cannot be avoided. I believe checking the
shoulder ahead and riding the white line help those behind us get by safer.
I still see 2 lane.......long duration convoys as a potential for problems.

My non-biased, objective opinion is that it is safer for everyone (MV'er and general public) to run on a four lane highway with the biggest brightest unit at the back. Speed adjustments and spacing can be made at merges and off-ramps and lane selection can be done by the rear unit on command from the front.

What makes a convoy a success?

m1010plowboy said:

This video reminded me how frustrating and dangerous it is to get behind slow traffic on a 2 lane highway.
Watch Double Overtaking FAIL Video | Break.com

I have recently heard that some MVPA convoys are CHOOSING 2 lane highways to travel as opposed to running down higher speed multi-lane Interstates/ Highways. It has been voiced by some convoy vets that it is safer. It may be safer for the convoy but is it the best decision?

If you had a choice to travel 2 lane or 4 lane, which would you choose, how would you brief the convoy about protocol (spacing etc.) and why?

I followed a Ural out of the mountains one day and I was the 7th unit in line to catch this guy. I had hoped the max. 50 Ural would ride the shoulder so folks could see
past him better or pull over once a few cars got stacked behind him. Instead, one
driver at a time pushed their head against the driver window and poked the nose of
the vehicle over the center line to see past this big square box on wheels. Eventually I
got by but couldn't help imagine the stress on the drivers of the semi's or 4 cylinder
cars in the line up behind me.

If I had my choice as a civi' passing a convoy, I would rather sit in the fast lane for a
week knowing I will eventually get by then risk a head-on.

As a heavily experienced Convoy rookie with 2 big trips under my belt I would prefer
to see all the girls and grannies giving me the finger as they drove by on a 4 lane road
then risking their lives in a passing lane with potential on-coming traffic.

We've discussed SAFE 2 lane protocol with spacing between the vehicles to allow
passers between units when 2 lanes cannot be avoided. I believe checking the
shoulder ahead and riding the white line help those behind us get by safer.
I still see 2 lane.......long duration convoys as a potential for problems.

My non-biased, objective opinion is that it is safer for everyone (MV'er and general public) to run on a four lane highway with the biggest brightest unit at the back. Speed adjustments and spacing can be made at merges and off-ramps and lane selection can be done by the rear unit on command from the front.

What makes a convoy a success?

Click to expand...

Sometimes you don't have a choice in what highway you need to travel on. But if you are on a 2 lane road, you should maintain a large interval in a convoy. For one, stopping distances are longer with MV's, and two, you should allow space for vehicles to pass when safe. If you pay attention to what's behind you, you can make it safe for them to pass by keeping to the right as far as possible, especially when there's a wide shoulder. But be sure to watch out for debris on the shoulders.

July 7th, 2012.

I would probably prefer the two lane roads, as 1). they are less used, 2) the speeds are generally lower, 3) there is less time sensitive traffic to deal with, and 4) most of our trucks cannot hold fifty MPH for long without adverse effect. As to the other drivers, you can't outdesign "Stupid", because stupid evolves quickly in the general gene pool and spreads very, very quickly. Just my though on the matter, having owned one of the slower trucks (M35A2) and a Model "T" Ford.... so I can figure out what works and what doesn't pretty fast.

have a good weekend.

Slow vehicle Safety

Thanks gents, for the reply.

This is also a bump and a safety reminder that if you are in green iron and traveling slow, give the general public the kindness their IQ requires. Until stupid
people are no longer allowed to drive, we'll need to figure out how to get them by
our convoys safely.

I had the chance to Follow the DUKW back to her 'motor pool' yesterday and had a nearly flawless 30mph run down the 45mph, 6 lane Yellowhead Trail.

The DUK gave me a flash as an "advance signaled" on his intent for lane changes.
I moved to that lane first when safe and 'covered' his lane change because of the DUK's poor sight lines. He timed the lights so we either both made it or both stopped and it was a trip to write home about.

With the ALCAN trip coming and hundreds of us hitting the road, let's keep the information flowing on what's working with our convoys, what can be improved
and the successful trips we've had that we can all, write home about.

This is what I'll be doing in the convoys this summer.

-Keep write except to pass.
-Observe those mirrors, you want to know what is behind you and their closing speed.
-If someone is trying to pass, help them. Grab the shoulder if you can, move to the right so their sight lines are better. (DO NOT pull to the shoulder without absolutely knowing what is ahead, or if debris is on road)
-If you're on a 2 lane and more then 3 vehicles are behind you and traffic is too heavy for them to pass, consider pulling over. Studies show that I get P*^%$d off after 2-5 minutes if I'm held up in traffic. I'm in an MV club that could be affected if too many people complain I am causing a problem.
-If you're holding up a trucker, you're holding up commerce. Give these guys room to make their living.
-Make spacing between your convoy units large enough so the passing vehicle can get between you. If you are on a 2 lane highway and semi's are leap-frogging between units to get past, leave plenty of room. Anticipate the size of the vehicle that is passing you and back-off form the guy in front so if the big rigs can't make it by everyone, they can get between you and the lead unit......easily.
- Have a plan when passing emergency vehicles or when emergency vehicles are passing you. I would drive my truck into a ditch to get out of the way of fire, ambulance or police.
- Have a break-down/ emergency preparedness plan, only one unit stops as support, the rest find a safe pull off.
- Use your highest observation skills towards driver behaviour, especially those head-on. I have avoided 2 vehicles swerving into my lane and 2 near-miss head-ons....because of texting drivers. If a texting driver swerves into your lane and
you are paying attention, you can avoid them. But only a 20 ton or a tank will ever stop them.

I will not draw a 2 lane or 4 lane preference conclusion until I get a few more trips behind me. Just really hoping to hear from everyone in a few months about how we made 2012 a year of convoy successes. If you are in an incident, report it here so we can all discuss how things can be done better.

.......A news story of one bad 2 lane highway

No photo-radar, toll for Alberta's Highway 63 - Edmonton - CBC News

........A couple of "convoy rules" sites

Convoy Rules
CONVOY RULES for Manual of Motor Transport Corps
http://www.mx5vic.org.au/pdf/convoy_incident_rules.pdf

HAPPY CONVOYS