[quote=no_such_reality][quote=paramount]
There are a lot of predators and crazies out on the roads.[/quote]Predators and crazies aren’t the danger. The distracted and tired are…[/quote]
On the open road, I’d surely rather be surrounded by my tank of a car (or ER’s tank of a car) or a tank of an SUV (Toy Landcruiser/Lexus LX, etc) in case of a mishap. Examples abound: something falling off a vehicle, an opposing driver falling asleep at the wheel and crossing the median, a tractor trailer jacknifing in a sudden whiteout or a downhill tractor trailer whose granny gear went out and didn’t quite make it into the brake-check hill. Yes, all these things have happened to me at one time or another. Sh!t happens, especially when road conditions are not optimal. You have a lot of drivers out there who have wildly varying levels of experience with driving in adverse conditions. Put them all together on a two laner in the mtns in the winter and anything can happen.
For a winter road traveler, safety comes before gas mileage, IMO.
Professional drivers aren’t the ones falling asleep at the wheel. They’re the easiest and most polite to drive alongside. It’s Joe and Jane6p who just got home at 6:00 pm from working all day and week and who left at 9:00 pm for their 2-week vacation after packing their vehicle for 3 hrs that you have to worry about in the middle of the night out there. And then there are the wackos in low-to-the-ground Miatas, etc who deliberately cut the professional drivers off who are playing Russian roulette with everyone on the road (including themselves) by their erratic show-off behavior.
Oh, and btw, I’ve slept in my vehicle at numerous rest stops in my life (sometimes alone, sometimes not) and have never had a “predator or crazy person” or anyone, for that matter, so much as knock on my window.
