Driving skills (was Driving in fog) - Page 2

Louise · 23 December 2006, 13:21

Actually, IMHO it is the so-called 'professional' drivers (e.g. taxi drivers, van & lorry drivers) who often display an arrogant disregard for the rules of the road and for other road users. Many of them seem to have one of two attitudes: either, because I do this for a living, I'm better at it than you and you should give way to me at all times because this is my job; or, I'm bigger than you so I'll just bully you. Of course, not all professional drivers are like this, but a significant number are!

Biggles · 23 December 2006, 13:47

Louise,

I totally agree with you

Lorry drivers overtaking on a two lane Motorway 1 mph faster than the vehicle they are overtaking. Comes to mind.

Nos4r2 · 23 December 2006, 14:01

Lumping us all together is quite an insult. Taxi and van drivers are possibly the worst drivers on the road.

The problem with being in a truck is that you're blighted by dithering incompetent morons all the time. Not ALL are-but a large enough proportion that the only way to be safe is to assume all are. Good drivers don't stand out. Idiots do.

Incidentally I'm guilty of pushing my way out too. What people don't realise is it take 10 times the gap in traffic to get a lorry out of a junction than a car and in the 10 minutes I've been waiting to pull out because no-one displays any courtesy anymore there's half a mile of stationary traffic fuming behind me. We're pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place in that respect-the public neither understand or care about anyone other than themselves and they hate being stuck behind us. They have no idea how much room we need to do the most basic of manouevres either.

I often take both lanes on the way into a roundabout too-and it's not because I need the room to make the turn. It's simply because if I don't then the lemmings in cars will swarm round me like flies round shit and block me and anyone else going the same way from going anywhere and have no idea that they are doing it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Lorry drivers overtaking on a two lane Motorway 1 mph faster than the vehicle they are overtaking. Comes to mind.

I'm afraid that's just one of those things where you have to be sat in the driving seat of the lorry at the time to understand. Sometimes it's necessary, sometimes not.

Louise · 23 December 2006, 14:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Lumping us all together is quite an insult. Taxi and van drivers are possibly the worst drivers on the road.

I see. Yet another lorry driver that never does anything wrong.
Well, I guess it depends on your perspective.

Quote:

I'm afraid that's just one of those things where you have to be sat in the driving seat of the lorry at the time to understand. Sometimes it's necessary, sometimes not.

What a cop out! Come on, Nos! In the interests of promoting harmony and better understanding between 'you' and 'us' why not explain?

Biggles, thanks for your support.

One of the things I was thinking of is when lorries tailgate one another in the nearside lane of the motorway when there is a sliproad joining.

So Nos, why do lorry drivers do that?

Nick Hearne · 23 December 2006, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

One of the things I was thinking of is when lorries tailgate one another in the nearside lane of the motorway when there is a sliproad joining.

So Nos, why do lorry drivers do that?

Getting in some ones slip stream means you can lay off the gas!

Happy Christmas all

Nick

DM · 23 December 2006, 14:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

So Nos, why do lorry drivers do that?

Trust a woman to ask a silly question like that. It's because otherwise, you'd have to pull out and overtake at a speed of 1mph more than the other truck's doing, you featherbrain. You can always rely on a woman to introduce logic into a perfectly good argument and spoil it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

This occured in March 1997 on M42 resulting in a terrible 90 vehicle pile up

I remember it well. Three dead, sixty injured. We were looking forward to crawling into bed after a busy nightshift when all that cracked off. A 12 hour shift turned into 18 hours.

Out of all the jobs I went on, that one comes in about number 5 in the list of most memorable.

It was very eerie being in thick fog with cars on fire, trapped people screaming and speeding vehicles still shunting into the wreckage further down the road. Something like that tends to focus the mind.

Strangely enough, I find lorry drivers a big help when towing a boat. They usually give you extra room and flash you in after overtaking which they don't do for caravans and other types of trailer.

So Nos, why do lorry drivers do that?

DM

Biggles · 23 December 2006, 15:00

Wouldn't things be helped if this Tax Grabbing, Social Engineering, Incompetant Government spent some money on improving Britains infrastructure to bring it in to line with the rest of Europe. Then I wouldn't have to moan about 2 lane Motorways (That shouldn't be called Motorways) and all us workers could go about our business making this country great again.

Don't think thats what labour wants us to do. Something about Climate Change that has become the latest weeze to Tax middle England to death.

Rule Brittania.

Nick Hearne · 23 December 2006, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Wouldn't things be helped if this Tax Grabbing, Social Engineering, Incompetant Government spent some money on improving Britains infrastructure to bring it in to line with the rest of Europe. Then I wouldn't have to moan about 2 lane Motorways (That shouldn't be called Motorways) and all us workers could go about our business making this country great again.

Don't think thats what labour wants us to do. Something about Climate Change that has become the latest weeze to Tax middle England to death.

Rule Brittania.

Steady your starting to sound like Coders!

codprawn · 23 December 2006, 16:17

Agree with richard on the fog lights dazzling in rain - same as the idiots(women mostly) who don't know what the handbrake is for at traffic lights and blind you with their high level brake light!!!

As to lorries overtaking at 1mph more than the other who do I blame? NOT the truck drivers but the bloody EU and the government for fitting speed limiters!!!

To group most HGV drivers in with taxi drivers is a joke. I have driven more miles than most and I find Artic drivers in particular the best of them all - coach drivers are scum though!!!

Try driving through the Pyrynees or somewhere similar and you will see just how good HGV drivers are compared to most car drivers.

Biggles · 23 December 2006, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

Try driving through the Pyrynees or somewhere similar and you will see just how good HGV drivers are compared to most car drivers.

But thats abroad and people abroad are a lot different to the British. Abroad has lots more restrictions on HGVs.

Louise · 23 December 2006, 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

To group most HGV drivers in with taxi drivers is a joke.

That's not what I said. Read more carefully please Mr Prawn.

codprawn · 23 December 2006, 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

But thats abroad and people abroad are a lot different to the British. Abroad has lots more restrictions on HGVs.

Not in Spain they don't - or if they do they don't enforce them!!!

codprawn · 23 December 2006, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

That's not what I said. Read more carefully please Mr Prawn.

Sorry maybe I didn't interpret it correctly?

"Actually, IMHO it is the so-called 'professional' drivers (e.g. taxi drivers, van & lorry drivers) who often display an arrogant disregard for the rules of the road and for other road users."

I am sure you mentioned lorry and taxi drivers in the same brackets....

Biggles · 23 December 2006, 16:45

But I still insist the people are different. There's no one quite like the British. It shows when you go abroad and see the Brits on Holiday.

Anyway if I lived in Spain where it is hot most of the time and I got lots of EU grants to maintain my roads I might be a more relaxed and therefore better driver.

And the roads in them mountains are on a par with most of the roads where I live. And we haven't got any hills worth talking about round here. Hampshire.

Louise · 23 December 2006, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

To group most HGV drivers in with taxi drivers is a joke. I have driven more miles than most and I find Artic drivers in particular the best of them all - coach drivers are scum though!!!

I did not group 'most' HGV drivers in with taxi drivers, I simply used both as examples of categories of 'professional' drivers within which there are individuals who often display an arrogant disregard blah blah blah. Are you telling me that you have never witnessed poor driving by a trucker?

codprawn · 23 December 2006, 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

I did not group 'most' HGV drivers in with taxi drivers, I simply used both as examples of categories of 'professional' drivers within which there are individuals who often display an arrogant disregard blah blah blah. Are you telling me that you have never witnessed poor driving by a trucker?

Of course I have - just a lot less than other road users - that includes Police drivers these days - many just don't have a clue. Even traffic cars these days seem to think indicators are an optional extra!!!

Nos4r2 · 23 December 2006, 18:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

I see. Yet another lorry driver that never does anything wrong.
Well, I guess it depends on your perspective.

What a cop out! Come on, Nos! In the interests of promoting harmony and better understanding between 'you' and 'us' why not explain?

Biggles, thanks for your support.

One of the things I was thinking of is when lorries tailgate one another in the nearside lane of the motorway when there is a sliproad joining.

So Nos, why do lorry drivers do that?

Yet another lorry driver who's had to pass far more driving tests and more training along with medicals on a regular basis

I've got a better idea than explaining-I'll show you. You're only just down the road from me. Wanna ride?

There are a few good reasons we tailgate when passing a junction.
We need a big gap in front of us to brake in-far more than a car. It takes us a lot longer to slow up. Cars in general will pull into a gap that's way too small then decide they want more room and brake hard leaving us with the anchors on and white faces hoping we can stop in time-or just drive straight out into lane 2 without looking. Close that gap and they can't attempt suicide.

Besides,if there's a vehicle next to us we can't pull out to overtake-and it'll be long gone before you get out. If we slow down it takes forever to get speed up again.

Apart from that... The dashed lines where the sliproad joins the motorway are a give way... It's up to you to look early enough and spot your gap then join smoothly. I rarely have any trouble joining a motorway when towing a loaded 44' trailer (let alone in a car) and that's without anyone moving over to let me out. If you can't do it in a car then your forward planning needs work.

1mph overtakes-condensed version- All HGV limited to 85kmh (apart from Irish/Polish/any other chancers who don't give a shit about the law) but speedos/limiters/tachographs are calibrated to within about 5% therefore the small speed differential. We'd like to be able to overtake faster but we can't. Cruise controls/limiters are set in 1kmh increments but with 5% difference in calibration there will always be some 'creeping' which makes staying a constant safe behind the truck in front difficult over extended periods.
Manually maintaining the gap is a pain-go out in your car and try to drive at EXACTLY 53.6mph behind a truck without either falling back and being overtaken by someone doing 0.5mph more than you or creeping up on them...

Nos4r2 · 23 December 2006, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

And the roads in them mountains are on a par with most of the roads where I live. And we haven't got any hills worth talking about round here. Hampshire.

You'll soon find a few in a truck...

Biggles · 23 December 2006, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Apart from that... The dashed lines where the sliproad joins the motorway are a give way... It's up to you to look early enough and spot your gap then join smoothly.

Pet hate number 54326 is those idiots that join Motorways at below the inside lanes speed causing you to slow up. These people should be shot. Or even better made to Bungee Jump off a Motorway bridge using Grandmas old Knicker elastic

toby4594 · 23 December 2006, 18:50

We get a few days of foggy weather and all of a sudden people are experts on driving in it ,is that why when we get a smattering of the white stuff the whole of the country grinds to a bloody halt,excusing the North where they are geared up for it.I made a career change many years ago I used to drive a cat 2 low loader with some seriously big machinary on board ,but mostly under police escort never the less drivers would ignore the outriders and try and squeeze past you .Nos do not try and argue a point with these people because they will never understand and have absolutely not a clue.