I was following a tractor trailer a little too close while in traffic tonight and he turned on high beams.... ON THE BACK OF HIS TRAILER. Oh, and then he attempted to push me off the road. Does anyone know if these @$s beams are legal?

 

That is the exact point I would be dialing 911.

Turning on white lights rear facing is not legal. There are all kinds of infractions that they call this sort of driving. They sort of hold Semi Drivers to a higher standard. It gets very expensive if they have a burned out running light. Not to mention an infraction in the log book like driving too many hours.

Unfortunately the police would say they have to see this behavior to do anything about it. Been there myself but not with an 18 wheeler, they are usually the best drivers on the road. Or so has been my experience. But then I talk with them on my Ham Radio and go out of my way to give them room, allow them to pull in front of me, make room for them and such.

But this is one example of many why I installed a Blackvue Dash Cam front and rear in my car. Anything, and I mean anything happens I have it on video tape.

Just Google Blackvue or BlackBoxMyCar.

This is just my response and I don't even claim to be sane. Is having video a good idea? I don't know and only time will tell if this helps me in any fashion.

I can tell you this, the Blackvue has built in Wifi. At the scene of an accident I can link my phone to Blackvue and download the videos in about two minutes to review them. Front or Rear and save the files.

Your story reminds me of an old movie with Dennis Weaver in it called Duel. Basically between a 18 wheeler and a car. You might enjoy that movie but somewhat dated.

I would be interested in how others would respond? What is the correct response? How should this be handled? What can be done? Maybe some who say you provoked this behavior?

In the end I have tried to avoid bad driving behavior that I did not bring on to me. For whatever reason a driver seems to be driving very aggressive and takes a dislike to me I will pull off. Take the next exist and wait a few minutes. Turn into a neighborhood or something. Get off the road by taking a detour. In other words the driver can continue by picking on someone else but not me.

I try to avoid confrontation. Deescalate the situation, back off, but that is me. I just want to remain safe, and above all keep my Mini safe.

 

I had my girlfriend in the car with me to. I immediately had her call the police. Those rear facing whites were honestly so bright I was blinded and he hit me with them twice. Once for about 10 seconds and the next for about 2 minutes. The second time I was so blinded i was forced to stop on highway because I was nearly completely impaired. For a quick example of how bright and binding think of any movie where an alien in a ufo snatches people off the ground and into their ship.

 

So....you tailgate a semi...caused stress to the poor guy trying to make a living and feed his family...likely making less than half what you make... The guy was having flashbacks to the last time a hyper-miler tailgated him...and he blew a tire..and the tread WENT THROUGH THE WINDSHIRLD of the car...possibly killing somebody....or had a chunk of ice in the airlines to the trailer intrupt air to the trailer brakes... Locking them up...resulting in you going under the rear bumper....BEHEADING YOU.....
I'm not saying what was done was right...not even sure what " rear highbeams" are (maybe backup lights??) .....but being within 50 feet or or of rear of a trailer is downright dangerous in the best of times with a good driver....with a bad driver or poor equipment (maybe you found one) downright dangerous. ...
As for running off THE road...there is about a 30 foot blind spot behind the truck...hang out too close to the back end...and the ONLY thing a driver can see of you is a shadow on the side of the road on a sunny day....maybe he messed up...but may have been a simple explanation...you were in stealth mode...Then "appeared" after the driver had begun a lane change...you were behind the truck right?
For at least 10 seconds....then a full 2 minutes in the blinding light.......
In any case....back off..take a deep breath....

 

Docking lights.

 

Only ones I have ever seen are on cab...never seen a set mounted on a trailer.....
Not sure how you would even wire them up....maybe a second pigtail/aux wire...
Wonder...was it a flatbed? Must have been an owner operator as opposed to a corporate owned "company" truck and trailer....

 

@ZippyNH I was trying to find an opening to get around this guy and when he went to ram me off the road I was very clearly I'm his view as I could see his mirrors and a reflection in them and he switched lanes aggressively without blinkers.

It was not a flat bed but a box. Looked refrigerated.

 

Likely a guy having a bad day...good nobody was hurt.
Yeah..many reefer...good chance it was a owner/operator...that type of driving would get a company driver fired pretty fast.

 

Man, I stay away from trucks. They kick up way too much trash. 2 days after getting my Clubman I was struck on the roof with some debris from a truck I was next to (passing, 3 lane highway).

Given the nose of our cars are rock chip magnets and the near vertical windscreen gets beat up.. I just hang back until I can safely pass at a good speed.

has some winners.

 

That video is evidence of how crazy the world actually can be.

 

I did get a pretty gnarly snow ball to windshield though. Came right off of a different semis roof I was passing and BOOM. Could have sworn my girlfriend was going to jump through the sunroof. Haha.

 

Another plus for having a dash cam. Just wonder what I will tape in the days ahead?

 

Make sure you share with us!

 

The one time I wasn't running my GoPro, someone ran a Stop sign and I t-boned her car. Two cars $35,000 in damage and ultimately totaled.

As for the lights, I'd have called 911 too. Regardless what you were doing, that was incredibly dangerous for a so-called professional driver and in Alaska, he'd probably have been cited criminally for reckless driving and that comes with a loss of a CDL.

Here's a few I caught...



And one a friend caught...

 

Stay away from trucks. I can't believe that the truck was going in reverse to be able to push you off the road.