AIBU to expect lorry drivers to respect speed limits and distance?

[pinotnow]

At least three or four times over the last few months I have had the unpleasant experience of driving through 50 mph zones on the motorway where works are taking place and there is an average speed check in operation only to have massive lorries coming up way too close and me having to change lanes to get out of their way. On all occasions I have been driving to the speed limit the same speed as everyone else and have been in the left lane and forced to move over to the overtaking lane - not sure why the lorries can't do that.

This morning I gave ds a lift into town to catch a train at 5am. Going home on the 30mph ring road with speed cameras, which does have 2 lanes going each way, the same thing happened. I was in the left lane doing 30 (maybe more like 28 as I know the speedometer isn't 100%) and suddenly a massive lorry is behind me way too close. I changed into the righthand lane and it went off in front - must have been doing at least 35mph, which is his problem.

I get that on fast roads if the speed limit goes down suddenly they can take a while to adjust their speed (I think) but on 30mph road in a built up area surely this shouldn't be happening. I'm sick of having the choice to be rear-ended by a massive lorry, change lanes when it's not necessarily safe, or get a speeding fine and points (which I have never had).

I've been driving 20 years and I'm sure this is happening more and more now. AIBU to think if your job is driving you should be better at it?

Lorry drivers on the motorway can be truly terrifying. If traffic is flowing well it's ok and you can get away from them. If it's busy going a bit slower than usual and you can't speed up then they unfailingly sit 30cm behind your exhaust. I drive a small car and have children in the back. We would be wiped out if they had to stop suddenly.

Totally think you’re not BU. I came up from mid wales to North West yesterday. There’s a stretch, about 10 miles long, single track twisty road, with big signs about how it’s an average 50mph limit over the stretch. Cameras everywhere, doom laden signs about how many accidents/ deaths etc.

So- I stayed at 50. Means no harsh breaking. No ragging it round corners. Literally all the way I had a huge juggernaut up my backside. About 50cm from my bumper. How he got round the bends etc beggars belief.

For what it’s worth, I’m a trained emergency response driver. I could rag it round those roads and leave him for dust. But I didn’t. And I wouldn’t. Because I’m not a prat. Clearly, he was.

Don't you just love a careless driver who tries to encourage others to do the same?

I think that safe distances really should be enforced more. The police will pull you over for speeding, or a camera pick it up, but tailgating is so common, and yet so dangerous.

A lot of people don’t realise that Lorry’s are calibrated, your speedo saying 50 is more like 46/47. Lorry’s are a lot more accurate as are regularly checked obviously if they are going a lot quicker then they are speeding but it maybe that your actually going slower than you think.

Chill out, I just meant that I prefer over taking HGVs (which are speed restricted) rather than sitting in the same lane squished between two massive lorries that can't see me.

I neither middle lane hog nor speed and I keep to the most left hand lane.

I was in stop start traffic on a motorway this week. I had to be in that lane as it was the exit onto the M18. The lorry behind me was so frightening. He was so so close to my car. I didn't think he could see me not was I converted he was paying due care and attention.

The driving I saw on a long drive this week was so dangerous. I would happily pay more tax to have some actual traffic police on patrol to tackle this.

But why is it a problem to do 47 in a 50? Why does that give a driver in a calibrated vehicle and excuse for tailgating?

I'm not sure that they are saying that it does give an excuse - the OP raised the issues of speeding and tailgating. The speed issue (calibration) is something I raised earlier as well - but this doesn't and shouldn't excuse tailgating people in the process.

Hopefully nobody would say that there's a problem with doing 47 in a 50 - particularly in a car where you can't fully trust the speedo and you risk prosecution for exceeding the limit! It would be great if everyone could be more considerate and mindful on the roads - but I won't hold my breath! x

Tbh this stuff about calibration is a misnomer. UK law derived from EU regulations mandates that a vehicle speedometer must NEVER underread. To achieve thus requirement, manufacturers deliberately introduce the overread which must never show more than 110% of actual speed+6.25mph (10kmh). The point is that they want us to be going slower than what is indicated, it's not by accident.
I can plug my laptop into my car and change how my speedo works, whether it shows the error or not (yes I've tried it). I haven't changed it permanently because it would likely invalidate my insurance. I also found when driving in America that the speedos were much more accurate (different regulations). Still saw no end of tailgating on their roads too.
Tachographs on HGVs however are a different matter and are always accurate.
Tailgating is never acceptable at any time.

Because lorry drivers want to keep up with the speed limit. If you’re doing 47 then you are going slower then they are not being unreasonable.

They might be under pressure to meet delivery times but I don’t think they’re under pressure to be on their phones while driving, but most of them still do it

Rubbish. And what about the lorry driver who overtook me in a 30 and went on to go a lot faster through a residential area. Yes it was very quiet as it was 5am but what if he took out an early morning dog walker? Selfish dangerous behaviour.

You actually think that there is ever an occasion where it is reasonable to tailgate? Seriously?

Ridiculous. It's a maximum speed limit, not a minimum and maximum at the same time. And it's never an excuse for tailgating, especially in a vehicle with such a long stopping distance. I hope you don't have a license if that's how you think about driving.

Agree with you but it needs there to be more traffic police and an end to anyone getting a lesser ban or none at all because of alleged hardship.

And the same for middle lane hoggers.

Or better still, make such people deemed mentally/medically unfit to hold a licence because they are too aggressive.

There is NO place on the roads for bullying and intimidating behaviour. No excuses. Drivers who do it need banning.

Bullying and intimidating and dangerous driving IS very much being unreasonable.

But a lot of the time you can't go faster because there are vehicles in front of you, but the moronic tail gating lorry drivers still sit 30cm off your backside. Presumably they want to bully you out of the way so that they can bully the next car in front of you.

I reported one a few months ago. I had cruise set at 52 in a 50 average speed check and lorry sat on my backside all way in lane 2(lane1 full with other lorries ),despite the fact I was in an assistance dog van, which was clearly marked. He then went to undertake as it started to end and I got the reg and company. Rang through and logistics manager rang me back. He had waited for driver arriving back, viewed the 360 cctv and agreed it was ‘borderline’ dangerous driving. He had given driver written warning. They all have cctv apparently so worth reporting.

Excellent! Just a shame you didn't have rear dashcam footage too because you could have submitted that to Operation Snap and the driver would have got a dangerous driving conviction to go with that written warning.
Having seen what years of cutting people out of mangled wreckage has done mentally to my BIL (retired firefighter), I have zero tolerance for the arseholes that drive dangerously like this. We've all made mistakes when driving at some point in time but tailgating, brake-checking etc require an actual decision and effort to do. These lunatics need to have their licences revoked.

amen to that...x

fact is, they was treated like human beings then, now theyre treated like the scum of the earth..

They are absolute pricks most of them. Just because their navigation equipment is telling them a slightly different speed, they bully the fuck out of vehicles a tenth of their size knowing full fucking well those cars will be travelling at the speed limit according to their speedo.

They're absolute bullying bastards, I hate them.

@LittleMi55Nobody So they're pissed off about their working conditions and so take it out on innocent drivers, putting them in dangerous situations? I'm a teacher and have been incredibly unhappy about educational policy over the years. Should I have been taking it out on the children I teach and deliberately hindering their educational progress/being abusive towards them?