Lorry crashes

Status
Not open for further replies.
I very nearly phoned the cops one day about a 'tail gater '

Was on a 2 lane Motorway - nothing in sight - 9.15 on a Sunday morning , sitting at 65 on cruise control and this b...... decided to tail gate me for umpteen miles [ actually about 10 ] !

He could have overtaken me very very easily - the second lane was empty ! I really was uncomfortable and decided that if he followed me down the slip road at my exit [ about 3 miles ahead ] I was making that phone call. Oh he was in a BMW .

I peeled off and thankfully he didn't .

I've no idea why he was tailgating me - the car isn't exotic - a Freelander 2 , but by the heck that episode made me twitch.
 
I've had that too only in the middle lane. Tailgated me for about 4 miles. Lane 1 was busy so I was in lane 2 no point in moving over to immediately pull back out. Lane 3 clear.
After about 4 miles lane one clears up so I move over and then the Female Bmw driver blasts past accelerating to about 90. If she was in a hurry surely she could have used lane 3.
 
Been in a similar situation. A sporty little Merc was all I could see on a stretch of 3 laned motorway, as it came up behind me, overtook, then slowed down to slow me down then pulled away again. This went on for several miles, with the Merc randomly changing lanes even though I didn't move out of the inside, apart from it's initial slowing down in front of me. Some proper arseholes out there!
 
Driver standards are important, but what else can you do in that regard. They are already required to take breaks, have required qualifications and all that. There are always nutters or sleepy loonies out there.
Click to expand...

My point was driver standards are too low, but more so with car drivers. As I said in my example, yes, the lorry was in the wrong, but did the car drivers, apart from me who was breaking, take the right course of action? No, they were accelerating towards the hazard, when they should have been slowing down. Now, luckily the HGV seemed to go back into control, and went back to lane 1. But it was a seconds from disaster moment. Had it carried on into the armco, that would have been 4 + cars all doing 80+ into the back of a solid object doing 40 and slowing down rapidly. That would have been a fatal if it'd carried on.

So, yes, the HGV was clearly not doing what it should, nor were the majority of the car drivers.

Until people get it through their thick heads, that the car might well be capable of 100 plus, but they aren't we'll continue to have problems on the road. Automation simply gives people a false sense of security.
 
daugirdas said:
Let me translate this for you. You were actually doing 63mph in the outside lane (or else he would just overtake) and he lost any hope you may voluntarily move over to the left. It is not justifiable to tail gate, but I can only sympathise when drivers of slow cars with wildly inaccurate speedoes slow down just a tad more and more to be sure. It is very common to see folk crawl at 35-40mph in NSL zone.
Click to expand...


What!!
You weren't there how do you know how fast I was going?
I just nipped over into the right lane in the dual carriageway to overtake some lorries I didn't take long to do so and there was plenty of room
there's no justification for tailgating
 
viv1969 said:
That's what the continental trucks do too.
Drives you up the wall and just about blinds you too. :rage:
Click to expand...

Yes I bet it was a bit worrying too
if you had to stop quick the lorry wouldn't have been able to stop in time
 
Bernie174 said:
Until people get it through their thick heads, that the car might well be capable of 100 plus, but they aren't we'll continue to have problems on the road. Automation simply gives people a false sense of security.
Click to expand...

THIS!! Again and again and again...
 
Bernie174 said:
Did you have a well thought out counter point? No thought not.

Thanks for your input....So moving on?
Click to expand...

Jeez Bernie, I know you argue with a lot of people around here, have you forgotten what to do when some is agreeing with you, quite vehemently as it happens?
 
I suggest all those moaning about lorries go and drive one for a while.

The roads in britain are a disgrace. Spend 10 minutes in the left lane on any motorway and I can assure you, your views will change drastically.

Because the left lane gets used almost exclusively by hgvs, the lane deteriorates and ruts are formed. Anyone who has ever drives off road in muddy ruts will know cars get sucked into these and stay there no matter what you do to the steering wheel. Once the ruts stop for whatever reason, the vehicle gets "thrown" out of them.

This happens to me every day and every day I almost poo myself as my lorry momentarily is completely out of control.
If you ever see an hgv randomly swerve when in the left hand lane, it's not always that they are asleep, or on the phone or reading the paper.. A lot of the time it's down to the p*** poor maintence of the roads.

For all those saying lorries should be limited to left lane only.. Good luck with that, if you ever want to buy anything ever again, I suggest you rethink that genius plan.
 
Yv said:
Jeez Bernie, I know you argue with a lot of people around here, have you forgotten what to do when some is agreeing with you, quite vehemently as it happens?
Click to expand...

Don't worry Yv, apparently he's a whizz at parties. ;)
 
TCR4x4 said:
I suggest all those moaning about lorries go and drive one for a while.

The roads in britain are a disgrace. Spend 10 minutes in the left lane on any motorway and I can assure you, your views will change drastically.

Because the left lane gets used almost exclusively by hgvs, the lane deteriorates and ruts are formed. Anyone who has ever drives off road in muddy ruts will know cars get sucked into these and stay there no matter what you do to the steering wheel. Once the ruts stop for whatever reason, the vehicle gets "thrown" out of them.

This happens to me every day and every day I almost poo myself as my lorry momentarily is completely out of control.
If you ever see an hgv randomly swerve when in the left hand lane, it's not always that they are asleep, or on the phone or reading the paper.. A lot of the time it's down to the p*** poor maintence of the roads.

For all those saying lorries should be limited to left lane only.. Good luck with that, if you ever want to buy anything ever again, I suggest you rethink that genius plan.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but the state of the roads has nothing at all to do with the retards behind the wheel of the continentals.
Plus the M20 I travel daily (main route to Dover), is a perfectly good surface.
 
viv1969 said:
Don't worry Yv, apparently he's a whizz at parties. ;)
Click to expand...

:lol:

Quite seriously though, lorry drivers aside, I do think driving standards in this country have deteriorated completely in line with the advance of technology. Now I am also a true believer that correlation does not mean cause without the fully investigated evidence to back it up, and in some ways it doesn't matter anyway - bottom line is that too many people are stupid, too many think they are driving gods when the reality is they are barely driving babies. Too many DO appear to think the cars electronic gadgetry will get them out of trouble, until the point when it can't and because that point is controlled by computers that are well beyond the averages humans ability to react, it is all too often well beyond the average human ability to survive the results - in other words, it tends to be a biggie!
 
Yv said:
:LOL:

Quite seriously though, lorry drivers aside, I do think driving standards in this country have deteriorated completely in line with the advance of technology. Now I am also a true believer that correlation does not mean cause without the fully investigated evidence to back it up, and in some ways it doesn't matter anyway - bottom line is that too many people are stupid, too many think they are driving gods when the reality is they are barely driving babies. Too many DO appear to think the cars electronic gadgetry will get them out of trouble, until the point when it can't and because that point is controlled by computers that are well beyond the averages humans ability to react, it is all too often well beyond the average human ability to survive the results - in other words, it tends to be a biggie!
Click to expand...

I totally agree...as does my old man.

He's a driving instructor, and like many of them he despairs of what they HAVE to teach in order to get pupils through their tests in the format it currently takes.

So many of them believe that the practical test should be incremental...each part taking in a certain aspect of driving.
It would be tough to implement, but might possibly result in new drivers knowing how to drive and not just knowing how to pass the crappy 40 minute test as it stands.

His lot already offer free motorway lesson after passing, but it's a drop In the ocean.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yv
viv1969 said:
I'm sorry, but the state of the roads has nothing at all to do with the retards behind the wheel of the continentals.
Plus the M20 I travel daily (main route to Dover), is a perfectly good surface.
Click to expand...

How can you say that? The ruts don't affect cars, I can happily drive my car down a part of the M5 notorious for this and be oblivious.. Get in my lorry however and its a different matter.
 
TCR4x4 said:
How can you say that? The ruts don't affect cars, I can happily drive my car down a part of the M5 notorious for this and be oblivious.. Get in my lorry however and its a different matter.
Click to expand...

M1 northbound, as it passes Watford gap services, even cars felt it there, although they are now redoing that stretch.
 
TCR4x4 said:
How can you say that? The ruts don't affect cars, I can happily drive my car down a part of the M5 notorious for this and be oblivious.. Get in my lorry however and its a different matter.
Click to expand...

But that doesn't mean they have to sit right up the arse of the vehicle in front does it?
 
How can you say that? The ruts don't affect cars
Click to expand...

Depends where they are. At the moment they are converting the M£ to a 'smart' motorway, so the lanes are narrow through the roadworks. There's a 2 or mile stretch were your offside wheel in constantly in the ruts and ridges that haven't been flattened down. I accept it'd be more difficult to control in a lorry, but it still hard work in a car.
 
viv1969 said:
But that doesn't mean they have to sit right up the arse of the vehicle in front does it?
Click to expand...

Im not talking about that issue quite obviously.. Im talking about the people saying that lorries swerve out of lane for no reason..

Believe it or not, even car drivers are guilty of tailgating. I had an Audi up my arse for most of my journey today. When he did finally overtake me, he pulled into the services 100 yards further on.
 
Bernie174 said:
Depends where they are. At the moment they are converting the M£ to a 'smart' motorway, so the lanes are narrow through the roadworks. There's a 2 or mile stretch were your offside wheel in constantly in the ruts and ridges that haven't been flattened down. I accept it'd be more difficult to control in a lorry, but it still hard work in a car.
Click to expand...

I should say "don't always affect cars then"
 
viv1969 said:
Or, folks could simply start taking responsibility for driving correctly without the need for fancy gagets and "assists". :thinking:
Click to expand...

Please quote me some accident figures that prove modern technology is bad. All I see is death rates go down year after year, just as we get fancy toys like ABS, ESP, lane assist, and emergency braking. Prove me wrong if you can.

I know many people are afraid of losing the sense of superiority by giving up certain controls to automation. Do we really not do anything more intelligent in our lives than driving?
 
daugirdas said:
Please quote me some accident figures that prove modern technology is bad. All I see is death rates go down year after year, just as we get fancy toys like ABS, ESP, lane assist, and emergency braking. Prove me wrong if you can.

I know many people are afraid of losing the sense of superiority by giving up certain controls to automation. Do we really not do anything more intelligent in our lives than driving?
Click to expand...

I'm not interested in proving you wrong tbh.

I can't take much seriously from someone who started a whiny thread on motoring, about possibly being caught by a speed camera for. ...what was it?...oh yes....speeding :-)
 
Is the OP being paid to write such tosh by his absent sidekick ST4???

Cars with ABS, TC, ESP, ESC, Lane Assist etc etc etc crash....period! Why? Because a combination of the person holding the wheel coupled with the law of physics means any computer aided assistance can become pointless at any point due to how the other two factors behave together.

There is NO real substitute for common sense and observant driving.
 
daugirdas said:
Let me translate this for you. You were actually doing 63mph in the outside lane (or else he would just overtake) and he lost any hope you may voluntarily move over to the left. It is not justifiable to tail gate, but I can only sympathise when drivers of slow cars with wildly inaccurate speedoes slow down just a tad more and more to be sure. It is very common to see folk crawl at 35-40mph in NSL zone.
Click to expand...

daugirdas said:
Please quote me some accident figures that prove modern technology is bad. All I see is death rates go down year after year, just as we get fancy toys like ABS, ESP, lane assist, and emergency braking. Prove me wrong if you can.
Click to expand...

I'm still waiting for you to tell me how you knew that I was doing 63 mph I the outside lane!!!!
 
stupar said:
Is the OP being paid to write such tosh by his absent sidekick ST4???

Cars with ABS, TC, ESP, ESC, Lane Assist etc etc etc crash....period! Why? Because a combination of the person holding the wheel coupled with the law of physics means any computer aided assistance can become pointless at any point due to how the other two factors behave together.

There is NO real substitute for common sense and observant driving.
Click to expand...
Whilst common sense is useful, nobody agrees with what it is, insurance companies and their actuaries disagree with you though on the technology aids ;) my insurance premiums are super super low for a 370Hp brand new hyper hatch. Just £136 fully comprehensive.
 
Last edited:
dejongj said:
Whilst common sense is useful, nobody agrees with what it is, insurance companies and their actuaries disagree with you though on the technology aids ;) my insurance premiums are super super low for a 370Hp brand new hyper hatch. Just £136 fully comprehensive.
Click to expand...

Yes maybe so but you and physics can easily stuff your 370bhp hyper hatch no matter how hard the computer tries to prevent it and if its your doing then you are still accountable
 
TCR4x4 said:
Im not talking about that issue quite obviously.. Im talking about the people saying that lorries swerve out of lane for no reason..

Believe it or not, even car drivers are guilty of tailgating. I had an Audi up my arse for most of my journey today. When he did finally overtake me, he pulled into the services 100 yards further on.
Click to expand...

Trouble is an Audi tailgating me is dangerous and a pain. A truck tailgating me is far more scary as that hitting me is far worse. A common gripe by truckers is that car drivers don't understand how long it takes s lorry to stop... So why sit on my bumper!!!! My braking is probably far better than yours so you probably need twice the reactions to Enron have a chance of not hitting me. As for sitting less than a cars length behind another truck... Slight lapse and bang!
 
stupar said:
Yes maybe so but you and physics can easily stuff your 370bhp hyper hatch no matter how hard the computer tries to prevent it and if its your doing then you are still accountable
Click to expand...
Not sure what your issue is. Of course I am, however the insurance company and their actuaries think I'm less risky with all those gadgets. That is the point.
 
No issue, just trying to get a point across that no computer aided safety features prevent crashes no matter what your car is/has and your insurance company wants to believe.
 
stupar said:
No issue, just trying to get a point across that no computer aided safety features prevent crashes no matter what your car is/has and your insurance company wants to believe.
Click to expand...
We can play a game if you like. You can stand in front of me and I try and drive into you :)

I've had it twice now on the motorway where the systems were quicker than me to intervene.
 
stupar said:
No issue, just trying to get a point across that no computer aided safety features prevent crashes no matter what your car is/has and your insurance company wants to believe.
Click to expand...

What exactly are you trying to prove? I can believe you that a complete moron can crash a modern car he will succeed if he puts some effort. Is that what you are trying to teach us?

I was really hoping to concentrate on normal drivers in normal circumstances where something slightly unexpected or undesirable happens. You can deny as much as you like, but things like ABS help you stop without skidding, and ESP makes it less likely to end up in a ditch. It really does help once in a while and that really counts. You can pretend to be a Stig but I will laugh last when you kiss that tree or lamp post.

stupar said:
Is the OP being paid to write such tosh by his absent sidekick ST4???
Click to expand...

So now we are blowing personal insults barely into page 2? Well done Mr Grand Master Troll.

LCPete said:
I'm still waiting for you to tell me how you knew that I was doing 63 mph I the outside lane!!!!
Click to expand...

Maybe I've driven one (rental obviously) and I know clearly what 70mph speed mark on the dash corresponds to. I have already explained the outside lane bit.

viv1969 said:
I'm not interested in proving you wrong tbh.

I can't take much seriously from someone who started a whiny thread on motoring, about possibly being caught by a speed camera for. ...what was it?...oh yes....speeding :)
Click to expand...

(T)roll on.
 
[QUOTE="daugirdas, post: 6706518, member: 16301]

(T)roll on.[/QUOTE]

Not wrong though, am I ;)
 
daugirdas said:
Well done Mr Grand Master Troll
Click to expand...

Trust me i have no intention of stripping you of your own accolade

On that note i am out of this discussion as its starting to go the same direction that a certain other persons posts go and if they arent trolling well f**k me there must be something wrong.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top