Johnny H.

Greetings,
My question is how do you react on a 2 lane shoulderless road when you have a semi behind you, and one
approaching ?
I had that happen yesterday my reaction was to safely go off the road into the grass, rather than make the truck behind me practically come to a stop.
Did I handle this right?

jadmt

yes absolutely....because if the truck behind you is not paying attention they might run you over. Not sure why but I swear I can be in the middle of nowhere and not see any vehicles for miles but when I do they pass each other right when they go by me.

downtube42

That's a crapton of mass and not much margin. The odds of that going badly are higher that many situations.

Johnny H.

Ya exactly what I think what timing.
These trucks for the most part are hauling grain to the
grainery, from farms.
The truck coming up behind slowed way down, and it passed the driver waved to me.
I know we are supposed to share the road, but I hate to make a semi have to slow down. I used to drive a semi.

pdlamb

If you can safely get off the road, that's a good idea.

But sometimes you can't -- for example, there's a guard rail right next to the fog line, or a 6' ditch next to the pavement. Then it's time to take the lane. Get in the middle of the lane when you see one of these situations coming up; that'll give oncoming traffic plenty of time to see you and slow down.

FWIW, if the truck slowed way down, the driver saw you.

jon c. 

Like most riding decisions it's situational. If you have a good shoulder your solution can work fine.

I ride mostly roads without shoulders but there aren't too many places where the shoulder is accommodating enough to do that comfortably. When possible I try to plan ahead and alter my speed to avoid having the two vehicles arrive at my position at the same time.

WaveyGravey

You absolutely did the right thing.

Johnny H.

I've decided to get off the road for a few weeks, until the farmers get their crops in. No sense asking for trouble.
I can deal with car traffic NP, big trucks are a different scenario .

john m flores 

You made it home to start this thread on BF so I'd say you made the right call.

Mtracer

I think it is obvious you didn't make a mistake. Nothing wrong with just getting out of the way. But that of course doesn't mean it is the only correct way to deal with the situation. Taking the lane is the other option.

I think trying to get far right and therefore signaling the truck should squeeze by, would be a mistake.

As for the two primary choices, take the lane, or get completely off the road, I'm much more likely to take the lane. But, if this were only likely to happen one time on a ride, I might also just get off the road. It's a safe way to handle it and a courtesy to the truck driver.

If this were happening a lot, it's the wrong road to be on.

Roughstuff

That is what I do all the time. Not only is it courteous and prudent, but in my case I am riding for pleasure and recreation while they are out there working.

I can be more specific on this situation. I live in logging and mining country, so the trucks are frequent, but they are big and loud. I have a helmet mounted rear view mirror and any time ears (first) and eyes (second) let me know that a situation like that might occur, I pull off the road and treat myself to a nice swig of water.

If it is just one truck behind me I give them a thumbs up and often point to wave them by, and I do it so early they tell me later they were amazed how quickly I realized they were there. They still aren't use d to cyclists with rear view mirrors. It has bought me many beers in the tavern where I see them in the evening.

If they are coming toward me in the other lane there rarely is a problem.

The road has some notorius blind curves, and here you need to be on your tippy toes and ready for any traffic situation, but usually can hear it unless its raining hard, or the river is high, or both.

Roughstuff

The worst are the trucks carrying the huge rectangular bales of hay stacked up. There is an incredible wind surge as they go by. Secoond are those huge white square trailers used by everyone from rock bands to rented moving companies.

My favorite worst case was one of those double decker open trucks with slotted aluminum sides which haul livestock, especially pigs. It was a pouring drippy day and a truck went by which must have dropped off the porkers just recently, and was full of slop and feces, with the wind whipping through as the truck went by. I was soaked in pigginess for hours.

Iride01 

It's too situational to say what YOU should do. However, I still have more problems with the soccer moms in SUV's than I've ever had from a commercial vehicle. One such SUV even has a Pro Life tag. But apparently the life of a cyclist isn't included in that.

I ride one two lane country road that occasionally has a lot of dump trucks carrying gravel from a gravel pit way further down the road. They have always been better than most any at staying a respectable distance behind me and waiting patiently for a clear lane to pass. I do sometimes turn off when I get to intersecting roads and adjust my route. But even those are a 2 to 3 miles apart or more.

Johnny H.

I know exactly what you mean, about 4 miles south of me Tyson has dozens of chicken coops. On the days they empty them out I can't ride, ive tried. Id get one after another stinky chicken semi's going by, then you are in a chicken stink fog for the next 5 minutes.

Trakhak

Not a coincidence, exactly, either (setting aside the preceding no-cars-for-miles deal; that's just life). A well-meaning driver of a truck or a car will reflexively slow upon seeing both a bike and an oncoming car on a two-lane road. Unfortunately, it's the slowing (by one or both drivers) that, as often as not, guarantees that all three will meet simultaneously.

Best thing to do, as soon as you recognize the possibility of a three-way entanglement,is to pull off the road and wait until it clears. I find myself doing that surprisingly often. Sometimes I get a short horn toot of appreciation from a driver.

FBinNY 

Most semi drivers are vastly better than the average motorist.

Depending on conditions, I'd either do nothing and let them sort it out, or move toward the right slightly to give them more passing room.

One caveat. Passing trucks in crosswinds create significant rebound by blocking the wind for a few seconds. They also push you away as they start passing, rhen suck you back in behind them. So be ready to correct, and make sure you leave yourself enough room to maneuver.

An easy way to die is to go off the burm, then fall toward the road as you try to recover.

ScottCommutes

I agree that semi trucks are usually far better behaved than other motorists.

I agree with OP that getting out of the way is never a bad option.

My particular beef is car carriers that unload in the shoulder. Also other trucks that occasionally park on the shoulder. I understand that this is not the drivers' fault, but often a truck will block every reasonable safe bike route.

Johnny H.

The main reason that semi truck drivers are more trusting than 4wheelers is that they are taught to look way up the road as they drive, whereas car drivers pretty much look at the road just in front of their car. I'm talking professional drivers, where I live farm hands drive grain trucks and are nothing but car licensed drivers in trucks, some good some bad, mostly good.
I was an owner operator over the road truck driver, and let me tell you it is quite a responsibility, you tend to scan the road far ahead. You can't stop fast!

JoeyBike

On a narrow road with good sight lines I would pull over long before the truck behind me got even close.This is why I use a helmet mounted mirror.

On a narrow road with poor sight lines I would pull off the road (if possible) as soon as I heard a semi truck struggling up the hill behind me. On those kinds of roads a semi will likely never catch up on the downhill.

There is no shame in living to ride another day. If I were in a big rush I probably wouldn't be on a bicycle. No biggie to pull over.

Johnny H.

A good discussion was had. It's a good thing talking to like minded folks, we're all in this together.
My mind reinforced by your answers.

Korina

I call this "letting the Wookie(s) win".

FBinNY 

There's no right or wrong. There's the situation and your judgement.

Ultimately, the outcome will call the play.

alcjphil

All this reminds me of something that happened to me a few years ago. I was riding on a very narrow road through a vineyard in Provence. Almost no traffic, only enough room for one car at a time. Looking back, I could see a car overtaking me, not very fast. The road had ditches on both sides, so I couldn't pull off or even stop. So I kept riding and the car followed me for a couple of kilometres. Finally, I saw a spot where I could pull off and I did. The car passed me and the driver(an elderly woman) gave me a smile and a wave of appreciation as she passed. She was driving a Citroen 2CV which probably couldn't have gone much faster anyway. I kept her in sight for several kilometres after that

Korina

I remember one incident, years ago, when hubby and I were just starting to ride bikes, when we decided to ride on West End Rd. It's a winding, rolling, barely two lane rural road, with a wet drainage ditch to our right and a steep dropoff to our left and no shoulder. So we were creeping up a hill, approaching yet another blind turn, when a woman driving one of those grotesquely oversized pickups came up behind us and waited patiently for two minutes or so while we pedaled our flabby legs off; finally we came to a driveway so we could pull over and let her pass, which she did, and another grotesquely oversized pickup behind her. We got back on the road and a minute later the woman came back and told us how the guy in the other pickup yelled at her for waiting. 🙄

GamblerGORD53

Yah, can't do much if there's nowhere to hide. But going to the middle of the lane is even more stupid. I have a mirror on all my bikes now, so I'm watching both directions all the time. Even on a 5 foot shoulder I'll adjust my speed +/- for opposing trucks. Many of them are not the 45 foot box variety on these 2 lane highways. Double tankers with 30 wheels.
Nobody rides by more trucks than I do. Even with a 5 foot shoulder, I'll be on the very edge when trucks go by. 100% of truck drivers DO see me and react however they can, considering oncoming traffic. If they can't go left, they often at least take their foot off the gas. Old guys in motorhomes, not so.
There's often 14 foot wide loads going by, so sometimes I have to get off in the grass too.
I like to waggle the bike a lot of the time anyway, so that will get their attention. Plus I have dyno lights that Don't flash.

Riding beside the line to be SEEN is the other laughably STUPID advice as well. LOL. I saw a video of one of these dummies actually riding on the left of the line, instead of in the NICE 3 foot shoulder. A small car came along expecting him to move over likely, put him in a wheelchair, for half a year at least.