About the SemiCam Video
| I have been driving locally since about 1988
and I've noticed how the driving in and around
the Vancouver area has deteriorated over the
years. I always found myself saying "I wish
I had a video camera" mounted in the truck
to capture proof of how bad driving in the area
was getting, and how inconsiderate traffic was in
front of larger vehicles. Finally in the summer of 2000, I decided it was time for an experiment. I dug out my old tripod from my 35 mm days and bought a digital video camera, a video capture card for my computer, a few dozen blank tapes and what you see here is the result of that experiment. There is no earth shattering information here, so far most of the footage is the same thing that happens in front of cars all the time, it's just that a car is much better equipped and able to handle these situations than a vehicle that is 80 feet long and weighs nearly 140,000 lbs. Also due to the height of a truck cab you can get a birdseye view of what really goes on in traffic. For some reason, due to lack of driving education and general impatience, car drivers don't see anything wrong with pulling in front of a large truck at freeway speeds and only leave a 10 or 15 foot gap. To a car that is about a vehicle length. To a truck that is only 1/8th of a vehicle length. Now do you see a problem? That would be the equivalent of a bicycle pulling in front of a car and leaving only 2 feet of space. The car driver won't get hurt in this situation but they will be at fault if something happens and there will be serious consequences. They would also be very angry if this happened on a regular basis. As a professional driver I would also risk losing my job if I don't handle this type of situation correctly. This is what truck drivers face all day, every day in the Vancouver area. So please, people, give a truck-driver a break. Have a little courtesy in traffic, it will only lengthen your trip by seconds. Thanks for sharing the road responsibly. Regards, Dan Cholodylo |