Payback

I am constantly amazed at the really stupid things that people do.  I witnessed one such example of driver stupidity (or sheer hatefulness) on a trip through Kansas.

My daughter and I were enjoying the drive to visit my son, who was then living in Dodge City, Kansas.  The day was beautiful and the traffic, while fairly heavy, was traveling smoothly and well spaced out.  We were taking a major state road across the state from east to west that was used a lot by large trucks making deliveries to the in-state cities and towns.  The land was flat and the road was good and straight (a novelty to us from the curvy roads of Kentucky) and the traffic was moving at a good clip. 

We had been traveling a while when the traffic started to bunch up and slow down.  We found ourselves sandwiched in a line of huge tractor-trailer trucks as the speed dropped.  We were on a two lane road, and while the traffic wasn't heavy, it was constant enough that passing wasn't a good option, so we settled down to wait.  Kansas has a lot of two lane roads but the planners were considerate of the high number of trucks that use them, so every so often the road would widen out to three lanes to let slower vehicles be safely passed.  We figured we would just have to wait for one of these passing lanes to resume our speed.

It was as we approached one of these lanes on a slight incline that we were able to see the cause of the slow down.  Up ahead was a line of five motor homes or 5th wheel trailers, enjoying their trip at a leisurely pace.  We all relaxed, seeing that we would now be able to pass them and continue on our trip.   The truckers started jocking for the left lane, ready to pass the slow moving caravan.  Just as the passing lane opened up the lead motor home pulled into the left hand, or passing lane.  The others followed along in the right lane at the same steady speed.  The truckers fell in behind in the passing lane following the lead motor home assuming that he would pull over and let them by.    The lead motor home continued on his steady pace, effectively blocking the trucks from passing the other homes.  At the end of the passing lane he pulled back into the caravan of homes with the truckers no better off than they had been.

The line of trucks and motor homes continued on for several more miles, with the tension becoming almost tangible.  Up ahead we saw another passing lane coming up and I let out a sigh of relief.  Now maybe this tense situation would be resolved and the trucks could pass the slow traffic.  Once again the motor homes approached the passing lane and once again the lead home pulled into the left lane and blocked the trucks from passing.  I looked at my daughter and told her to slow down and drop back because things were going to get ugly.

Sure enough as the passing lane ran out the motor homes squeezed to the left once again, and the trucks were now inter-meshed into the line of slow moving vehicles.  You could almost feel the frustration and anger as the truckers followed along, unable to get an open spot to pass.  Finally a brief break in the oncoming traffic allowed the first truck in the line to start to pass.  There was little hope that he would have enough time or space to complete the line of vehicles.  As he ran out of space before the approaching traffic he just pulled to the right, forcing the lead recreational vehicle off the road and onto the wide, flat shoulder.  He bounced to a halt as the trucker zoomed on.  One by one the remaining tractor-trailers started passing at every opportunity. As they ran out of room they just squeezed the motor homes off the highway and onto the shoulder.  My daughter and I found ourselves cheering the truckers on as they put each vehicle off the road. We both felt it was a deserved payback! Before long, all of the recreational vehicles were sitting on the side of the road, unharmed, as we zipped by them.

I have never been able to figure out why the recreational vehicles chose to intentionally create such a situation.    They had to have realized that an angry trucker with a huge truck holds all the aces.  Fortunately, the truckers did them no harm, other than stopping their trip briefly.  I wonder if they ever realized how lucky they were that their actions didn't create a more dangerous situation.

As for me, I learned one thing.  You don't mess with a trucker!