Fairbanks to Deadhorse return - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 156

Deadhorse
Snuggled into bed at Mile 239, I noticed that when it was raining the hardest even the big
rigs stopped at the bottom of the Atigun Pass, parking beside us. Not a single one started up
the pass in the rain. But during the night I heard them rumble to life again. Sure enough, the
rain had stopped.
We'd been warned that the Haul Road belongs to the truckers and passenger vehicles like us
are expected to give way. When we see a big rig approaching we pull over to a stop at the
side (the road is usually not much more than one lane) and wait for them to pass. Usually,
they slow right down to creep past. This is the polite thing to do because the faster you are
bothtraveling; thehigherthevelocity thatrockwill bespinningatwhenitcollides withyour
windshield. For the record - no windshield damage for us on the Dalton Hwy. Thanks to all
the Haul Road truckers. The situation was different on the Dempster Hwy in the Northwest
Territories a few weeks later. There the mostly civilian drivers do not slow down and sure
enough, our windshield was dinged.