Best Cars Versus Trucks and Buses Part 1

Best Cars Versus Trucks and buses : a constant war with a possible solution

When different types of vehicles have to share the same road, rivalries arise from the very first moment, and I am not only talking about cars. Yes, with cars, the confrontation with motorcycles, bicycles (which we already talked about), trucks, buses, and pedestrians are more popular. But think about it, there is also rivalry between skis and snowboards, skates and bicycles, bicycles and horses, bicycles, horses and hikers… The list is long.

But here we are talking about cars and today it is time to talk about the continuous confrontation between trucks and buses versus cars. Is it a lost battle or is there a solution? I think that it is possible, that as they say “two don’t argue if one doesn’t want to” and that, if there were some understanding on both sides, this article would be meaningless. Let’s move on.

First of all, I am not speaking out of earshot, I have hundreds of thousands of kilometers on the counter at the wheel of different cars, but I have also had the opportunity to be behind the wheel of a car more than ten meters long. I have suffered a lot of situations from the car I was not aware that they could happen and therein lies the main problem, when we move we are selfish and do not think of others. But we’ll talk about that later.

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Those damn trucks and buses
I don’t care if they are trucks, buses, or coaches, large and heavy vehicles that, by concept, have clear dynamic limitations (we’ll call them trucks to generalize). Yes, I’m talking about those that enter traffic circles slowly from the right, knowing that they don’t have time and, if you have to brake because they are already entering, you hold on. The same ones spill gasoil all over the traffic circles and curves and then a motorcyclist steps on it and go to the ground.

Those bastards who stop in the middle of a narrow street for more than five minutes and don’t even let you see what’s going on in front of you. Or they spend ten minutes maneuvering and cutting off the street during all that time because the guy is not able to realize that he has no room to make the turn or that he needs forty maneuvers to make it.

And what about those who leave in a merging at two per hour? You have to slam on the brakes or change lanes because they want to merge onto the highway at 40 km/h. Or those who go up a mountain pass behind another truck and leave no room to overtake. Or worse, those who overtake another truck on the highway that is traveling at half a kilometer per hour less and takes half a lifetime to overtake.

Mercedes

Buah, don’t forget the stones they spit, the wind blows they hit you, and how heavy they are when there is a traffic jam or traffic lights. Well, let’s not talk about if we meet one head-on in a narrow and twisty mountain area. If it’s a straight line, it will surely invade our lane or squeeze its lane to the maximum, but in a curve forget about it, the most normal thing is that it gets into your territory and you even have to stop to make the turn.

Those damn cars
Yes, those damn cars, fast cars, slow cars, small, big, SUV or minivan type. Those that see you trying to get out of a traffic circle by starting up the huge tonnage you are carrying and accelerate to not let you pass or when you already have half a truck inside, they stick to you to give you an intense beep. These are the same ones who draw the traffic circles as they please and force you to brake, with how little the truck likes improvisations and abrupt maneuvers and how much it will cost to launch it again.

Those bastards who park as they want in narrow streets and make you sweat ink not to hit them when passing, sometimes you even have to stop collapsing the street because there is no way to pass and on top of that those behind start to whistle hysterically. Or those who park on the corners and stuck to the fords even though it is forbidden, making maneuvering almost impossible.

And what about those who have the left lane empty and do not let you join the highway? Spain is full of left lane subscribers, but in the vicinity of the junctions, this lane seems to be off-limits. And the nervous ones who stick to the ass of the truck (and you lose sight of them) while you are overtaking? Then they pass you, honk at you and even insult you.

Those damn cars
Yes, those damn cars, fast cars, slow cars, small cars, big cars, SUVs, or minivans. Those that see you trying to get out of a traffic circle by starting up the huge tonnage you are carrying and accelerate to not let you pass or when you already have half a truck inside, they stick to you to give you an intense beep. These are the same ones who draw the traffic circles as they please and force you to brake, with how little the truck likes improvisations and abrupt maneuvers and how hard it is going to be to launch it again.

Those bastards who park as they want in narrow streets and make you sweat ink not to hit them when passing, sometimes you even have to stop collapsing the street because there is no way to pass and on top of that those behind start to whistle hysterically. Or those who park on the corners and stuck to the fords even though it is forbidden, making maneuvering almost impossible.

And what about those who have the left lane empty and do not let you join the highway? Spain is full of left lane subscribers, but in the vicinity of the junctions, this lane seems to be off-limits. And the nervous ones who stick to the ass of the truck (and you lose sight of them) while you are overtaking? Then they pass you, honk at you and even insult you.

Bus

Wow, and how tiresome they are in traffic jams when you are accelerating slowly to avoid having to stop and restart and they do nothing but sneak in front of you to try to gain positions (which they never end up winning) to finally make you stop. And let’s not talk about those who go on a narrow road and think that their car is a meter and a half wider on the right and takes up more space than you with a truck twice as wide.

Those are the ones who then when they overtake a bicycle, comb them with the rear-view mirror, it turns out that their car next to the bicycle shrinks on the right side.

Those damn cars
Yes, those damn cars, fast cars, slow cars, small cars, big cars, SUVs, or minivans. Those that see you trying to get out of a traffic circle by starting up the huge tonnage you are carrying and accelerate to not let you pass or when you already have half a truck inside, they stick to you to give you an intense beep. These are the same ones who draw the traffic circles as they please and force you to brake, with how little the truck likes improvisations and abrupt maneuvers and how hard it is going to be to launch it again.

Those bastards who park as they want in narrow streets and make you sweat ink not to hit them when passing, sometimes you even have to stop collapsing the street because there is no way to pass and on top of that those behind start to whistle hysterically. Or those who park on the corners and stuck to the fords even though it is forbidden, making maneuvering almost impossible.

And what about those who have the left lane empty and do not let you join the highway? Spain is full of left lane subscribers, but in the vicinity of the junctions, this lane seems to be off-limits. And the nervous ones who stick to the ass of the truck (and you lose sight of them) while you are overtaking? Then they pass you, honk at you and even insult you.

Bus
Wow, and how tiresome they are in traffic jams when you are accelerating slowly to avoid having to stop and restart and they do nothing but sneak in front of you to try to gain positions (which they never end up winning) to finally make you stop. And let’s not talk about those who go on a narrow road and think that their car is a meter and a half wider on the right and takes up more space than you with a truck twice as wide.

Those are the ones who then when they overtake a bicycle, comb them with the rear-view mirror, it turns out that their car next to the bicycle shrinks on the right side.

Is there a solution?

Yes and no. The solution exists, but it requires every one of us to put ourselves in the other’s shoes. Cars, trucks, and buses are to blame in these situations and many more, but some more than others. To tell the truth, car drivers are more guilty than truck drivers (there are also more cars than heavy vehicles) and it is for two reasons: selfishness and ignorance.

Selfishness because when we get behind the wheel, as a general rule, we do everything right, we are always right, it is hard for us to give in to others, and sometimes we are even the best. It is very childish, but it happens even in kind and generous people, I think that even Sor Citroën is not free of any of these sins.

Arocs
And ignorance because few are car drivers who have driven a truck or bus and do not even consider how complicated the simplest maneuvers can be. We do not think that on that street where I park on the corner and cars pass perfectly, a truck eleven meters long must also turn.

Nor do we think that with heavy vehicles, just the fact of starting from a standstill is an effort, it is not to put it in first gear and drive for miles, to get out of a standstill and cross a traffic circle with a fully loaded truck, you may have to engage up to five gears. And no, if the gearbox is manual it is not like the one in cars, it is infinitely slower.

We do not think that they accelerate very slowly and that, from the moment they show their nose at a crossroads or traffic circle until they enter completely, there is plenty of time for us to arrive from a point where we are not visible and hinder our fluid circulation.

We also don’t think about how complicated it is to overtake another truck, or how nerve-wracking it is to go after one that is a little slower than you. On the one hand, because you know you can go faster, on the other because it forces you to regulate the gas, and, without that truck in front, you can go flat out letting the limiter act or with the cruise control (if it has one) activated.

Arocs2
I’m sure we haven’t stopped to think that driving on narrow roads with the wheels on the right side constantly on the end of the asphalt is not easy. Neither the inertia that a truck has when it faces a curve, nor how hard it is to break it, nor how easy it can be to have an accident at the slightest mistake.

And, of course, we don’t even think about what could happen if it touches us, even if only by a glancing glance. There are many situations in which a heavy vehicle can leave a car very, very damaged without the driver of the truck or bus even being aware of the damage.

This sounds like a rebuke from a frustrated truck driver to car drivers but seen from both sides and objectively, selfishness and ignorance are the main causes. The solution to selfishness is in each of us. The solution to ignorance is expensive, but I believe it would drastically change the way of thinking of many car drivers and their attitude towards heavy vehicles: to drive