A reminder to anyone considering drafting
 

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Lucky Corvette driver survives trailer crash that experts call too common | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos

...and the sign on the back of the trailer read:

"IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE TOO DAMN CLOSE"

Sumthin' tells me the Z06 wasn't 'drafting' ... More like "Ha ha, I'm gonna pass all you poor slobs by zipping into the slow la... aww, cr4p!"

Neat picture; I'm glad to see the driver survived.

I occasionally draft at a following distance of 2 sec.

A great alternative, is to get safely behind a car who's following a truck. The wake hits the car in front and gets extended past you, where it normally would become a highly turbulent.

Nothing safe about it. In fact, the more I think about it, the crazier it seems...

You drove a corvette and you cant out brake a semi, you should have your car crushed. :eek:

Lets not forget those tires can toss stuff up onto your car from the road, if the tire comes apart it can really damage your car as well.

You hear a slappin of floppin noise, keep going around him or let him go and look for another vehicle.

Glad he survived, but honestly, how the hell do you not see the giant ass semi stopping?

Maybe he was texting? Or changing his FB status to Drafting?

I do draft trucks but at a safe distance. Get too close and the turbulance in the wake will have a negative effect on aerodynamics, and it is not safe.
I only draft trucks that have a low rear crash bar and flaps. I almost never get any rubbish kicked up by those. Hits by stones kicked up by other cars in the lane next to me, that happens much more often.

Wrap yo ass in fiber glass.....:D

I don't think this was drafting. He was speeding, recklessly lane changing, talking on a phone or something... that corvette brakes far more quickly than that semi. [i.e., what "NachtRitter" said.]

What concerns me about drafting is road debris getting kicked up. I keep a little space between me and trailers, enough to keep other cars from jumping in and creating unsafe following distances again.

As I said, pick the trucks that have flaps all the way down. Hardly any rubbish kicks up from under them. And they give a better draft at distance. If you are lucky enough to find one that is not swarmed by truck drafting corvette's, of course ;)

Seriously, I draft most of the time. Up to now I have had about 5 sizeable stone hits on the front window, one left a dent that made repair necessary, but NONE of it happened while drafting...

Perhaps he'll take that to heart, He's not the only one who rear-ended a semi in a Corvette.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6226/6...6fb30d26_z.jpg

That could be the driver's arm in the pic. I don't think the driver survived it.

(Edit: Was that the driver's arm or not? I'm not sure it was, Now.)

Here's another Corvette accident pic:

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/corvet...080709_001.jpg

On a similar subject, Some time ago a couple in a Corvette sped past us and a mile or two later, We were the second car behind them at a red light. We didn't speed, Unlike them, If memory serves right.

Top Corvette was speeding big time. Look at the truck´s rear structure resting on the back of the Vette´s rear wheel. For it to get there the collision must have lifted the back of the truck up at least a foot or so.
The drivers arm looks more like being a piece of the truck and foam filler from a seat. Not that the driver had any chance.

The lower Vette was rear ended and probably did nothing wrong.

Seems like all drafters are driving Corvettes.
It must be some other issue with them :)

If your car is aero you dont need to draft. :thumbup:

That second corvette has a nice system in the back. I bet they just werent payng attention. It looks way too aero to need to draft. :thumbup:

Drafting has almost no effect on my mileage in the aerocivic. If you get your Cd low enough, you are literally drafting yourself.

If you plan to make a practice of drafting, it can be useful to mount an airspeed indicator in your car with the pitot tube mounted at the nose of your car. Then when drafting, position your car in the the lowest airspeed zone you can find at your selected following distance. Airspeed indicators are also useful for detecting head and tail winds and speed compensating for them.

Any closer than not being able to see both mirrors on the sides of the truck is too close. I get danged tired of it, it's tailgating. And the truck driver is at work. The rest of you morons drafting need to be responsible . . because you aren't when you are closer than the above. There is no responsible drafting since the distances preclude being-able-to-respond.

And the various state and federal agencies, insurance racketeers, etc will count this against the truck driver who should be blameless. No, it isn't fair, and yes, it happens.

Can I show up at your place of work and put erroneous, potentially career ending info in your employment file? Please post up that employer contact info publically.

Save your pennies on your own.

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Couldn't agree more slowmover, safety is more important than fuel economy.

I agree. Never do that. I get sick of tailgators too, and people that dive into the large gap I leave behind the truck and myself.

I hope this is just a bad joke. To destroy people's careers because you are annoyed is a terrible thing to do.
You never annoyed anyone yourself then? And what punishment would you think justified for others to put on you for that?
Trailing at over 2 seconds distance (50 meters, 180 feet) is neither unlawful nor irresponsible.

Besides that, the traffic over here is so busy that it is hard to be not trailing something when in the right lane. Moving to the left means speeding up or hindring traffic. If it is not just one big traffic jam.

Same here... for some reason there are people that equate "drafting" with "tailgating", yet it is easily possible to take advantage of the wake of a large vehicle (bus, camper, big rig) while also keeping more than a safe distance. When I do that, I will leave a lot more distance than what the majority of 'normal' drivers who are not even thinking of drafting will, and the gap I leave is often filled by one or more other drivers (though not for long since the speed of the vehicle I'm behind tends to be ~20 - 40 mph slower than the rest of traffic).

Actually, I don't mind so much when someone does dive in though I do feel for the rig driver as there is no way he/she can see the car behind. But for me, it means I can back off further while still taking advantage of the wake, so it's win-win.

Keep in mind that a lot of the moving trucks are new behind the wheel of a large truck. I was shocked at how easy it was to get the keys to a 56 ft straight box truck that has 3-4 steps to climb inside the cab. All I had to do was sign some papers and read a poster about operating the truck. :eek:

I see things like this as a reminder to never drive into a situation you can't drive out of.

It suddenly dawned to me that I don't like reading how responsible drafters get blamed for speeding accidents and ignorant tailgating. No matter how clear I make that I keep a safe distance, the lament goes on.
So this is the first thread i have unsubscribed to.

Read the article, folks. It's not us innocent users of "found aeromods" at fault here, but malicious trailer manufacturers:

I was about to post the same thing... the article isn't about the corvette crashing because of drafting. That vette slammed into a big rig for an unspecified reason.

People that draft large vehicles know there is risk and it is dangerous. Just like people that speed, tailgate, run red lights/stop signs, change lanes without looking know those activities are dangerous and risky. People still do it.

I know truck drivers are blamed for everything but I have a hard time believing the truck driver would be cited for someone running in the back of them while they are stopped/stopping.

If slowmover were to move over here, he'd likely get a heart attack ...
How about 44 (metric) tons drafting you ... at (much) less than 20 ft ?

I remember seeing a picture like one of the Corvette ones, it may have been the second, which looks very familiar. It was stated that the owner's cell phone was still in his hand, but his head was in the back seat.

I definitely think that trucks and trailers should be designed to keep cars out from under them, but yes, if a Corvette cannot out-brake a semi, there is a serious problem.

As for the Corvette and the SUV, would it have gone under had it stopped or followed at a proper distance?

Hey Basjoos, that Corvette is not as aerodynamic as your car! :)

By the way, I just cannot imagine a Corvette owner driving slow enough to draft a semi, let alone being further concerned about economy to draft. I think that these two were completely negligent. Had they been trying to squeeze past, I imagine that they would have been to one side and\or at an angle.

What slowmover is saying is here in the USA, the crash record goes on the truck drivers record even if he is 100% innocent. He could be doing 55mph in the slow lane when the Vette hits him from behind at 100mph. It still follows the truck driver and could cost him his paycheck. The stupidity of others can cost you your job. You could say that is annoying to the truck driver. It's not a joke, it is a reality that bad car drivers like the Vette in the picture have destroyed drivers careers. Bad drivers have done worse by killing innocent people from crashes they should have been able to avoid.

I do have a CDL. I drove in the past and I didn't care if you drafted me. I prefer you draft to you hanging in the lane at the edge of the trailer. It's hard to see exactly where you are at the distance. Looking in the mirror to focus on exactly where you are takes time away from me looking ahead down the road. At night, I prefer if you suck up close so I don't have to be blinded by your headlights. I can't control someones death wish if they loose control of their car from hitting debris in the road they couldn't see. I generally look ahead, try to be smooth, not wait to last minute to slam on the brakes, giving the folks behind me time to not slam me in the rear... if they are paying attention.

The 2 second rule is great, but doesn't always work out. If you are in the fast lane 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you, going the same speed, somebody will pass you in the slow lane dive in front of you, slam on the brakes to keep from rear ending the vehicle in front of you then flip you off because you were in the way and almost rear ended them when they slammed on the brakes. Isn't human nature grand?

not paying attention while driving and ramming into a truck is not drafting or tailgating, this is sensationalistic. I've done the floored quick lane change before and almost done the same thing (loong time ago), and that was before cellphones were everywhere.

A two second following distance is normal in any kind of moderate traffic. Fall back any farther than this and someone slides in to fill the gap. Now you are at 1.5 seconds from the new guy and dropping back again.

I'll be doing 1800 miles round-trip to Montana on Tuesday and plan to 2-second draft any truck that is going the speed I want to go. In Oregon, trucks tend to do 60MPH, which is slower than I'd like. I imagine once I hit I-90E the trucks will be moving a bit faster.

The main reason I don't follow any closer is to avoid some of the debris that is kicked up by the truck, and reduce the chance of being struck by rubber from a blowout. Other than that, I need a little time to avoid road debris, potholes, etc.

A benefit of following a truck is clearing the road of any animals. A deer running out in the road is often unavoidable unless you are already traveling very slowly. Fortunately I have not had a deer strike yet; cats, possums, raccoons, squirrels, and birds, but no large animals.

Following is much safer than leading out. Yes really. I know there is strong bike culture to hate following anything. Rules. Laws. Convention. To pass everything on the road to prove that you can't be caged in. And to try to out ride your commonly worthless mirrors (except on the CBR250R) since you have no clue what is going on behind you. But here again I am objective and don't automatically fall in with the way everyone else does it. It is much safer to follow a vehicle, any vehicle, in the city or on the highway, than it is to lead out on an open road. Anything bad that can happen, such as a car or an animal running into the road, will happen to THEM. I have 500,000 miles of safe driving to prove my concept. Once you become accustomed to a following riding style with a blocker/ guardian angel, you will realize how utterly naked you are to hazards running into, or turning across your lane when leading out alone. Wherever there are deer crossing, I feel much safer with a blocker in front of me. Big trucks are probably the best choice on the highway at night and in bad weather. They are pros and drive millions of miles. They sit up much higher and can see even better in bad weather. My feeble motorcycle lights work better bouncing off the back of their rig and light up like it is day. Their actions and reactions show you advanced warnings of hazards way up the road before you would have seen them. Their big tires temporarily plow a clear path on the pavement from standing water so I have a better surface to ride on. Hypermilers don't go much over the speed limit so now it is nice that speeders coming up behind you are already planning to move around the truck from much father back and don't blame you for being "some slow guy in the way". Large cars and trucks get seen. Motorcycles are invisible. Daydreaming drivers will wake up when they see the vehicle you are following and then will also see you. Following is much safer than leading out.

just watch out for corvettes behind you :)

I think the take away from this thread is that old people drive Corvettes, and driving while old is dangerous. :eek: :p

The picture in the startpost are terreble.

But this could hapend by drafting!
When i draft and the space between the truck and me is about 40m and he brakes as hard has he can, the speed difference are not realy big.
And.. when i get closer, the speed difference degrece ;)

I'm ok with that. I follow even farther back, usually more than 4 seconds. Then I don't have to brake with the rest of the herd when someone decides they are following too closely. No way am I going to follow closely just to keep idiots from cutting in front, that is patently unsafe.

haha

I prefer to tail coach buses.

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