Lorries could be banned from overtaking on a 34-mile stretch of road in Oxfordshire and Berkshire following a vote by councillors.
Didcot East councillor Patrick Greene put forward the motion to reduce accidents on the A34 between Junction 13 of the M4 and Junction 9 of the M40.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32299288
tinyurl.com/mxzca6a - Oxford Mail
And I thought April 1st was 2 weeks ago.
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Not a move I would normally favour but lorries have been holding up traffic for years on that stretch and refusing to move over and allow others to pass, so they have only themselves to blame.
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The idea hasn't really been thought out though.
How are other vehicles going to enter/exit the A34 if lane 1 is completely chocker with lorries running nose to tail?
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They trialled this about 4 years ago for about 3 months. I don't recall any difficulties getting on and off, and I most certainly remembered how much less annoying and dangerous it was.
Nobody drives well on that stretch, but the lorries cause chaos. It was that stretch I had to put my Landcruiser in between some idiot in a truck and some poor girl in a Mini (I think) to stop him crashing into her on purpose out of road rage.
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Don't worry, you'll be held up for less time now that lorries can legally do 55MPH on the A34 instead of 50 MPH.
Pat
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>> Don't worry, you'll be held up for less time now that lorries can legally do
>> 55MPH on the A34 instead of 50 MPH.
>>
>> Pat
>>
The message needs to get through. I followed a lorry yesterday who braked to 40mph for the speed camera on the A46 (single carriageway).
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>> Don't worry, you'll be held up for less time now that lorries can legally do
>> 55MPH on the A34.
They've been illegally doing that for years. Well actually more like 56 to 57 mph, depending on accurately their speed governor is set.
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>> I had to put my Landcruiser in between some idiot in a truck and some poor girl in a Mini (I think) to stop him crashing into her on purpose out of road rage.
Where would we be without courtly drivers like FMR, who can read truckers' minds and take control of the entire situation in their trusty jeep thingies. We have all probably been saved hundreds of times by similar good Samaritans, without even noticing as they force their way in between the lorry and us.
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As I recall I wrote about it in HJ at the time. Perhaps you could search for the note and place your thanks and feelings of gratitude there. It was about 2004 / 2005 I think.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 12:38
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>> place your thanks and feelings of gratitude there. It was about 2004 / 2005 I think.
I'm sure you helped the lady and I don't suppose the manoeuvre was as risky as you make it sound. It's just that I can't help teasing you FMR. It's your psychic abilities that I find provocative.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 12:50
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>> I don't suppose the manoeuvre was as risky as you make it sound.
"I had to put my Landcruiser...."
"Put" - a dramatic word full of emotion indeed.
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... lorries running nose to tail
That's the thinly veiled threat from the local chapter (sorry, area manager) of the RHA:
"What you'll end up having is convoys of trucks tailgating... that's going to cause a safety hazard to other road users who can't enter or exit the A34."
Can't drive properly, won't drive properly. Over to Pat to tell us why this is OK. If the rest of us have a duty to space ourselves safely on the road, what exempts HGVs?
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 09:23
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>>Can't drive properly, won't drive properly<<
Your opinion only, of course and not borne out by the amount of car nose to tail shunts seen on UK roads on a daily basis.
>>A trunk road is a major road, usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports and other places, which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic<<
As always the public wants to buy goods 24/7 but never wants to be held up for a minute by the inconvenience this may cause them.
All other traffic can choose to go on less congested routes if they wish, they have no width/height/weight limits to comply with and in most cases would result in a faster and less stressful journey.
Most choose the shortest route and prefer to sit and complain they are held up by their next weeks shopping in a lorry in front of them, and the standard of the professional drivers driving.
No changes there then!
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 09:48
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Your opinion only, of course and not borne out by the amount of car nose to tail shunts seen on UK roads on a daily basis.
Of course some car drivers behave irresponsibly, but we don't have the chairman of the AA telling the BBC that that is what we should be expected to do.
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<...next week's shopping...professional drivers...
You say this every time, Pat, but you don't explain how tailgating and lane hogging - basic faults that would fail any driving test, professional or otherwise - get next week's shopping there any earlier.
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The usual cliches from Mrs Pat.
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A little harsh, Duncan. I've no problem with Pat representing the views and interests of her members (if that's what they still are.) To tell us that congestion is our fault because we want stuff is fair, up to a point; the roads would be wonderful if it weren't for everyone else using them.
But there's a difference between recognizing the need of others to use the roads and accepting bad and antisocial behaviours as the price we must pay to enjoy the benefits of what they do. Would it be acceptable for district nurses to hog lanes or block junctions by gratuitous bunching, just because they provide a service to society? They can - and do - provide that service without getting in everyone's way.
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>>They can - and do - provide that service without getting in everyone's way. <<
....and frequently drive cars which don't gross at 44 tonnes and go much faster.
Yes, it is the same old, same old from me.
I can try and explain until I'm blue in the face but until you drive a lorry for a week for a living which you depend on you will never see it any other way.
Then the next time one inconveniences you for two minutes you'll be asking me for that explanation all over again.
As has been noted above, I've made the explanations before to the point of being boring apparently, so I suggest the forum search facility may well be your friend.
Pat
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It has been decades since I have driven HGVs, but I agree with Pat. Don't knock it until you can do it.
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>> It has been decades since I have driven HGVs, but I agree with Pat. Don't
>> knock it until you can do it.
>>
I don't need to be able to drive a HGV to know it's dangerous (to me) for them to drive 15 feet off my bumper at 56.000 mph. Usually in lane 2 of a busy motorway where there's nowhere to get out of the way.
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>> it's dangerous (to me) for them to drive 15 feet off my bumper at 56.000 mph.
There's a solution: back off slightly until there's a big gap in front of you. That means that if something silly happens up ahead you won't need to brake heavily enough to be run over by the tailgating HGV. The other solution is to find an opportunity to race off into the distance.
Very crowded motorways are always a bit dangerous. You have to keep thinking.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 14:11
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>>There's a solution: back off slightly until there's a big gap in front of you.
Mitigation rather than solution.
Either way its an amateur trying to cover for the shortcomings of the much lauded "professional driver".
Having said that, inconsiderate as I find UK Lorry drivers to be, they are angels compared to their counterparts here.
There is one truck driver in Viña de Mar who has replaced his standard wheel nuts with wheel nuts with 9" spikes on them. Its like something out of Mad Max. Utterly lethal. He says it makes it easier for him in traffic because the cars move out of his way.
Generally they are total nutters - cement lorries being the worst.
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>> Very crowded motorways are always a bit dangerous. You have to keep thinking.
>>
I was delayed a few minutes this morning, at a four into two motorway junction near here, someone tried to make it a four into three, and found a steel barrier in the way. No lorries involved.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 16 Apr 15 at 11:05
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Don't knock it until you can do it.
That's a poor and lazy argument. We all observe doctors, dentists, hairdressers, builders, electricians, whatever, whose skills we may not share but whose work and methods we can appreciate as good, clean, courteous and considerate - or otherwise.
It's no different with HGV drivers: some impress with their courtesy, control and professionalism, while others are boorish, selfish and - and in a few cases - dangerous. There is variation because they are human, of course - but some humans are more temperamentally suited to being in charge of a large machine than others. And we, the public, are entitled to comment.
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>>And we, the public, are entitled to comment. <<
...and you do repeatedly.
Of course we never see any comments on seeing >> their courtesy, control and professionalism<<, do we?
That goes unnoticed, just as we all remember the bad times/experiences in any walk of life, but never appreciate or compliment the good.
We have become a nation of self centered moaners and complainers.
Pat
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So you want us to let you know every time we encounter a lorry driver exhibiting an acceptable standard of behaviour, do you? Why not extend that into every aspect of our lives? For example, I was in the bank for a few minutes yesterday, along with a dozen or so other people; none of them produced a shotgun and attempted a robbery. This was a good thing, I thought, but I was in a hurry and neglected to thank them all personally. Was there ever a time when I would have done?
Similarly this morning, I encountered a number of HGVs and none gratuitously blocked my way or attempted to force me off the road. This is also a good thing. Do you want me to give them all a medal?
Back to driving. As with many of the basics in life - eating, breathing, excreting - you can tell when you're doing it well because no-one else really notices. I don't expect plaudits here for not menacing or obstructing other road users, nor should you or your members.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Thu 16 Apr 15 at 09:01
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Wde B, I don't have members.
If you are referring to this www.pda-uk.org/ we are a charity.
>>So you want us to let you know <<
No, I'd much prefer it if you didn't...........at all.
When you're on the road all day every day it's simply a minor irritation from a fellow road user and not worthy of comment.
In the words of Duncan, it gets a bit boring.
For what it's worth I would support an overtaking ban on the A34 but only for about 4 miles on the hill at East Illsely.
Pat
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I see, Pat. I'd taken Professional Drivers' Association to be something that would have members. Substitute 'fellow drivers' in what I wrote.
To get back to the point of the discussion, I wouldn't advocate the overtaking restriction either, except perhaps on that hilly section between Milton and Newbury. (It passes within a mile of the house I grew up in and I remember watching it being built.) My original comment was on the RHA manager's threat to replace one form of undesirable road behaviour with another.
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>> For what it's worth I would support an overtaking ban on the A34 but only for about 4 miles on the hill at East Illsely.
There is already an overtaking ban in force northbound at East Ilsey at certain times of the day (6am to 8pm?). It's not 4 miles long though. Only 1 mile, IIRC. Often gets ignored.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 16 Apr 15 at 11:22
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You have to read between the lines of the BBC report to see that the councils have no authority to decide this. All they've done is to agree to ask the DfT, which controls trunk routes like the A34 - and which will presumably say no.
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>> Lorries could be banned from overtaking on a 34-mile stretch of road in Oxfordshire and
>> Berkshire following a vote by councillors.
>>
>> Didcot East councillor Patrick Greene put forward the motion to reduce accidents on the A34
>> between Junction 13 of the M4 and Junction 9 of the M40.
They can try, but as far as I know they don't have the power to do that on the A34
As the found out on the A14, its unenforceable so will be ignored.
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I believe they intend to reintroduce an overtaking ban on M11 betwee junction s 8 and 9 later in the year. They trialled such a ban a couple of years ago.
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Lorries driving nose to tail will be caught by the police for tailgating - oh, forgot, there are not that many of them.
Several near misses that I have encountered on motorways have been from lorries. (I know I am not perfect either.)
1. Pulling out in to lane 2 when I was there with no where else to go - he just did not look.
2. Scaffolding board off the top of the tarpaulin missed by a couple of inches as it sailed off the top of the trailer. Quick maneuvering saved it from going right through the windscreen.
3. Shrapnel from a tyre blowout - not necessarily the drivers fault hitting my car.
But this one takes the biscuit...the BMW is that of an ex-colleague. His wife and child were in it. They were injured quite badly at the time and are still recovering.
tinyurl.com/q6pcv9y
Don't get me wrong, 99.99% of the time lorry drivers are kind and courteous, its the bad few that let the rest down and because they are so big the damage that they can do is very frightening!
If there is too much freight to move on the roads then perhaps the railway infrastructure should be reinstated to allow it to be utilized at night to carry freight. Canals also?
Last edited by: zippy on Wed 15 Apr 15 at 23:52
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As we are often reminded when the subject of undertaking comes up, there is a difference between over(under)taking and merely proceeding in a lane of trafic that is moving faster than an adjacent lane.
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>>then perhaps the railway infrastructure should be reinstated to allow it to be utilized at night to carry freight.
Which would be good, perhaps ideal, but all the goods yards around stations seem to have offices and shops built on them now.
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I haven't driven an HGV, but I've spent quite a long time driving an elderly white Transit on a weekly basis, and I've driven 7.5 tonners. And I sincerely hope I've never behaved in the fashion of many HGV drivers.
The M11 overtaking ban "about time too". Personally, I think a complete ban on lorries in the outside lane of 2-lane dual carriageways unless overtaking something incapable of driving at over 45mph (which would be required to sport a sticker) would be a good idea.
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Call to ban lorries overtaking on the A34 - No FM2R
