Bloody Lorry drivers

[Trouble]

So Trouble is that your car a right off then?

Your driving confidence must have took a big dent as well.

Really is like a war zone on the roads these days.

Take it DTS will be doing all the driving up to Blaze.

Really glad your OK as I'll be able to have a dance with you now, seeing as your still with us

no amazingly, its still drivable and not sure if its a write off but i would think not. Depends if its effected the internal system of the roof coming down and up i think. Awaiting quote.

DTS will be driving yes but he has the bigger car and we need the space for the kitchen sink (oh no sorry thats blue shoes who takes everything including the kitchen sink)

Cant wait to get there, so looking forward to meeting you all and seeing the ones ive met again. DundeeDancer, dancing guaranteed xxxxx

[DundeeDancer]

Oppss you posted when I was posting.(twice now lol)

I had pulled out the slow lane to overtake him so i am not a middle lane hogger and i was halfway passed him when he pulled out. He pulled out straight into the back end rear of my car and that pushed the back end into the fast lane and the car out of control.

That's a strange accident, so his cab hit you and not the trailer?

Wonder if the lorry driver even signalled , because if he did then I guess you would have noticed and got out of his way pretty damn quick.

Sounds to me like he was a really dangerous lorry driver

Its not a persons fault so where is the payback? Stress, time off, time off to get car sorted out, driving a shitty little courtesy car, hassle hassle hassle.Mind you could be worse, could be dead.

What you mean it's not a persons fault, seems plain to me it's the lorry drivers fault, he drove into you because he assumed nothing was there.

You seem really laid back about it all, I guess you're still stunned and just happy to be alive . Given it a little time and I think you'll become really angry about it, I know I am just thinking about the situation and it has nothing to do with me

Also I know what you mean about all the personal hassle as well, you should get compensation really, only fair you get two weeks in the sun out of this some how after all that ordeal.

Personally I'd be after blood

[Dance Demon]

I had pulled out the slow lane to overtake him so i am not a middle lane hogger and i was halfway passed him when he pulled out. He pulled out straight into the back end rear of my car and that pushed the back end into the fast lane and the car out of control.

I think from this information, the left hand drive factor does come into the equation. If he had been driving a right hand drive truck, he would definitely have seen you, given that he has hit the back end of your car, unless of course he just didn't look properly before pulling out. However whatever the size of vehicle you are driving, carelessness causes accidents and costs lives. Glad you're OK DT

[Stuart M]

Should we allow left hand drive vehicles in this country seeing as all the roads are set up for completely the opposite. I think not.

Thoughts?

And, of course, the continent will take precisely the same view of right-hand drive vehicles, and impose a similar ban. Goodbye, the British Road Haulage industry...

Glad to hear you're OK btw. I have a similar problem on my cycle to work, where drivers nip into the red bus/taxi/cycle lane to pass cars waiting to turn right, at a minor junction on my route. Do they check their left-hand mirror? Um, no: I've been carved up a few times, but at least I can jump onto the pavement. The buses (and their passengers) that I've seen this happen to (twice) don't have that option. Though at least the idiot driver (and I must say, it's usually a Beamer) would come off worse in those scenarios.

[dep]

we should send all our non perishable by boat or train. Containers are ideal for this.
Alternatively, use right hand drive tractor units on this side and swap to left hand drive tractor units for the Continental part of the journey.
Finally, have we considered dual control for trucks?

[Double Trouble]

Glad you're OK DT

Oh thanks hun.


Did something happen to me while I was asleep or summink?

[CheesyRobMan]

Though at least the idiot driver (and I must say, it's usually a Beamer) would come off worse in those scenarios.

This isn't universally true, but more often than not it's BMWs I see being driven by morons. Wonder why there is such a correlation? (please note not all BMW-drivers are morons, nor are all moron drivers in BMWs)

[Trouble]

I think from this information, the left hand drive factor does come into the equation. If he had been driving a right hand drive truck, he would definitely have seen you, given that he has hit the back end of your car, unless of course he just didn't look properly before pulling out. However whatever the size of vehicle you are driving, carelessness causes accidents and costs lives. Glad you're OK DT

Thanks DD but im T no DT.....

DOH ! xx

[Dance Demon]

Thanks DD but im T no DT.....

DOH ! xx

Just you wait until you're my age, and you'll do the same. My mum calls me by my two brothers, my sister, and most of my uncles names before she manages to remember "John".........
Sorry T...

[rubyred]

There was a piece about it on the Tonight program a few weeks ago. It's all down to blind spots that their mirrors can't cope with.

The Tonight link is here

I am referring to the link here and it seems to me that if someone robbed a bank, or defrauded their employers or failed to pay their taxes they would receive a hefty prison sentence. However human life appears to be cheap. I am not saying that accidents don't happen, but where there is a death, and it has resulted from a verdict where dangerous driving or drink driving was the issue, then there should be penalties that do serve to act as a deterrent.

Why can't something be done to make sure that left hand drive vehicles have something to compensate for the blind spot problem that the mirrors can't cope with, and if they don't comply then they could be fined. The same could apply to right hand drive when we go abroad.

[Dance Demon]

Why can't something be done to make sure that left hand drive vehicles have something to compensate for the blind spot problem that the mirrors can't cope with, and if they don't comply then they could be fined. The same could apply to right hand drive when we go abroad.

it's not just a problem for Left hand drive lorries. There are blind spots on most HGV vehicles regardless of what side the steering wheel's on. There are also blind spots on most cars & vans.

[Twirly]

it's not just a problem for Left hand drive lorries. There are blind spots on most HGV vehicles regardless of what side the steering wheel's on. There are also blind spots on most cars & vans.

True, but if it's worse on left hand drive lorries, then something could be done about that which might help save a few lives and limbs... just because there is a problem elsewhere is not a reason to do nothing about it.

As for extra penalties as rubyred suggests, I agree, though I'm not sure that it would make much difference.

I passed my driving text just over a year ago, and as a fairly new driver, have a bit of a different perspective on some of the bad driving I see around me. Talking to friends who have been driving for years (and who drive safely) they clearly aren't aware of some aspects of the highway code that have changed since they studied it for their tests. I can't help but think that everyone should be re-tested, say every 10 years. I'm pretty convinced that many people wouldn't pass (from some of the awful driving I see) and I don't think that they should be out on the road. For most skills that we learn we do courses to update periodically, and I don't see why driving should be any different. This would also help with some drivers I see, particularly where I live, who have clearly learnt to drive in another country with a different attitude to safety and consideration for other drivers!

[Barry Shnikov]

I'll say one thing.

Ban l/h drive HGVs and the cost of living in this country will rise steeply.

[dep]

Ban l/h drive HGVs and the cost of living in this country will rise steeply.

and what cost will that put on a life saved?
and the other costs repairing us.

[Barry Shnikov]

and what cost will that put on a life saved?
and the other costs repairing us.

Unfortunately, we always attach 'costs' to 'lives saved' and 'illness treated'. Otherwise, NHS funding would be twice what it is, and we'd all pay more tax.

[dep]

ban the left hand drives, save on lives and repairs, reduce our cost of living.
It all follows logically.

Can you evidence your assertion?

[Barry Shnikov]

ban the left hand drives, save on lives and repairs, reduce our cost of living.
It all follows logically.

Can you evidence your assertion?

I would appeal to Sybil Fawlty's specialist subject on Mastermind.

You only have to look at how many left hand drive lorries there are on our roads to conclude that a great deal of cargo is being transported directly from one or other european country to a UK destination. There are not enough HGVs in this country to collect all that cargo and bring it back to the UK destinations (and in any case if we ban l/h drives you can bet that there will be retaliation from other countries). If the European hauliers have to bring the stuff to the european coast and unload onto UK trucks, or cross the channel and then load onto UK trucks, a) we have the same problem - there won't be enough UK trucks, and b) there will be handling costs.

It's quite simple, really.

As for your other argument - it's not sensible to suggest that banning l/h drive vehicles would produce sufficient NHS savings to offset (in lower taxes, presumably) the additional transport costs that would be incurred as everything from raw materials to consumer goods had to find alternative transport sources to keep the UK economy from collapse.

[Stuart M]

ban the left hand drives, save on lives and repairs, reduce our cost of living.
It all follows logically.

Can you evidence your assertion?

Also, as I've pointed out earlier, the rest of the EU* would be perfectly within their rights to ban right-hand drive trucks from their roads. Now I'm guessing that a lot of the UK road haulage industry has to do a fair amount of trucking across the Continent to turn a profit, so being confined to the UK might cause them problems financially.

*Except Ireland and Malta. And maybe Cyprus. And possibly Gib - oh, you get the point I'm sure.

[bobgadjet]

Firstly 'm at last glad to read a post of some sense, and glad that all those reporting their tales of wowe are all "generally" OK.
I too drive in excess of 35000 miles yearly and have really calmed my driving down.
I prefer NOT to drive in the daytime for a few reasons
1/ the roads are much quieter
2/ the drivers that ARE on the road seem much more courteous, making way and letting you in/out etc

BUT

Ihave rfeally become more aware of the idiots that are arund.
The worst case was, coming back fom a gig at about 3am, crossing a green light thathad been green for some time as I apporached, a car crossed the red light on theroad crossing mine, at what must have been inexcess of 60-70mph.
Had I have a been a split second earlier I would not be writing this ! ! !

I have become much more cautios at road crossings these days, and it's not to do with my age.... REALLY ! ! !

I think we all become more cautious if we have had a near escape from our end.

The down side of night travel is......
1/ there seems t be many more road works slowing things down, but you can usually get through without too much delay.
2/ I have to plan an extra 15-20 minutes and take a break after n morethan 90 minutes. This makes SO MUH difference on how I feelat the end of the trip, and at least I DO get to the end of my trip
As for the BLOODY LORRY DRIVERS, we must not tar them all with the same brush. MOST ar extremely good b ut we MUST make allowances for their vehicle.
Unlike a car, that can accelerate from 50 to 70 in a few minutes, sometimes seconds, it could take a laden lorry several miles to increase from 45 to just 55.
HOWEVER, there are an incrasing number of lorries having the sign on the back "how am I driving", similarlymost companies take advantage of the size of their vehicles for adv]ertising their company, so have their phone numbers on them.
I am increasingly phoning companies (hands free of corse) to complain or report lorry driver for, mainly, tailgaiting or weaving and being intimidating.
If more of us called the companies that wned the lorries being driven badly and reporting them to their transport managers, some peoples lives, or maybe just their cars, may be saved.

Thanks for reading, and safe driving.

[SteveK]

and what cost will that put on a life saved?
and the other costs repairing us.

Risk management: Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) checklist

The HSE values a human life at around £1,336,800; I used to know what the Highways Agency uses for deciding whether to install crash barriers on roads; but can't seem to currently find it.