What should I have done?

mrbadexample

derrick wrote:

I have had 38 tonners up my tail in the centre lane of a 3 lane motorway whilst doing 70-75 mph overtaking vehicles in the inside lane,

Just out of interest, when looking through your rear-view mirror at the vehicle behind you, how do you know what its plated weight is?

derrick wrote:

it happens, and dispels the theory that ALL hgvs have limiters,(and don't forget the ones that may have them fitted but have been altered!),

You may note that I did not say that ALL HGVs have speed limiters. It isn't a theory, it's a legal requirement when the vehicle falls into scope of the regulations. Nor did I say they weren't tamper-proof. :rolleyes:

derrick

mrbadexample wrote: »

Just out of interest, when looking through your rear-view mirror at the vehicle behind you, how do you know what its plated weight is?

It hardly matters, we are talking HGVs, class 1,2 &3. I am talking the biggest artics that weigh up to 40 tons, they all do it, you are now just arguing for arguing sake



You may note that I did not say that ALL HGVs have speed limiters. It isn't a theory, it's a legal requirement when the vehicle falls into scope of the regulations. Nor did I say they weren't tamper-proof. :rolleyes:

I did not say that you said all had limiters, but when this sort of debate starts the general opinion is that "HGVs are limited to 56mph", which beggars the question why, when the legal max speed limit for HGVs is 60 mph, (on a motorway).

............

Asus_Mobo

derrick wrote: »

It hardly matters, we are talking HGVs, class 1,2 &3. I am talking the biggest artics that weigh up to 40 tons, they all do it, you are now just arguing for arguing sake

Sorry mate not all drivers are breaking speed limits or driving up the back of other drivers, maybe its how you percieve things.

derrick wrote: »

I did not say that you said all had limiters, but when this sort of debate starts the general opinion is that "HGVs are limited to 56mph", which beggars the question why, when the legal max speed limit for HGVs is 60 mph, (on a motorway).

They are regulated to 56mph to allow for the poor readings that speedos give, you can think your doing 60mph in the cab but your actually doing 56mph, its to stop haulage companies incurring fines because of untrustworthy speedo readings.

:beer:

mrbadexample

derrick wrote:

It hardly matters, we are talking HGVs, class 1,2 &3. I am talking the biggest artics that weigh up to 40 tons, they all do it, you are now just arguing for arguing sake

I'm not arguing, I'm just assisting you with some facts, as you seem to be a little misinformed.

HGV class 1,2, & 3? Those classes haven't existed for some time.

Biggest artics 40 tonnes? Guess again. In the UK, try 44 tonnes (given 6 axles and road-friendly suspension). Let's not get into STGO (Special Types General Order) movements.

They all do it? Hardly - it's actually a very small minority. :rolleyes:

derrick wrote:

I did not say that you said all had limiters

I'm sorry. It looked like that to me:

derrick wrote:

it happens, and dispels the theory that ALL hgvs have limiters

Conor_3

Hermione54 wrote: »

But the point has been well made that British HGV drivers are much better trained and examined than those of us who've only passed the ordinary car driving test.

Sadly because of the attitude of pillocks like derrick, many people won't take up HGV driving because of what it is perceived as. The end result is that there are a lot of Poles now driving UK wagons on Polish licences and the level of skill is truly horrific and they don't give a toss about the law either.

So the standard of HGV driving overall is probably going to drop dramatically over the next decade as most British HGV drivers will have retired (current av age is 58)and because of derrick attitudes there aren't the people coming in to replace them so it's left up to the Poles, Bulgarians etc to fill the seats.

Reap what you sow derrick. BTW, did you enjoy your breakfast delivered by lorry whilst sitting on furniture delivered by lorry before going to work at a company that wouldn't exist without lorries?

derrick

Conor wrote: »

Sadly because of the attitude of pillocks like derrick, many people won't take up HGV driving because of what it is perceived as. The end result is that there are a lot of Poles now driving UK wagons on Polish licences and the level of skill is truly horrific and they don't give a toss about the law either.

It is because of the attitude of morons like you,(who think because their vehicles are bigger than others that they have the right to bully the smaller ones), that HGV drivers get the stick that they do, never mind the Poles, the bad driving of "professionals" has been going on for in excess of 10 years. You cannot believe that HGV drivers do not just pull out on car drivers,(with and without signals), causing those drivers to harshly brake or change lanes when not safe to do so usually into the path of an overtaking vehicle in the outside lane, if you do then you really do have your head firmly stuck in the sand.

So the standard of HGV driving overall is probably going to drop dramatically over the next decade as most British HGV drivers will have retired (current av age is 58)and because of derrick attitudes there aren't the people coming in to replace them so it's left up to the Poles, Bulgarians etc to fill the seats.

It isn't just my attitude it is the majority of the driving public. You have quoted the highway code in some of your responses, but only choose the rules that suit you, ignoring the ones that don't suit, e.g. lane discipline and the rules re overtaking.

Reap what you sow derrick. BTW, did you enjoy your breakfast delivered by lorry whilst sitting on furniture delivered by lorry before going to work at a company that wouldn't exist without lorries?

This is really pathetic, just because you deliver various articles to shops does not give you the right to flout the rules of the road.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Hi my first post so be gentle! I didn't realise there wwas so much hatred of truck drivers anymore, silly me i thought the days of putting 'scum of the earth lorry driver' on official forms (i'm serious) was over apparently not. Funny how people who don't do a certain job are so expert at it. Do you know if i see a driver of a car/bike/anything make a mistake or do something daft,i as a long term truck driver try to make allowance for them as the driving is not their profession. I would not expect to tell an accountant or doctor or teacher how to do their job cos i woudn't have a clue, so why are people who don't do my job so bleeding good at it. I have to agree that the standard of truck driving has dropped drastically over the past twenty or so years same as bus driving (especially since deregulation) but if you think its bad now enjoy the prospect of the next twenty when our own drivers will be priced off the roads by the foreign imports. My own suggestion is buy yourself the biggest 4x4 you can afford to at least offer some protection(not serious)!! Bit of a rant i know. ttfn.

Altarf

When the HGV driver is looming two feet off your back bumper when you are driving at what your speedo (I don't care about his speedo) says is the legal limit, are you just supposed to shrug and say 'it's ok, they need to maintain momentum'.

Conor wrote: »

Why are you in L2? L2 is for overtaking. L1 is for driving in.

Who mentioned L2? If I am doing what I believe is the speed limit in L1, it is never acceptable for anyone, let alone a HGV driver to hang two feet off my bumper as happens all too frequently.

When the HGV driver you are just about to overtake on the motorway, flicks on his indicator and then a nanosecond letter starts to move 40 tonnes of truck into your car, are you just supposed to shrug and say 'it's ok, they needed to maintain momentum'.

Conor wrote: »

Firstly, at least we use indicators to indicate a lane change.

Secxondly they don't just flick their indicators and instantly move out. An artic doesn't instantly do anything.

Third , if you actually manage to look further than the end of your bonnet and engage brain, you'd see the lorry gaining on what was ahead of it and deduce that a lane change was likely.

Fourth, if you actually used your mirrors once in a while, you'd see the lane to your right is clear.

Firstly I use indicators to indicate a lane change and so do the majority of other car drivers. If some car drivers do not that is no excuse for HGV drivers to drive dangerously themselves.

Secondly, are you seriously saying that in your millions of miles you never see your colleagues start to switch lanes as the indicator flicks on?

Thirdly, if your colleagues engaged their brain and looked ahead they would anticipate that they would need to overtake and start to indicate before they actually started to move.

Fourthly, as the main roads around here (and no this is not the back of beyond) are only dual carriageways, moving to a non-existent L3 is a bit tricky. And if your colleagues used their mirrors a bit more then they might see that they are being overtaken and not make a dangerous manoeuvre.

The standard response is the sort of rant posted by Conor, that it that they have to deal with the poor standard of driving from all the car drivers. Yes there are a lot of mad, bad and dangerous car drivers on the road, but HGV drivers like to portray themselves as professional drivers. Perhaps they ought to act that way and not lower their standards to those of the car drivers they are criticising.

Conor wrote: »

1.7 million miles in the last 14 years both points and accident free. You?

Me? Not the insecure sort that needs to see if they can p!ss higher than the next guy.

anewman

Now now, lets all be nice. I'm sure there are good and bad HGV drivers. Same with car drivers. Maybe they could be a little more prone to the "i'm 40 tonne, I move you get out the way" approach, but I'm sure not all do.

roswell

My understanding of this this thread is as follows,
1) Op is on a motorbike doing 50
2) Lorry is doing 50
3) Lorry has started to overtake bike
4) Both lorry and bike enter 70 limit
5) Bike remains at 50 till lorry over takes it

Conclusion its the bikes fault for not maintain speed and could easy have made room for the lorry either by speeding up or slowing down ... courtiouse driving is whats needed not arrogance from borth parties. as the lorry had already started his manouver I for one wouldnt want to sit on a bike with 3 mm of leather between me and 10 ton of lorry being arrogant.