I got hit by a lorry, whose fault is it?

AdrianC

Paradigm wrote: »

I was merely pointing out that a blind spot exists & that you can lose a car in it under certain circumstances.

To which a lot of people have shown that - if the car is ahead of the truck - you can't. Even an HGV licence holder has said as much.

Paradigm

AdrianC wrote: »

To which a lot of people have shown that - if the car is ahead of the truck - you can't. Even an HGV licence holder has said as much.

I was responding to this particular post

The placement of the drivers seat does not cause any blind spot in front of the vehicle.

because it's not true!


I don't know whether the OPs vehicle was ahead, alongside, cut in front or something else & neither do you!
We weren't there.

sheramber

Paradigm wrote: »

I think you'll find that there is a blind spot directly in front of the passenger side of a HGV. That's why all trucks now have "look down" mirrors fitted on that side.

So it is no longer s blind spot

System

AdrianC wrote: »

Yes, there is. But not big enough to lose a car in.

As a former truck driver I can say with 100% certainty that it is still possible to lose a car on the nearside front corner, especially a smaller one. The front mirror looking down covers just the front of the vehicle and maybe a foot or so to the side when correctly adjusted. Its aim is to stop you running over pedestrians or cyclists just in front of your vehicle.

If a car is positioned roughly 3ft away from the opposite side of the driver with the drivers door of the car roughly in line with the front corner of the lorry then it may not be visible by the truck driver driving the types of lorries with larger cabs that would normally be driven by someone doing long distance, especially if that truck driver is a small person.

bugslet

As I came into work this morning, I remembered this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMaAww8N7wE

I know it's the Daily Wail, but the facts below are correct.

the driver of the tanker, John Tomlinson, appeared before a tribunal, ....... as well as being cleared of any wrongdoing he was praised for his handling of the near-disaster after a police report found that Mrs Williams had been to blame.

Tests had confirmed he could not have seen or heard the car wedged in front of his cab, and the hearing praised his actions.


Though in relation to the OP, I still think that if the truck was 'speeding' down then he would have been well aware of the OPs car ahead of him, which leads me to think that the OP has tried to dart in at the last minute.

AdrianC

The facts may be correct, but they're irrelevant today, and have been for years - quite simply, it couldn't happen now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162158

(The traffic commissioner) added that the case illustrated the dangers of lorry blind spots and urged firms to install close proximity mirrors on older vehicles. It is now law for them to be installed in new lorries, she said.

The collision happened in January 2010 - over seven years ago.
The "Cyclops mirror" on the front, looking down, had to be fitted to all new trucks over 7.5t since 2007, and to ALL trucks over 7.5t from 2012.
Even ignoring that retro-fitting requirement, a pre-2007 truck is very unlikely to still be in international haulage use now. These are EU/UNECE regs, so apply to all trucks even remotely likely to be working in the UK.

bugslet

Actually we have a 56 plate still does Europe, but we do low mileage.

But you are right in what you say, but so is Tarambor.

We are taking individual situations and arguing the merits of each. There are still blind spots in a truck and even with mirrors that cover pretty much everywhere, by the time you've looked at one, by the time you've looked at the 6th - 8th, the view has changed in the first.