Motoring Discussion > Quick question....Help please! Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Pat Replies: 67

 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
I'm sitting here writing a course and I'm trying to impress upon our drivers how their driving and actions on the road portrays them to the public.

Can I have your top ten complaints about lorry drivers please?

I'm not going to answer them or defend them, or even explain them....I haven't got time at the moment!

I'm guessing Elephant Racing is at Number 1?

Thanks

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - Old Navy
Tailgating cars and other bully tactics like not giving way.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 25 Jan 17 at 15:17
 Quick question....Help please! - Fursty Ferret
Nope, as long as it doesn't make the roads more dangerous I don't really care how long it takes one lorry to get past another.

In order....

1. Tailgating the vehicle in front (no issues if another HGV, that's their problem...)
2. Using a phone while driving.

And that, genuinely, is it.
 Quick question....Help please! - BrianByPass
In no particular order:

1. Tailgating other vehicles, not leaving room for overtaking vehicles to slot in between.

2. Tailgating my vehicle.

3. road-blocking two lanes, especially going uphill.

4. Pulling out to overtake suddenly, without anticipating speed of vehicles coming up behind.

That will do for now.
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
Thanks for those. I need at least five and preferably ten so keep them coming.

Do lorries let you out of side roads in traffic?
Joining on slip roads?
Get in your way when delivering or reversing?

I need to show how car drivers think to get them to see it from the other side.

I find it hard to do that because I still, and always will, think like a lorry driver!

Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Wed 25 Jan 17 at 15:32
 Quick question....Help please! - RattleandSmoke
Tailgating and when they over take something forcing the car on the correct side of the road to take evasive action. A tanker almost forced me of the road the other day was tempted to send the footage to the oil firm in question but decided against it.

When ever I am on a coach I am usually eye level with lorry drivers and it looks very unprofessional if they are on a mobile phone or watching a movie. This is very rare but I have seen it a couple of times.

Compared with white van drivers though or Tesco deliver drivers I find lorry drivers are usually very professional.

Edit another one is inconsiderate parking, I don't mean when making deliveries but if they need to stop to check a map or something. I saw one parked right across a bus stop the other day which caused problems for the bus driver. He had to stop in the middle of the road which meant a traffic jam soon occurred.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Wed 25 Jan 17 at 15:46
 Quick question....Help please! - henry k
>>Pulling out to overtake suddenly, without anticipating speed of vehicles coming up behind.
>>
or pulling out to overtake knowing that the car coming up fast can always slam on the brakes.

Some decorate their cabs with more lights than a naff Christmas house display ( especially blue lights.)

Smaller lorries delivering in towns park anywhere ( Cos I wont be long)
I know it is difficult to deliver so not easy to solve.
 Quick question....Help please! - Zero
Deciding to deliberately block the outside lane when approaching single lane roadworks, often choosing to do so more than 800 yards before the "zip" point.

Not only is it antisocial, its possibly illegally obstructive.
 Quick question....Help please! - Focal Point
"Deciding to deliberately block the outside lane when approaching single lane roadworks..."

Or, worse than that, straddling both lanes of a two-lane carriageway well before the merge.
 Quick question....Help please! - CGNorwich
"or pulling out to overtake knowing that the car coming up fast can always slam on the brakes."

Just ease of the accelerator let and the chap out - a quick flash of the headlamps helps, and recieve a thumbs up in acknowledgment
 Quick question....Help please! - devonite
On the narrow roads around here they tend to toddle along at about 30mph with a long crocodile of traffic behind them, passing more than one place they could pull in to to allow following traffic past. Also, when approaching "nip" points where there's only room for barely two cars to pass, they tend to barge their way through often forcing three or more cars to reverse out of the way. when two of them meet at such places (of which there are a few on the A595) you can be held up for what seems like ages as they try to shuffle past each other.
 Quick question....Help please! - rtj70
Tailgating is my main one like many others.Especially in road works.

Another (and usually foreign trucks) is speeding HGVs in road works with average speed cameras. So they are charging ahead and forcing cars out of the way etc. despite there being speed cameras.

When traffic heavy, when nearing a junction not moving lanes or leaving a gap for joining traffic.
 Quick question....Help please! - movilogo
1. Using 2nd lane on a 3 lane motorway to overtake a slower lorry in 1st lane. Effectively this makes the motorway a single carriageway as all cars fight for a gap in 3rd lane.

2. Tailgating

3. Using mobile/ipad/story book etc. while driving. Easy to spot from a coach.

4. Assuming 56 MPH is target and must not be driven at any slower speed.

5. Resting on M'way refuge areas preventing cars from taking refuge there under genuine emergency (mostly with lorries having steering on other side).



 Quick question....Help please! - Clk Sec
Tailgating.

If there's a single lane 40 mph speed restriction because of roadworks, no amount of tailgating and horn blasting will intimidate me into going any faster.

So there...
 Quick question....Help please! - bathtub tom
Agree about 'elephant racing' being my number one gripe.

Not using the inside lane (AKA hard shoulder) on 'managed motorways'. I worry the driver may 'wake up' and move left when I'm undertaking them.

Signalling right to change lane when I'm a foot behind in the lane they're attempting to 'bully' their way in. I know they can't slow or accelerate like me, but if they signal with plenty of warning, I'll lift and let them in, but see also 'elephant racing'.

I don't have any problem with them joining at slip roads, as I'll move out for any vehicle, IF I CAN. Similarly, I don't have any problem joining as I'll usually be doing around 60MPH so I can slow or accelerate into a gap. One exception is when joining the A1 South at Little Paxton - It's a horrible junction with poor visibility and no acceleration lane, meaning you're joining at around 30MPH goo.gl/maps/2LgYNThxFXC2
 Quick question....Help please! - Crankcase
I'll go with tailgating too. It's very intimidating to be travelling at a known bit over the speed limit in roadworks only to find a radiator grille in your back seat.
 Quick question....Help please! - mikeyb
In no particular order:-

Tailgating - If I have to perform an emergency stop the laws of physics dictate I can stop in a shorter distance

Taking 2 miles to perform an overtaking maneuver

Pulling out to overtake on the motorway with no warning other than an indicator that starts at the same time as the maneuver starts

Using size to bully their way in - I live by J19 of the M5 - Portbury Dock. Several firms think its OK to not join the slip road over the Avonmouth bridge and then try to push into the queuing traffic. Many also get in the wrong lane (as the queue is shorter) and then force their way around the roundabout. The worst offenders are the car transporters (particularly those delivering Land Rover products for export)

Jumping lights because they have approached far to fast to be able to stop - it could be my kids waiting to cross, and like most kids, they don't have the same levels of perception so will assume the lights will protect them
 Quick question....Help please! - Cliff Pope
Tailgating
Pulling out to overtake without looking/caring about already-overtaking vehicles
Not pulling over into passing places to let a queue past
Barging through narrow road or obstructions


Good points:

Usually wave a thank you if you flash and hold back to let an oncoming lorry come through
On country lanes, very appreciative of drivers who reverse speedily to a passing place.

Some of the criticisms I can appreciate - they are big, heavy, slow acceleration, lots of momentum, not very manoeuvrable. But tailgating is pointless and dangerous and has no benefit for anyone.
 Quick question....Help please! - smokie
From what I see so far most of these apply to more than just lorry drivers.
 Quick question....Help please! - Zero
I have no problem with attics pulling out in front of me. They are heavy, they need room, they have crap acceleration you have to expect and anticipate that they need to use whatever space they can find so its never an issue for me.

Tailgating is never an issue for me either, I am always faster than they are and rarely have one anywhere near my tail. I see them tailgate other rigs, literally 3 or 4 feet behind the tailgate on front of them at 56 MPH. If they crash and die so be it, I am not involved.


Deliberately blocking lanes at road works is ignorant, pig headed, and indefensible at any level.
 Quick question....Help please! - Haywain
"Tailgating is never an issue for me either,....If they crash and die so be it, I am not involved. "

It is for me - first it's tailgating, then it's dozing off, then it's a jack-knife, then it's a blocked A14.

Big respect, though, to the guys (and gals!) who can manoeuvre their rig from Looms Lane into High Baxter Street and somehow park next to M&S to unload in Bury St Edmunds.
 Quick question....Help please! - Cliff Pope
>> From what I see so far most of these apply to more than just lorry
>> drivers.
>>

True. But it is ten times more dangerous with a lorry, and they are the professionals on the road that I would like to respect.
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman

>> True. But it is ten times more dangerous with a lorry, and they are the
>> professionals on the road that I would like to respect.
>>

That is a fair comment. My own lorry has a rear view camera which points downwards from the top of the body, enabling me to see the rear-mounted forklift truck when reversing. If I can also see another vehicle (or at least the front of same) when i'm driving along the road then my guess is it's too close; and all too often, particularly on motorways, that can be another HGV. It may however be partly due to car drivers being wary of coming into contact with that fork lift!

To balance things out a bit, I do have to say that I find it most annoying when I do leave a decent gap and car drivers insist on slotting in too soon between me and the vehicle in front when they've overtaken.

It does also have to be said that not enough drivers of any ilk take heed of the advisory stickers common on the rear of lorries, which advise that if you cannot see the mirrors they cannot see you. They're not simply there for effect, it's true.
 Quick question....Help please! - Old Navy
>> It does also have to be said that not enough drivers of any ilk take
>> heed of the advisory stickers common on the rear of lorries, which advise that if
>> you cannot see the mirrors they cannot see you. They're not simply there for effect,
>> it's true.
>>

The same drivers that have a total blind spot to the rear of their windscreen pillars?
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman

>> The same drivers that have a total blind spot to the rear of their windscreen
>> pillars?
>>

And also seem to be totally unaware that they've left their rear fog lights on despite the idiot light on the dashboard telling them otherwise.

On a slightly different topic; given that by the nature of a lorry's speed I cannot help but see more of the back ends of cars than the front, what is it with the trend towards microscopic rear windows on cars? It's small wonder they don't see anything of what's going on behind them, even if they could be bothered to look.
 Quick question....Help please! - Haywain
" what is it with the trend towards microscopic rear windows on cars? It's small wonder they don't see anything of what's going on behind them, even if they could be bothered to look."

It's designed to reduce the possibility of 'eye to eye' contact between drivers - rather like privacy glass. It saves bad drivers the embarrassment of being recognised.
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman

>> Another (and usually foreign trucks) is speeding HGVs in road works with average speed cameras.
>> So they are charging ahead and forcing cars out of the way etc. despite there
>> being speed cameras.
>>

Polite correction based on experience. They're not usually speeding, they're simply observing the speed limit and are probably on cruise control; believe it or not this is, as Pat will testify, positively encouraged by driver trainers.

It is the cars who are driving well below the speed limit; and usually because the HGV's speedometer is more accurate.
 Quick question....Help please! - rtj70
>> It is the cars who are driving well below the speed limit; and usually because the HGV's
>> speedometer is more accurate.

Not more accurate than GPS. And in my experience they are not on cruise control because they are edging gradually forwards towards your bumper.

One time I might just touch the brakes and then accelerate a bit to see what they do. If they are on cruise control they will stay at a constant speed.
 Quick question....Help please! - Old Navy
>> I'm guessing Elephant Racing is at Number 1?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Pat
>>

Elephant racing is not dangerous, tailgating cars and aggressive lane changing is.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 25 Jan 17 at 19:42
 Quick question....Help please! - Dog
Driving down country lanes [especially Cornish country lanes] with blind bends far too fast when there could and often are walkers, cyclists, horse riders, or elderly folk like me :)
 Quick question....Help please! - Bromptonaut
Apart from Dog's post has anyone mentioned cyclists?

Give us a wide berth and watch for those, mislead by imagination or damn fool stretches of coloured tarmac, into thinking your nearside blind spot is a safe place to lurk.
 Quick question....Help please! - wotspur

INDICATING, INDICATING INDICATING.......But that can be said of 90% of motorists, not just Lorry drivers, but without doing so, how do we know if you are actually coming off at the next junction, or can we overtake ......

Lorries overtaking another Lorry, say on the M26 down to Dover , which is just dual carriageway, taking the full 3 miles to,do,so and finishing off, just before they hit the 3 lane carriageway

Really that's it for Lorry drivers,,they do it for a living and I trust them more than most of the other road users......

The,people,who should be banned from motorways, are those car drivers who go so slow on the inside lane that lorries have to overtake them, this means they're going less than 50mph......there should be a minimum speed on motorways for,cars and vans, that is more than 58mph
 Quick question....Help please! - Manatee
I was trying to remember what I cursed one for on Monday, on the way back from Northumberland.

He was the straw that broke the camel's back, the third one to indicate he (or she) was moving into my lane right at the critical point where it is impossible to know whether he is intending move over or to wait until I was past. Naturally I braked and let him in.

I hate 'aspirational' signalling but it seems to have taken over from "mirror, signal, manoeuvre". I am sick of people whose first action is the signal.

In general, lorry drivers are at least predictable and are therefore not a major problem to me, although I still think they could and should arrange the elephant races better between themselves. A series of overtakes on the A1 the week before created a rolling road block for at least 5 miles, I got distracted and stopped counting.
 Quick question....Help please! - Rudedog
Ignoring the blue 'unsuitable for HGVs' signs and then wondering why they get stuck causing tailbacks and making me late for work!
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman
>> Ignoring the blue 'unsuitable for HGVs' signs and then wondering why they get stuck causing
>> tailbacks and making me late for work!
>>

Has it occurred to you that they're delivering down that road and that there is no alternative? I see more of this than most lorry drivers given the nature of my work; if I avoided every one of those blue signs, half my customers wouldn't get a delivery!

In actual fact, the sign, as you well know, is advisory not mandatory. In most cases the road is indeed unsuitable, but if there is no alternative then it's a case of having to.

Might I suggest that if it does cause you a problem, you go via a more suitable route rather than a "rat run" ? ;-)
 Quick question....Help please! - Bromptonaut
As well as 'Unsuitable for HGV' there is a 'don't follow Sat Nav' sign :

tinyurl.com/zed7xv4

Only seen it myself in Wales.
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman
>> As well as 'Unsuitable for HGV' there is a 'don't follow Sat Nav' sign :
>>
>> tinyurl.com/zed7xv4
>>
>> Only seen it myself in Wales.
>>

Yes, there are a few about down here, most notably on the A48 just east of Cowbridge. I actually deliver to a farm about 100 yards down that road, and was once upbraided by an irate approaching car driver, usual "can't you ***** read?" stuff. I didn't say a word, just showed him the delivery note and pointed to the farm which was about 50 yards behind him; he did have the grace to mutter an apology and look sheepish. Made him reverse to let me past though.

It should be said that most of these signs are to deter stray artics unfamiliar with the area, for obvious and sensible reasons. The "unsuitable" ones are usually protecting a narrow bridge or double bend, and most of them are navigable with care in an 8-wheel rigid. As I said they're not mandatory so any HGV using the road is not breaking the law.

Point to note; a good idea can be had as to whether a lane is suitable for HGV's simply by looking at overhanging trees and branches. If they're no lower than about 12 feet, it's a pretty good sign that lorries use the road regularly.
 Quick question....Help please! - R.P.
They're not mandatory but could be used as evidence of lack of attention/recklessness
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman
>> They're not mandatory but could be used as evidence of lack of attention/recklessness
>>

If the delivery point is along that route and there is no other means of access, I somehow think that would be difficult to prove.

I'm not advocating that HGV drivers should ignore such signs, or defending those who do. Merely pointing out that there are frequently situations where no alternative is possible.

 Quick question....Help please! - Ted

I don't mind the Elephant Racers....I'm not usually in a hurry. Tailgating is my hate....cars as well, round here usually black Audis. I was horribly tailgated by a truck for many miles over the High Peak Chesterfield to Manchester road some years ago. I wrote on here about it at the time. It was a Volvo artic and I could only see the Volvo badge in the mirror of the Vitara. He kept at it until he had the chance to pass on the Chapel en le Frith by-pass and took up the same position behind some one else. I never saw a parked up police car all the way.

Must fit my rear dash cam to the new car.......when I've fitted the towbar !
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
Thanks so much to you all, that has helped so much and really opened my eyes too.

I'm glad I didn't just wing it and did some proper research because I would have been wrong.

As promised, I'm not going to comment or defend any of the complaints.......however hard it is:)

Thanks again.

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
There is a compulsory 30 minute (at least) section in each course on VRU's Bromp.

That section took me at least 8 hours to write and was the hardest section to research and put together in a manner that doesn't antagonise the drivers, before they even begin to listen to it.

I decided to come from the Sharing the Road angle.

With the observation that 'If you have 6 cyclists in and around your vehicle at every set of lights in London, think how far back you would be if every one of those cyclists were in their cars in front of you' as an encouragement.

Usual safety messages taken from TfL website, and in fairness I have also pointed out the safety advice given to cyclist too.

.....but both sides are well aware of all the advice and IMHO it's more of an attitude thing on both sides.

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - Fursty Ferret
>> Apart from Dog's post has anyone mentioned cyclists?

Interestingly, as someone who rides three or four times a week I think the number of negative experiences I've had from lorry drivers is probably in the single figures. Even those are likely to be skip lorries and similar, not the tradition articulated lorry.

Bus drivers, on the other hand...
 Quick question....Help please! - Roger.
It always horrifies me, particularly on the A1, A1M and M1 (the only roads of their nature I use these days) how closely lorry drivers space their vehicles from the lorry in front.
Often it is less than one car's length.
They cannot possibly see ahead and in the event of the lorry in front of them coming to a sudden stop, there is no way they could stop in time.
All else pales in comparison.
 Quick question....Help please! - Haywain
"They cannot possibly see ahead and in the event of the lorry in front of them coming to a sudden stop, there is no way they could stop in time."

Which is, I suspect, why the A14 is blocked twice a week.
 Quick question....Help please! - Old Navy
I actively avoid driving behind something I can't see through or around, driving close behind a lorry does not do much for reading the road and planning ahead.
 Quick question....Help please! - zippy
20 years ago a lorry driver took the life of my cousin, a truly lovely bloke and friend who I still miss.

Above anything else Pat, let them know that their actions can change lives!
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
That section is completed zippy, it's 2 hours long and it was easy for me to write.

I based it around the recent accidents...bath tipper truck/ A34 lorry driver on phone etc.

Just another two hours to go on the Microlise telematics system:)

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - MD
Most, but far from all Lorry drivers are insufficiently considerate. A fair number of eight wheeled tipper drivers seem to think they are rally drivers and some of the younger members of that crew around here (who drive wearing big hoodies and earphones) should be shot at dawn. How the hell can they have any idea of what is going on around them?

Bring back traffic police I say.
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman
A fair number of eight
>> wheeled tipper drivers seem to think they are rally drivers

If it's any comfort, that is the general consensus of the rest of us regarding tipper drivers.


It's not really an excuse, but much of it is down to the way they're paid; the more loads the more money.
 Quick question....Help please! - henry k
.... A fair number of eight wheeled tipper drivers seem to think they are rally drivers
>>
>> If it's any comfort, that is the general consensus of the rest of us regarding tipper drivers.
>> It's not really an excuse, but much of it is down to the way they're paid; the more loads the more money.
>>
Harleyman.
Once again thanks to you lorry drivers for explaining the background.
I will take all reasonable measures to keep then as far away as possible when I venture out.
 Quick question....Help please! - Old Navy
>> I will take all reasonable measures to keep then as far away as possible when
>> I venture out.
>>

A good policy with any HGV, a car will usually come out of any incident looking very second hand.
 Quick question....Help please! - Fursty Ferret
>> Just another two hours to go on the Microlise telematics system:)

I'd be flogging it to them as a system that will back up their side of the story if something happens on the road.
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
FF, have you had some sort of experience of the Microlise system?

If so, I'd love to pick you're brains please!

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - BiggerBadderDave
I can’t think of any memorable incidents where I’ve been really narked off by a trucker. The only one was a trucker trying to turn a huge artic into a main village high street from a very narrow, tight single lane, bordered with fences and brick walls. He had to get the entire tractor and trailer right out of the lane before he could start turning which meant driving over the opposite pavement and his tyres totally chewed it up. I was the car that stopped on the main road and gave him the time and space to use my lane and do the whole turning circle thing. I watched him break up the pavement like weetabix as he turned towards me. I vaguely wondered if I should take photos and complain cos that pavement is what my kids walk along to and from school, but I kind of felt sorry for him, struggling to get traction. The kerb and slabs all smashed up. And then a couple of days later the pavement was completely repaired so I guess he reported it straight to his bosses and got it sorted. No problem.

Over the last year our village has had major reconstruction to replace a level crossing for an underpass and it opened before Christmas. This meant they built a road with a high concrete central reservation so a local haulier company now has a nightmare entrance. They could never drive in, they always had to reverse in using the entire width of road, now they have to reverse in but can’t use the oncoming lanes. Twice this week I’ve watched an artic reverse into their yard, 90 degrees, between two close buildings and very little space to play with. I’m watching the commuters getting frustrated, traffic backed up to one of the roundabouts while the trucker reverses in. Me? I just think, wow, how the fudge did he get that thing in there, just the guy in the cab with a trailer, no one else guiding him in. I used to think reversing an SUV into my tiny, little garage using mirrors only was cool, but what they do - huge kudos to them.
 Quick question....Help please! - Fursty Ferret
>> FF, have you had some sort of experience of the Microlise system?
>>
>> If so, I'd love to pick you're brains please!
>>
>> Pat
>>

Sadly not, but routine data monitoring is commonplace in the aviation world (google "FOQA"). After every flight the contents of the flight data recorder (not the voice recorders...) are automatically sent over the internet to company HQ.

It's de-identified, then their computers sift through the data looking for trends or specific triggers (and there are hundreds, if not thousands). If they see a trend developing and it's across the whole fleet, then the training is altered. If it's only one person then the details are passed to a union rep who contacts the pilot on the company's behalf.

The confidentiality aspect is key. Not sure how the Microlise system works but the only person who can directly view my journey history at any time is me. Anything else is effectively a two-key system requiring both senior management and a union rep to input their passwords.

Obviously in the event of a serious incident or reckless behaviour the union will waive the right to anonymity.

I have, on occasion, chosen to identify myself to one of the team and sat down with them to discuss a particular event, and we'll go through it step by step over a coffee. I don't know anyone at work who sees it as a method to "control" people; it's there solely to enhance safety and is commonplace at every major airline.
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
Thanks for that FF.

The Microlise is very much the same system for lorries with the same principles applied.

I think it's great but 'selling' it to the drivers, many of whom see it as big brother watching them' is not going to be easy and I need to seriously work on how I approach it.

In the past HM has criticised a similar system and, in a nice way, he is typical of the 'older' driver we have:)

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - sooty123
> I think it's great but 'selling' it to the drivers, many of whom see it
>> as big brother watching them' is not going to be easy and I need to
>> seriously work on how I approach it.

perhaps find an example of how they benefited, where they were able to prove that they were in the right or where using it benefited a career?
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman

>>
>> In the past HM has criticised a similar system and, in a nice way, he
>> is typical of the 'older' driver we have:)
>>
>> Pat
>>
>>

It was new to me then, I've learned to live with it. Like most remote supervision it only jars when it's over-enthusiastically policed by people who don't know the job.

Actually Pat you couldn't be more wrong, sorry. I am a big fan of tachographs because they guarantee me proper rest breaks, likewise CCTV cameras because whilst they may show up your own mistakes they also prove others' beyond reasonable doubt. Any technology is only as good as the people who use it.
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
>>Actually Pat you couldn't be more wrong,<<

Well that's a given....I'm a trainer:)

If all else fails blame the trainer!

I wasn't referring to tachographs just modern telematics systems.

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - Harleyman

>> I wasn't referring to tachographs just modern telematics systems.
>>


As i say, they're fine provided they're used properly and responsibly by people who know what they're doing; exactly the same as lorries.

There is a plus side to tracking actually; no more annoying phone calls every half hour asking where you are.

I'm aware that I am one of the fortunate ones in that respect, as our customers being farmers they understand the problems which sometimes occur in transport, and are also by nature cynical with regard to anything a sales person tells them!
 Quick question....Help please! - Fullchat
Headed into the City of Culture last night down A63 dual carriageway. Persisting it down. Traveling at a modest 55MPH. Artic appeared slowly up my arris and proceeded to perform the elephant overtake. As its alongside an I'm examining its wheel nuts and getting spray drenched. We reached an intersection. Couple of cars coming down into my lane at about my speed and not letting up. Ive no where to go and have to brake to let the cars into my lane. Saw the hazard developing in advance :) Hit a 40 limit little bit further on. So not a lot gained by the artic.
So the issues where twofold:
1.Artic on it limiter and determined to stay there.
2.The development of the expectation that vehicles entering from an on slip have the right of way.
So do smaller vehicles now have to keep there minimum speed above the 57MPH limit to remove the need for artics to perform the elephant overtake? Or should the artic driver be anticipating that an elephant overtake is going to cause issues or the possibility of them for some considerable distance? For discussion and maybe reduce their speed a fraction. Or should limiters be removed?
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 29 Jan 17 at 11:51
 Quick question....Help please! - CGNorwich
YOU just have to be pragmatic . No point in arguing who has right of way in these situations. Just do what is safest. Slowing down a little to allow the truck to pass you and then pulling out behind the truck until pass the intersection would problably be the the safest option
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
Exactly CG.

A car has a wider range of speeds available than a lorry limited to 56 mph and also limited by weight and hills.

What is it with car drivers who always want to hover between 54 and 57 MPH.

Surely either reduce your speed by a couple of miles an hour or increase it for a short time.

That way the 'hazard is dispensed with quickly and safely.

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - Manatee
I have it in my head that there are good reasons why lorries do elephant overtakes as explained by those in the profession, but I can never quite remember what they are.

I would not/do not press on with a planned overtake on a two lane carriageway when I could see an on-slip with joing traffic on it and a likelihood that the overtakee will be 'trapped' between joing and overtaking traffic. It may be my right, but it is not sensible and I don't think it is necessary to explain why.

It sometimes results in aggressive joiners swooping into the gap ahead of me, but so be it.

As a less experienced driver 30+ years ago I had at least a couple of accidents that were categorically not my fault, but which I could have avoided by what used to be known as defensive driving. Another term for that is recognising hazards, which traffic joining from an on-slip most definitely is.

For me, fixing on who's right and who's wrong does not help, but I would say that the lorry driver, almost certainly with a lot of experience by most people's standards, probably recognised the potential hazard but chose to think it was not his/her problem at that point, when it would have been quite difficult anyway to do anything about it.

As a car driver I would not have been in an elephant race anyway, and would have made a choice between staying back or accelerating clear. I never want to join in anybody else's accident.

You did the right thing of course,and removed as much of the risk as you could.

Just my opinion without too much deep thought.

Quite a few people have said recently that elephant racing doesn't bother them. Well it doesn't bother me much, because I don't let it, but congestion is a problem for all of us and costs the country a fortune. I often wonder how much better things could be if (a) people could learn to drive on the left, and (b) vast numbers of speed-limited lorries did not create countless rolling road blocks.
 Quick question....Help please! - Pat
>> (b) vast numbers of speed-limited lorries did not create countless rolling road blocks. <<

....or that could read trying to reach a timed delivery due to a previous traffic hold up and avoiding a financial penalty for their employer.

Most car drivers are not on timed deliveries so a bit or patience and understanding that we are at work, have clocked in and are doing a job would go a long way.

Pat
 Quick question....Help please! - smokie
Car drivers are usually trying to get somewhere too though, often under pressure of time. We're not all just out for a mimse...
 Quick question....Help please! - rtj70
A good example Pat. If most of us were travelling on business and got held up - well the meeting or whatever would start late. Nothing I could do about it. If I really need to be somewhere early and know traffic etc. might be bad I might travel the night before and stop over.

A delivery with a lorry driver might have a penalty or I think I am right and say it could be turned away. And unlike someone working in an office, you can't really go the night before. Or even go early if you first have to pick up the load.

I think they have a tough job.... But tailgating in a 50mph average speed zone doesn't get them to their destination earlier.
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