Anyone else have this problem passing?

[bigearl]

Hear me out first, this isn't about power. Even my lowly v6 has plenty for passing maneuvers.

I live in farm country and agricultural equipment and trucks are everywhere. The vehicles take up the whole lane (or more) and are often tall and square edged on the sides and they are SLOOOOOOW.

So I'm trying to get around a big truck today and I can't get a look into the opposing lane because it's a wide vehicle. So I start edging left to get a look and I get an earful of horn from a car coming the opposite direction. We weren't going to hit- it was just a warning but I couldn't see him until he was almost on me. The Camaro is kinda 'hippy and the seats are in toward the center so I've got to get my ass practically into the other lane to see. It bothered me a little before but I didn't realize how far over I had to get until this morning. I'm not a timid passer, but I do pass with care. I have to admit it really bugged me.

Not asking for help, just commiserating. Still love the car-not going to sell it because of this, etc. I've always had old trucks or motorcycles before. With an old truck I just had a different mindset I think and tooled along further before I passed. On my motorcycle passing is effortless. This is somewhere inbetween and it sort of made me nervous????

(edit) I guess I wasn't clear. Long story short- the shape of the Camaro makes it hard for me to see to pass trucks because it's got wide fenders and the seats are in toward the center. It feels like the car is out another foot from the side window glass.

[BigMatt]

So what is the problem with passing?

[bigearl]

Originally Posted by BigMatt

So what is the problem with passing?

I can't see...

[Hawkeye]

You could lean to the left and stick your head out the window, just dont lose it lol

[EMB135Driver]

I can see how this would be a huge problem

[bigearl]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

You could lean to the left and stick your head out the window, just dont lose it lol

God I thought about it.

I know I'll get made fun of, but I can't be the only person who's been stuck behind a vehicle in this car because he can't get out far enough to take a good look at oncoming traffic.

[rudack]

Maybe if you backed off the car in front of you, you could have got a better look around it.

[ron10]

the biggest problem is where you live.while driving on country roads it drives me crazy to get behind a tractor or big farm truck.the roads are narrow,so you don't have a lot of room to pass.like rudack said,you have to back off just a little to get a better view around the truck.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by rudack

Maybe if you backed off the car in front of you, you could have got a better look around it.

+1

[bigearl]

I guess I don't explain things well. Here's an approximate diagram of the truck (this one had hay). It was slightly over the center line and slightly over the right fog line. I put a little red line there as sort of a vision indicator. You can't back off far enough off one of these trucks to get good vision and still be in good passing range. You'd be back maybe ten to twelve car lengths before you can start to see well down the road and remain in your lane. These trucks are supposed to pull over when they are backing up more than three vehicles but they never do because time is money right now and they go about 25 in a 45. Some of the bigger farm equipment will go a full 3 feet into the opposing lane. It's pretty flat here to so you don't have rises in the road that give you a chance to see.

I'm not some stupid tailgating kid though, I'm in my late 30's with a family and no tickets for 7 years.

[cab2g]

I'm pretty sure the rear quarters aren't any wider than the mirrors. Just remind yourself that when you get nervous. If you were going to hit them, you would've knocked off the mirrors.

[bigearl]

Originally Posted by ron10

the biggest problem is where you live.while driving on country roads it drives me crazy to get behind a tractor or big farm truck.the roads are narrow,so you don't have a lot of room to pass.like rudack said,you have to back off just a little to get a better view around the truck.

Ya I am realizing this, I didn't realize how far back I needed to be though in this car. I guess what I'm saying is you have to be much further back in this car because of this cars shape than you have to be in other vehicles...so far back that it's not practical to pass. I've lived in this country all my life so I know how to pass farm equipment- it just startled me today because I didn't realize how much further it stuck out on the sides then a truck does.

[Globemaster]

Originally Posted by rudack

Maybe if you backed off the car in front of you, you could have got a better look around it.

[CamaroSkooter]

Where I'm at the narrow FM roads also have a decent amount of hills and/or curves in them to help you see ahead of slow moving traffic.

In your situation though, I can see the issue. Having to be back far enough from the truck to be able to see ahead basically hurts any chance of having enough room to actually pass.

I guess in that situation, it's just better to just chill back there and enjoy the scenery...