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[Earth_First]

7. I hear you, friend...

I drive for a living in the winter as well (not OTR) but I work in snow/ice removal in order to get the commute as safe as possible for everyone.

Most times, it's overnights; where the majority of the traffic is other's whose main objective is to get the job done as efficiently and safely as possible. In the ten years I've been doing this, I've had only one incident. However, one that nearly cost me my own life.

It was near the pre-dawn hours (4 or 5 a.m.) traveling Northbound just under the limit and well within speeds dictated by the conditions; when I approached a siding to a business park. I could see the municipal truck was approaching the stop sign. Assuming that the operator had seen me (there was/is at least 1/2 mile visbility from his vantage point) I continued Northbound. However, the operator did not see me and proceeded without stopping. As luck would have it in this situation, I was t-boned by a ten-wheeled plow truck at 40 m.p.h. I was in a 6-wheeled F-550. One hundred yards or so later, I was able to control the vehicle across two lanes and come to a stop. I remember very little of those 15 seconds.

During the ensuing police reports, the municipal supervisor showed up and attempted to pin the situation on me for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. The responding officer informed me that I had done nothing wrong, was not ticketed. The municipal driver was ticketed on several violations including failure to yield to oncoming traffic.

Be safe out there, folks...if not for the safety of yourself...the safety of others around you!