Not necessarily. The difference is that with professional truckers, you have some butturance that at least at one time they had to demonstrate some knowledge and competence. That is not the case with the great preponderance of car drivers under the age of about 50. They have been taught to manipulate controls, but little else. Most have little concept of how to control their own vehicle, let alone any concept of what it takes for another driver to control 70-80,000 lbs. Take your own statements, for example. Pbutting another vehicle in an adjoining lane with a speed disparity of 15mph is very risky. You simply don't have the "wiggle room" to accomodate sudden moves. Pbutting a 70,000 lb truck in those conditions is foolhardy. When you're in traffic, your speed should never be more than maybe 9-10 mph max greater than the ambient flow. 5-8 is ok - it allows reasonable prompt pbutting, but not such a great disparity as to impair judgement and reaction ability. If your cruise speed is more than about 9 or 10 mph greater than the ambient flow, then *you*are at least half the hazard. That's not just my opinion, its simple physics. Learn a little about mbutt management. Driving large vehicles at speed, and flying large airplanes, etc., etc, are all about mbutt management. Its a lot more than just working the controls.
