GORDON 50:
Why’s it such a problem here? I’ve never heard one tale of a brit doing this abroad, when I used to do Europe I always checked the left hand mirrors several times before pulling out, and even then I’d pull out VERY slowly in case something was there that I missed.
I agree with you but three reasons that I can think of.
I. The massive UK middle lane hoggers brigade that also ignore ignore the Highway Code about blind spot driving. At 2.00 am he is still in “his” middle lane though there isn’t another vehicle for miles.
Not as many 3 lane motorways in Europe so perhaps this is why middle lane hogging has not developed there or maybe they are just less tolerant of idiotic behaviour.
The biggest risk is when you have confirmed lane 2 is clear you indicate and move out…KaBoom!..just hit a guy who was moving from lane 3 to lane 2 which is way beyond the scope of any mirrors.
Strangely, small fast manouverable car claims to police he didn’t see large slow moving truck with about 7 indicator lights flashing and lorry driver is usually deemed responsible and must pay up.
Euro drivers are more tolerant and accommodating of trucks trying to manoeuvre I think generally.
the original post is a load of nonsense, i assume the poster has never driven a truck, let alone been abroad, but it doesnt matter whether you are LHD or RHD, accidents can happen when overtaking, yes there are blind spots, so we have to take care, use our mirrors etc. In europe in a RHD we use to fit a small mirror inside the cab on the nearside grab rail, that made life a bit easier for overtaking, me personally, i wait patiently until another overtakes me, then pull out for a look before making that overtake. Big belly tanks were the norm for going out of europe, germany didnt like more than 200m litres in a standard tank, and france had the same views too, hence the 50 frank note on the dashboard…lol…germany took care of itself, as we would opeb the valve before having it sealed in dover, and just lie to the germans and pray to god they didnt check.
The £10 per day for foreign drivers are heavily checked, with more cameras on the road, and big fines for the drivers/companies who dont pay, my boss forgot and got a £300 fine, plus renewed the levy on the spot, the only thing thats wrong is fining the drivers for taking a 45 at the side of the road, most truckers abroad prefer the services, here in the uk, its not so easy, and kent is full of these truckers because of the lack of facilities…end of story.
GORDON 50:
Why’s it such a problem here? I’ve never heard one tale of a brit doing this abroad, when I used to do Europe I always checked the left hand mirrors several times before pulling out, and even then I’d pull out VERY slowly in case something was there that I missed.
Well I can give you a tale of a brit doing this abroad. I did it, many years back.
In my defence I had an outside lane hogger sitting in my blind spot, but it wasn’t him I hit.
I was heading for Rome, catching up with a couple of slower wagons when an artic blew past. Then we reached a slight rise which slowed him down.
Naturally at least half a dozen cars were soon in a Q behind him.
Once we reached level road, he was away again followed by the rest of the Q of cars, except for the last dark coloured car which dawdled along in my blind spot for a short time.
I soon got to the point where I wanted to pull out to overtake those trucks, so checked my mirrors. A dark coloured car was approaching fairly quickly, so I eased off and stayed where I was, checking his progress periodically, as you do. Once he was along side my trailer I put my winkers on and my foot down, a moment later a dark coloured car appeared in front of me. Another check of my mirrors, nothing in sight, so I pulled out, quickly.
BANG. [ZB] me tartan, what the [zb] was that? Ah yes, “that” will have been the dark coloured car that just bounced sideways off my front bumper and I’ve just hit yet again (3 times in total, if yer gonna do it, do it right). That one there, now parked neat as you like on the hard shoulder but facing the wrong way, with both sides battered in.
Two cars, same style, near enough same colour. One had been dawdling in my blind spot. Once the second car came up behind, off he went. When he went I thought it was the car coming up behind and when I checked my mirrors prior to pulling out the second car was in my blind spot. I’ve just seen a car drive through my blind spot, so it must be clear, so I can pull out
My ideas for preventing accidents on the motorway:
(1) actually bother to buy the land needed to widen the carriageway properly
(2) Build a new hard shoulder
(3) Use the old hard shoulder as new lane 1
(4) Don’t bother with overhead gantry signs unless they are rigidly enforced, eg. passing under a red x or going through a speed limit beyond 20mph excess sets off the camera.
(5) Don’t close more than one major choke point at a time.
(6) No under 25’s
(7) No doing <50mph in lanes 2 and up
(8) No stopping on hard shoulder to answer the bloody phone
(9) No using lane 3 and up unless capable of 70mph
(10) Breaking down in the fast lane invokes a fine.
villa:
you know most of the accidents on the motorway occur when foreign drivers or drivers driving left hand drive vehicles move into the middle lane to overtake but because of blind spots they regularly side swipe cars causing serious accidents. Well i have had a great idea that would level out the playing field because most of these lorry drivers fiddle the tacho , don’t pay our road tax , etc and fuel up over there using big fuel tanks meaning there overheads are cheaper so they are doing british family men out of work leaving british kids to go starving.
Anyway , i digress , this idea is mainly a health and safety idea and it is anyone driving a foreign lorry should only be allowed to drive in the inside slow lane or lane 1 for those who think they are clever. They should not be allowed into the middle lane AT ALL.
Good argument until you included that bit, unless of course you can substantiate it? Most? That is over half of them? Really?
Companies house would show that over half of foreign vehicles driving on our roads do not run out of a UK-version yard of that foreign company. That would mean that unless the trucker volunteers to pay any taxes they don’t have to - they won’t be then.
And your evidence for this is?
I know you probably never dare leave the UK, or even your house by the sounds of it, but if you did you’d find there were various taxes in many other European countries that these Foreign drivers pay and they’ll see the UK levy as no different, road tolls and vignettes are part of the job for European truck drivers.
In the first year of it’s operation the HGV Levy collected £46m from foreign registered trucks, at £10 a day, it would suggest a hell of a lot are paying it.
Winseer:
Of those vehicles pulled over by police - I’m pretty darned sure that over half of them are guilty of some kind of offence, or they wouldn’t be getting pulled over without accusations of “harassment” being hurled at the police for legitimately going about their duties in a fair-and-square fashion. The comment in red is a fair comment to make, I suggest.
As with UK registered trucks, the DVSA target certain operators with a history of non-compliance, and they have the power to fine on the spot, so not easy to get away without paying.
Winseer:
In short, Foreign drivers do everything they can to avoid paying taxes in the UK,
Again your evidence for this?
There are some who’ll try and not pay and maybe get away with it, but then you could say the same about British drivers and hauliers.
Winseer:
including having supersized double fuel tanks so they can do their entire UK run without re-fueling at a UK forecourt even once.
And British Hauliers who regularly run abroad have big tanks for exactly the same reason, and I remember years ago where loads of UK hauliers would put their tractor units on the Euro Tunnel train on a Saturday morning to fill their tanks in France, so they could run round the UK on cheap diesel.
Winseer:
There some who try and get way with it
Now it’s only some agreed there are probably some who try and get away with it and some of those don’t get caught.
Winseer:
Running over here on a ferry, getting caught in operation stack, missing the last ferry before the weekend, and other undesirable events that make life hell for a intercontinental trucker - also make fiddling one’s tacho almost mandatory and endemic therefore. We UK drivers would have to pay our fines though. Continental drivers can just throw them in the bin without consequence, because we’re too soft on them.
Another Observation: I’ve seen a lot of VOSA speaking to these guys parked under motorway bridges of late - but have yet to see any on-the-spot fines being dished out by said VOSA.
And the last time operation stack was in place and for how many days?
Most ferry route run weekends as well, so missing the last boat Friday is unlikely.
And if they get caught the fines have to be paid on the spot if the driver hasn’t got a UK address, so no throwing it in the bin.
And No I haven’t seen them get an on the spot fine when under a bridge, because I find it a bit difficult to read what the DVSA man is writing or hear what he’s saying when I go past at 56mph.
Well said Sir. I was just thinking how to phrase a reply to this misinformed nonsense then saw you did it already.
Winseer:
If you miss the last boat from the continent on a friday to come here - you’re laid up the whole weekend I believe… Not allowed to drive trucks on the continent across the weekend! No such rule here, so it’s a rush to get across the channel on the last friday night ferry then - coming INTO Britain I was speaking of. You’ll be stuck not at the French port, because you never made the ferry friday night. You’ll be in some dangerous layby getting gassed, not allowed to drive the short distance to the port on a saturday - “because it’s not allowed”.
This is such a load of old nonsense it’s fairly bloody plain you’ve no experience of international transport. ‘Some dangerous layby getting gassed’ you should try euro work, you’d find if you have the option of a weekend in France or shipping over to UK you’d take France any day. The dangerous crappy laybys are over here, over there they have services and truckstops free to park in. Besides, Saturday is a bad example, it is allowed. Also you think they are all law breakers yet they abide by weekend Bans? Make your mind up. You’re getting as bad as Carry…fast, pontificating in a high handed manner about that which you know nothing
Most accidents are not caused by foreign drivers or lack of hard shoulder or anything else.
They are caused by dozy drivers not paying attention to their driving.Talking on their phone,falling asleep,traveling too close to the vehicle in front,lack of concentration,lack of anticipation and lack of brains and knowledge of how to drive correctly.
mrginge:
Or cars could put their foot down or slow down when they sit next to a lorry indicating in their direction.
Why should a car driver do that just for you? Every time a lorry indicates the car driver has to accelerate or slow down.
Get real pal eh.
So do you sit next to trucks, possibly in their blind spot?
Or because you know trucks you get out of that particular area ASAP?
That is what I was getting at, if I have a lorry indicating in my direction I get out the way, no point getting crashed into just to prove the lorry driver couldn’t see you or wasn’t paying enough attention.
EDIT: Unless I have a dashcam so I can post it online then I welcome the interaction between the lorry and myself
mrginge:
Or cars could put their foot down or slow down when they sit next to a lorry indicating in their direction.
Why should a car driver do that just for you? Every time a lorry indicates the car driver has to accelerate or slow down.
Get real pal eh.
So do you sit next to trucks, possibly in their blind spot?
Or because you know trucks you get out of that particular area ASAP?
Certainly not but I have plenty experience and know the dangers.What a lot of lorry drivers forget is that most car drivers are not well educated when it comes to driving.All they have done is pass an easy test which does not really teach them much.
Your average car driver does not have a clue about lorries and are not interested.Lorry drivers however seem to expect them to realise the problems they can cause instead of adapting their driving appropriately.
Any good driver will compensate for the morons on the road.Any that cannot should not be driving a truck.
Uncle Albie:
Certainly not but I have plenty experience and know the dangers.
It’s almost like you’re saying you’re brighter than average?
Uncle Albie:
What a lot of lorry drivers forget is that most car drivers are not well educated when it comes to driving.
So they don’t have common sense?
Uncle Albie:
All they have done is pass an easy test which does not really teach them much.
Your average car driver does not have a clue about lorries and are not interested. Lorry drivers however seem to expect them to realise the problems they can cause instead of adapting their driving appropriately.
So you do think you’re intelligent compared to others?
As well as arrogant…
Uncle Albie:
Any good driver will compensate for the morons on the road. Any that cannot should not be driving a truck.
So that only applies to truck drivers then?
Pal, you really do think a lot of yourself and very little of others. Yes there are those that are thick, and others that drive around in a dreamland. But sady you’re not smart enough to realise that the majority of drivers (truck or car) know exactly what they are doing, and will bully their position, either to stop a truck pulling out, or sit besides one while it’s indication, just because they can! They do it because they are ignorant/arrogant twonks who have no manners or consideration towards others.
That was the point, sorry you’re not smart enough to see it!
But thanks for playing!
P.S. Maybe you should refer yourself to this thread, that you did some time back: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=140945
Uncle Albie:
Certainly not but I have plenty experience and know the dangers.
It’s almost like you’re saying you’re brighter than average?
Uncle Albie:
What a lot of lorry drivers forget is that most car drivers are not well educated when it comes to driving.
So they don’t have common sense?
Uncle Albie:
All they have done is pass an easy test which does not really teach them much.
Your average car driver does not have a clue about lorries and are not interested. Lorry drivers however seem to expect them to realise the problems they can cause instead of adapting their driving appropriately.
So you do think you’re intelligent compared to others?
As well as arrogant…
Uncle Albie:
Any good driver will compensate for the morons on the road. Any that cannot should not be driving a truck.
So that only apples to truck drivers then?
Pal, you really do think a lot of yourself and very little of others. Yes there are those that are thick, and others that drive around in a dreamland. But sady you’re not smart enough to realise that the majority of drivers (truck or car) know exactly what they are doing, and will bully their position, either to stop a truck pulling out, or sit besides one while it’s indication, just because they can! They do it because they are ignorant/arrogant twonks who have no manners or consideration towards others.
That was the point, sorry you’re not smart enough to see it!
But thanks for playing!
P.S. Maybe you should refer yourself to this thread, that you did some time back: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=140945
Oh dear have I upset you evil beezle? Ok I will bite and tell you what I think pal.
There are a right mixture of drivers on our roads and most of them have appalling driving standards.You are correct some do know what they are doing but an awful lot more do not.
Yes I know I am brighter than most drivers out there but really that is not so hard.That’s why I have my own business and they are drivers.I have met 1000’s of drivers over the years.Some great lads some not so great but in reality you don’t need a lot of brains to drive a truck.
You cannot complain about ignorant twonks if you are a lorry driver because so many of them drive like ignorant twonks and if you cannot see that you are not as bright as I thought you might be.
You can think I am not smart all you like,but you are 100% wrong.
Do you ever regret becoming a lorry driver because I am inclined to think that is the case.
Uncle Albie:
You cannot complain about ignorant twonks if you are a lorry driver because so many of them drive like ignorant twonks and if you cannot see that you are not as bright as I thought you might be.
Where did I say that then? As I think you’re referring to others.
I’m well aware SOME people drive like twonks, not that I really commented at all.
You’re the one who was labeling people as thick or uneducated, saying that car drivers don’t realise they are being twonks.
And that’s where I disagreed with you, assuming that you read it, and DIGESTED it!
What I’m saying is that most drivers (any vehicle) know exactly what they are doing, and have absolutely no interest in helping a brother or sister out, getting out the way if it’s possible. Instead they will drive like selfish townks as it’s their right to be there, and if they can F someone over, they will! As in some twisted way I guess it may add a bit of colour, or self satisfaction to their lives. This I believe was the point being made before you jumped in and ran with your assumption.
Uncle Albie:
You can think I am not smart all you like,but you are 100% wrong.
What I actually think is that you’re over confident about your grasp of things, as you’ve proved that a few times on here!
You tend to be priggish and condescending about what you THINK is being said/stated, when if fact you’re make yourself look a fool.
As it’s clear you haven’t interpreted things correctly…
i.e. You’re quick to jump in and criticise others as you don’t have the discernment to do anything else, just as you did in that thread of yours I linked…
Uncle Albie:
Do you ever regret becoming a lorry driver because I am inclined to think that is the case.
Why do you ask?
Prey tell how you’ve deduced that?
I could say you have not comprehended things properly either.You seem to be missing my point completely.
Do you ever stop to think why we have these types of awkward drivers that you seem so adamant about?
Have you ever considered the fact that some lorry drivers force their way from lane to lane.Signal on and move in a lot of cases.
Have you ever considered the elephant racers holding up car drivers for mile after mile.Have you ever considered the morons that sit right on the back bumper of cars trying to force them out of the way?
Maybe just maybe car drivers might be a bit more helpful if we did not have these idiots on our roads.
It really gets my goat when lorry drivers come on here complaining about car drivers when they are just as bad if not worse.
Driving standards are appalling these days pal.Simple as that.
Ah yes, “that” will have been the dark coloured car that just bounced sideways off my front bumper and I’ve just hit yet again (3 times in total, if yer gonna do it, do it right). That one there, now parked neat as you like on the hard shoulder but facing the wrong way, with both sides battered in.
agreed there are probably some who try and get away with it and some of those don’t get caught.
As in some twisted way I guess it may add a bit of colour, or self satisfaction to their lives.