to think lorries are really dangerous on the road

[hayleymama]

I have to drive on motorways pretty much every day and am getting really mad at the way they increasingly just pull out right in front of me without any warning. It happened 3 times on my way home today and I nearly crashed into a car in the outside lane trying to move out of the way. It is no wonder they cause most of the accidents on the road. It makes me mad because it is peoples lives they are putting in danger just so they can spend half an hour getting past another lorry going at the exact same speed.

Any think to prove they cause most of the accidents on the motorways?

Some Lorry drivers are mad, more car drivers are bad.

You should be well back from lorries anyway for this exact reason. They aren't predictable, but neither is a car driver. Keep your distance, there should be no need to having to suddenly cut into another lane and almost crashing.

It's not my experience that lorries cause most of the accidents on the road . Can you link to those figures for us please ?

No, YADNBU.

I hate all some lorry drivers on motorways. Especially the morons who try to overtake another lorry and crawl at about 3mph more past it. They end up sitting in the middle lane causing the traffic to bottle neck into the fast lane.

And don't get me started on how they drive up the backside of other vehicles. Ever heard of stopping distances!!

Sometimes they are accidents waiting to happen

middle lane drivers really get my goat, they sit there not overtaking - just cruising - makes it difficult to pull out to overtake.

which lane where you in the three times this happened tonight ?

Lorries definitely don't cause most of the accidents on the road. Cars do. Fact.

I've been side swiped by a lorry driver on the M4. Most scary thing that's happened to me. It was a vehicle from the continent (left hand drive) without appropriate mirrors to compensate for blind spots on the right hand side. He pulled over straight into me as I was overtaking in the middle lane. Driver was smoking at the time (I saw him), and he told me afterwards he was also drinking a bottle of water, so was distracted.

I called the police to the scene, and they told me they get called out several times a day on the M4 alone to similar incidents involving lorries. Although they agreed the lorry driver was at fault, they said there was no point taking it any further, as unless they arrested and held him in custody, he'd be back across the water within hours, and they'd never be able to track him down.

So no - you're not being in the slightest bit unreasonable as far as I'm concerned. Overtaking lorries on motorways is just horrible horrible horrible.

YANBU. DH does a lot of motorway driving for work and has the same moan every day about lorries overtaking realllllly slowly, pulling out without warning, tailgating etc.

'Tis strange, but my brother is a lorry driver and he has the same moans about car drivers. Especially ones that overtake him, cut into his braking distance, then are surprised when a 44 ton lorry can't stop as quickly as a car!

My dad was a long distance lorry driver and also moaned about car drivers. His main gripe was that they didn't understand the limitations of a lorry.
Lorries take a lot longer to speed up and slow down, so if they lose their revs and have to slow down for any reason, it'll take them half a mile to build up to a safe speed (ie, not crawling along and creating an obstruction). Same problem with them overtaking.
Having been taught to drive by him, I learned the following:
never, ever cut into a lorry's braking distance
Never, ever try to go on the inside of a lorry negotiating a roundabout or turning.
If he overtakes, flash him to let him know when he's past you - it's difficult for him to tell.
Think twice before driving alongside him in windy weather.
Give him plenty of room and don't cause him to slow down and lose his revs.
If he lets you onto the motorway, let him back into the slow lane as soon as possible.

If you want them banned from the road, be prepared to pay a lot more for your goods - road haulage is by far the cheapest method of transport.

Yes there are bad ill mannered lorry drivers, but most problems arise from the limitations of vehicle that size.

They cannot accelerate or stop quickly, but they are far more likely to indicate than car drivers.
Yes they overtake slowly, they have their top speed regulated. Anticipation is the key, lorries tend to over take going up hill because they they want to keep a steady speed. Just move out earlier. If you do the same commute you know where they over take.

Having ridden in a hired 7.5 ton lorry from London to Scotland I can tell you even a lorry that tiny is nothing like a car. You have to be ridiculously careful not to cut in on corners, you love other truckers for flashing you in and you dread cars thinking you can stop instantly.

A skilled trucker reversing is an amazing site. We had to collect supplies from an inner-city factory, the boss reversed our little truck in, the next to arrive was a 32 ton artic. No way did it look possible they did it every day.

I have no problem with lorry drivers other than the ones who try to overtake then sit level with the other vehicle for 2 miles as they just can't get the speed up. I did once get "squeezed" by two idiots who thought it would be fun to scare the young girl in the knackered Fiesta, but that knackered Fiesta whipped from 70 to 90mph pretty sharpish (must have been going downhill) so I got out of it quickly and unscathed.

I used to drive on motorways at night a lot when I was younger, and I used to have a great time flashing lorries in and out - felt like I had some friends on those long solo drives.

Tannith that's really good to know. Thanks.

MrsMellowDrummer my DS had exactly the same thing happen to him recently. Maybe there should be some regulation of foreign lorries and drivers to prevent this.

It's odd in all the miles driving I have done I have never once been tail gated by a lorry. I have seen them get frustrated by people who sit in the middle lane rather than move in when they should - but I get frustrated by the same!

I have seen so many idiots try to go alongside them on roundabouts to - surely it doesn't take much of a brain cell to realise they need swing space?

I can't quite believe your post Bumble - you complain about lorry drivers being on top of you but you won't move to the fast lane. What madness is that?

So you purposely block the middle lane going at your own pace and not moving for anyone. Selfish and rude.

The lorries have no choice - they are restricted to two lanes. You are not. Please consider having some lessons for motorway driving in order to use the full road safely and sensibly.

YABU... I find truck drivers usually do a good job if you give them plenty of space, go faster than sixty and make sure you're not in their blind-spot.

I find lorry drivers far better drivers than most car drivers. I drive a lot for work too and am on the road most days. Overtake in the third lane and give them some room - they only have two lanes to maneouvre within.

In Germany, on the autobahn, it's the responsibility of the car in the overtaking lane to keep watch for others that might want to join that lane and nobody hogs any lane but the one driving lane. That might have some bearing as in the UK, so many people are middle-lane hoggers for no reason.

I think there needs to be more police presence in unmarked cars to pull over generally bad and inconsiderate drivers as there seem to be so many and the road system isn't designed to accommodate that.

The best piece of advice my Mum ever gave me is "Don't argue with a lorry".

They drive at a steady speed because changing speed at speed (iyswim) in a heavy vehicle is difficult. The overtaking v v slowly thing does tend to make frustrated car drivers behave like idiots though.

Lorries are in the main driven with far more skill than cars, but they are big and heavy and IMO many motorists are too thick unthinking to make allowances, eg:

Many times lorry drivers are literally on top of my car then they flash for me to move to another lane. I would not mind but I do not ever drive in the fast lane.

Having said that, I also hate it when 2 trucks take up 2 lanes for miles to not overtake.

Btw, what is it with all the motor- bashing threads recently?

Yabu lorrys have a massive blind spot so you need to take extra care that you can be seen by them. I think you might want to look at driving courses to boost your knowledge / confidence of motor way driving

I have wondered for a while whether lorries ought to have their own dedicated routes and cars should go separately. And bikes and so on, also separately. These forms of transport are all vastly different and ought to be segregated for maximum efficiency, in my little AS brain.

I wonder how it might work.