Some of my thoughts on this follow...
--- cdavis <cdavis@webworldinc.com> wrote:
> Ok, this thread is pertinent to my situation and I'm
> open to suggestions.
> It's slow, 45, maybe 50 MPH top end. To get
> anywhere in Southern California you're going to be
> running on freeway.
> Traffic moves at 70+ MPH there, a 20 to 25 MPH speed
> disparity. I watch them come barrelling up on
> me, realizing at the last second I'm not moving at
> their speed. Repeatedly, I watch the nose of these
> approaching vehicles drop as they jump on the
> brakes. To make matters worse, they often force
> their way over into the next lane, having already
> reduced speed, and cause a chain reaction of panic
> braking and swerving.
I have witnessed the exact same thing in my M38A1
except in Houston. It is zero fun. I know EXACTLY
what you're talking about. M38A1 tops out about 50MPH
without pushing it to 55. My unfortunate solution
(since I'm still in grad school and short on money)
was to sell the M38A1 and get an M1009. There is no
safe way to drive an M38A1 on the highway in Southeast
Texas...unless you have the "slow vehicle" blaze
orange triangle on the back -- I looked it up and I
forget exactly why, but it can't be used on the Jeep.
I think you have to travel less than 15MPH to use it.
Forget going that slow on the highway with ANY
emblem...you will be smashed unless you're on the
shoulder (if there is one) with a lot of road debris.
> It's like playing Russian Roulette, and one of these
> days the chamber isn't going to be empty.
Correct.
> So, do I accept the fact that technology has
> outpaced these old trucks and stay away from the
> freeways? I'm not going to be able to purchase a
> tow vehicle and trailer capable of moving 5,750 lbs
> of Dodge any time soon.
I'm afraid you're stuck like I was...:-(
> Or is there some way I can temporarily light or flag
> my vehicle so folks notice it before they have to
> test their anti-lock brakes? I was thinking
> magnetic based amber beacon, but now I don't know.
> I guess item #3: 4 way flashers, but I'm still
> worried they won't be seen.
If the speed limit is 65 MPH (It's now 75 on a lot of
highways in Texas now, btw...) that means a lot of
people are actually driving closer to 75 or 80MPH (85
or 90 in the 75MPH case in Texas). At that speed, you
could have lights going, siren, etc. and it won't
matter...by the time they see you going slow, they
will have hit you hard. Think about this though --
usually when drivers see vehicles with lights ablaze,
they see the vehicle going really fast! Especially
using blue/red (I'm not addressing the legality of
this here)...they'll think you're already going really
fast! If you want to try the beacon, I would go with
amber because people usually associate that color with
utility trucks and other slow-moving vehicles...make
sure it's easy to see from a distance because of their
impaired reaction time...(from driving 70+ MPH)
> Any other ideas?
Sorry Chris...this is the problem I ran into and I
just ended up staying in town all the time. The
people here drive insane speeds. The HMV's we drive
were never designed to go that fast...we'll lose every
time when driving a lightweight MV and going slow.
Good luck...be careful out there.
T. Bloxom
1952 M38A1 (former...50-55MPH)
1985 M1009 CUCV (current...75+ MPH)
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:56 PDT