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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it wouldn't kill them to pull over once in a while?

310 replies

Featherbag · 03/05/2014 15:08

We're driving through County Durham, it's a beautiful day and were heading to a lovely village for afternoon tea and ice cream for the toddler. We're on a National Speed Limit road, single lane, stuck behind a horse box doing 23mph. There are 8 cars in front of us also stuck behind it, and I can't see the back of the queue. It's been like this for almost half an hour - AIBU to think it would be polite of the horse box driver to pull the fuck over every now and then to let the queue pass?!

OP posts:
SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 17:58

You weren't asking for clarification were you - you wanted proof, let's be honest, and you were out to prove your point, one way or another, irrespective of whether or not you were actually correct. As I said - if you looked for the lay bys that I pass every day on my commute to work you wouldn't find them on a website - does that mean you don't believe me too?

You may just have to accept that the OP was telling the truth and move on.

Sparklingbrook · 08/05/2014 18:09

Took me about 20 seconds to find that picture. Grin I used to love the programme where they moved the houses across America.

maddening · 08/05/2014 18:48

all these horse box drivers who can't possibly slow down for such a manoeuvre of pulling slowly into a layby - how the fuck do you cope with roundabouts?

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 08/05/2014 18:50

Roundabouts are well signposted, slow down gradually, wait for a big enough gap and then no need to pull out into oncoming traffic.

Sparklingbrook · 08/05/2014 18:52

Unfortunately every vehicle on the road is in danger of having to do an emergency stop at any point.

Original poster
Featherbag · 08/05/2014 18:52

Do you think I should get one of those for DH Sparkling? Booboo if I supply you with my GPS coordinates could you plot a route suitable for DH to drive to work in that, do you think? You appear to have the time, and I have to go put DS2 to bed.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 08/05/2014 18:55

Ultimate Dad racer with the house being on the back feather. Grin

SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 18:56

Does he need a route with laybys Feather? Boo is very good at finding (some of) those...

Original poster
Featherbag · 08/05/2014 19:00

I doubt it SirChenjin, according to some previous posters he's a total wanker (amazing how I never noticed this in 14 years together but sometimes you need the insight of total strangers on the internet) so I doubt he'll be pulling over to let anyone pass Wink

OP posts:
SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 19:06

That's true - anyone who drives a dad-racer is, of course, a wanker on MN, even though they drive carefully and appropriately Wink

maddening · 08/05/2014 19:22

and why is a truck so important - it was a horse box which could be being driven by a 4x4 which should be ok for most laybys - even those horse campervan types manage to drive in to the field near me for the regular horse trials and shows - that is a steep turn in to a muddy field - if they can do that they can do laybys

hmc · 08/05/2014 19:23

Horrible tale about the mare and her foal.

Serious question - cant horse boxes be better designed to protect their occupants in the event of sudden braking?

They don't sound very fit for purpose Confused

SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 19:37

Oh maddening - now you're just pointing out the obvious, and this thread isn't about common sense Wink Grin

maddening · 08/05/2014 21:14

oh shit was I meant to stick to hypothetical vehicles with hypothetical loads in hypothetical counties on hypothetical roads :'(

maddening · 08/05/2014 21:15

I mean Grin

hmc · 08/05/2014 21:19

I still want to know why horse boxes are such lethal death traps and why no one has designed better transportation....

SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 21:19

Yes maddening, you were Grin

ExitPursuedByABear · 08/05/2014 21:20

That would be a trailer then.

ExitPursuedByABear · 08/05/2014 21:21

Actually. This thread is making me very sad.

SirChenjin · 08/05/2014 21:23

Because it's not the horse boxes hmc that are at fault - it's the other drivers (such as the OP's DH) who drive behind the horse box doing absolutely nothing whatsoever to endanger the ponies Wink

ExitPursuedByABear · 08/05/2014 22:15

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 08/05/2014 22:29

Hmc, what would you suggest?

iamsoannoyed · 08/05/2014 23:30

It is hard to say. I drive a horsebox and have learnt from bitter experience that some layby/passing places look suitable but turn out to be a lot less suitable when you try to get out (especially when it's been wet and the edges are soft). This had made me quite wary about pulling in unless I'm very sure I'll get out. On roads I'm not familiar with, I'm very cautious.

Also, some layby's only become obvious when you're too close to pull into, or it's only clear if it's going to be safe to use when you're quite close. Horse lorries (or even a 4x4 with a trailer) are not the most manouverable things at the best of times.

Without knowing the road you were on, it's not possible to say if there were places they could have safely pulled into occasionally or not (I wouldn't be pulling over every 5 minutes or every mile or something, either). The areas may have looked safe to you, but may not have been.

Alternatively, you may be right and the driver could have pulled over once in a while in complete safely.

Booboostoo · 09/05/2014 07:10

SirChenjin I was clearly asking for clarification because the OP clearly knew nothing about trucks or how to drive them but was absolutely adamant that there were suitable laybys. This led me to suspect that the OP was making the availability of numerous wonderful laybys up. My first post I just clarified the requirements for a layby suitable for a truck and asked the OP how a windy road had suitable laybys. Then there were a couple of posts saying that if safe to do so the horsebox should have pulled over, something which I entirely agree with, so the obvious question was "Which road is it so we can tell if it was safe to pull over?".

Even now, having sad behing the truck for half an hour doing nothing, the OP cannot tell us the tonnage. If you know anything about trucks you can guess the tonnage at a glance and this tells you a lot about their turning ability, visibility requirements, etc.

hmc there isn't much that can be done to protect the horses. Well built horseboxes should have a breastbar between the horses and the human passengers to ensure the horse doesn't come through to the cab during an accident. You also need a decent partition to ensure that if the horse rears up or kicks out (depending on how they are positioned in the vehicle) they don't kick you in the head. But all this protects the passengers. Horses are delicate, flight, prey animals, their defence is to run and their weakness is anything that stops them from running. For their weight they have very long, fragile legs, pretty much designed to make sure that with any kind of problem or weakness they fall over to be captured by prey. They also weigh an enormous amount, 500kgrs is usual - two of mine weigh 720kgrs and 800kgrs.

PiratePanda · 09/05/2014 07:22

Wow, this is a nasty thread!

I'm afraid I'm team horsebox. Not that I don't have huge amounts of sympathy for anyone held up on a nice day behind a slow-moving vehicle. But because unless you've driven a horse-box you have no idea what's safe and what's not.

My dad nearly died pulling a horsebox when his brakes failed on a steep rural road. It's wise for all road users concerned for horsebox owners to be overly cautious.