a plea to all horsebox drivers

[Nic]

years ago i had an old Bedford TK, was driving home from Yorkshire to Lancs over BlubberHouses so you can imagine the amount of cars behind me, just about got to the top and the man behind could not wait any longer and overtook on the double white lines not seeing the police car in the layby, next thing the police car is overtaking me and pulling this guy up. Was quite good waving at him as we drove past.
If he had only waited a few more seconds he would of been fine!!

Brilliant, The police always miss our local **** of a BMW driver by seconds after he's done something stupid. Most annoying!

 

[Ginge Crosby]

Yes agree you should borrow room but you are taught to do so only where safe ........ so you must take them into consideration as you as the lorry driver will be considered wrong if there is an accident and you are in their lane!.

I'm sure this last point is quite untrue - if you are behind the lorry (or "not directly beside the lorry" nor "in their blind spot") you will be able to see where the lorry is placed, what signals it is giving (if any) and be able to act as appropriate. If, as you gave indication earlier in the thread, the lorry gave no indications or signals besides the lane it was travelling in, you should have been more cautious as to where it was going. If only all drivers were telepathic; insurance would be a thing of the past as no one would ever have these misunderstandings.

When learning to drive, and taking a theory test, the highway code is recommended along with theory knowledge; in which, it discusses the fact that lorries, buses ect take unusual courses at certain junctions and to be aware of this. Where i live, the buses have diagrams on the back indicating their turning spaces and where the vehicle overhangs so other motorists are aware of their movements.

[/QUOTE]Its obvious there are some strongly opinionated people in this thread but trust me I was not driving like an eejit and it was only because I was being aware of the lorry doing 'random' things that I didn't end up in the side of it.[/QUOTE]

Indeed there are some strongly opinionated people on here - it's what prompted you to post about your "plea to all horsebox drivers" isn't it?

Maybe i'm just having a bad day. But i have no idea what a "fluffy bunny button pusher" is.

 

[Louby]

My dad drives articulated lorried for a living; they move over to the right before turning left on sharp turns/some roundabout exits to avoid mounting the pavement with the trailer/rear-end and potentially killing a pedestrian. better to slightly dent a car than do the unthinkable.

Cars following traffic like horseboxes, lorries, cyclists, horse riders and wide loads should be aware that they may make unpredictable movements (as stated in the highway code) and should pay attention to their signals. If a lorry is signalling left but moving to the right, I assume it is turning left and hang back. Similarly, when going around a roundabout I never go alongside a lorry because sometimes the back end moves over unexpectedly and risks hitting you. It may p**s off the traffic behind me, but what can i say besides i've learnt from my near misses.

If any piece of traffic (small or large) is making no signals at all - I am even more cautious, because I do not want to get squished! Surely common sense should prevail - If the horsebox wasnt signalling at all, you shouldn't have assumed which lane/exit it was taking.

I totally agree. I move towards the right lane too if I have to, to make the left turn. I dont sit in the right lane though and expect the drivers in the left lane to know Im turning left, when the right lane is for going right. Sorry I didnt make it clear. This particular lady, scared me half to death in her car, let alone her lorry

 

[Nic]

Maybe i'm just having a bad day. But i have no idea what a "fluffy bunny button pusher" is.

The really irritating, pathetic, underhand folk that are killing this forum. They report forum members who have offended them to admin & get them banned so their fluffybunny cult can continue on it's way to world domination.

Button pushing refers to reporting to admin with a wee button that's around here somewhere, top right or bottom left of posts. Can't remember, it'd never occur to me to push it!

 

[Ashf]

The really irritating, pathetic, underhand folk that are killing this forum. They report forum members who have offended them to admin & get them banned so their fluffybunny cult can continue on it's way to world domination.

Button pushing refers to reporting to admin with a wee button that's around here somewhere, top right or bottom left of posts. Can't remember, it'd never occur to me to push it!

I know exactly what you mean

 

[Santa_Claus]

alj7 you obviously don't post in soapbox basically a poster who will happily hit the 'notify moderator' button as another poster called them bad name. lets just say the results have been posters warned/infracted (yes its apparently a word!!) or even banned for far kinder words than eejit.

The situation is difficult to describe without having been there yourself and I foresee this thread going in rather wonderous circles because of that. I posted last night having been home under an hour and at most 2 hours from the time of incident. Maybe I shouldn't have posted whilst I was still somewhat shaken and angry by it but i felt then and still do that the other driver was in the wrong. Thankfully the end result is no one was hurt other than my nerves being somewhat frayed. And trust me I will be expecting every driver to now partake the same dangerous manourve which was completely unecessary for them to do!!

As for the pulling in business well its obviously a personal thing and I must therefore be extremely kind to any drivers I temporarily hold up! Granted I don't live in Scotland which I know has miles of horrid roads but deepest rural devon offers it's own charms to me although some I would happily do without!

 

[Nic]

lets just say the results have been posters warned/infracted (yes its apparently a word!!)

Yeah, still not convinced about that!

 

[burge]

Just thought I had better point out that the reason that BMW & Audi drives never indicate is because indicators are a VERY EXPENSIVE optional extra on these models and most people can't afford to have them fitted!!! ;-)

 

[Ginge Crosby]

many thanks for the clarification on the fluffy bunny issue - i shall keep my eyes peeled and any name calling in check

i usually find that i have to take half hour to calm down over something before posting on here - otherwise the result is usually completely different to the reaction i was hoping for, and i end up more wound up than the original issue had caused me.

just take this situation as a lesson learnt - lorries are unpredictable, especially with a stressed out woman with a ginger horse who decided not to load and has made us very late for our dressage time (i.e ME lols) so give them loads of room

 

[Caz89]

^^^ agree with nearly all the comments, apart from the one about young drivers being better because they recently passed... not true! when I first passed I drove like an idiot for a while thinking i was cool, totalled my first car taking a bend too fast and got brought back down to earth with a thud.

recently passing your test means you may be up to date with your theory, but your technique and understanding of the road and other road users will not be upto scratch just yet.

I think you have misunderstood me.... I wasn't saying young people are better drivers because they are young.... I'm saying it is much harder to pass a test these days and the rules of the road are much fresher in your mind to that of a 70year old.... I'm sorry but they are one of the main accident causers on the road where I live. They don't seem to have a clue what a blind spot is, what lane they should be in and drive so slow it actually becomes a hazard. My argument is that I think ALL drivers should have to take a test to driver anything over 3.5T. It shouldn't matter whether you passed your test before 1997..... My mum for example passed her test about 30 years ago and is therefore entitled to drive up to a 7.5T however she can't even drive a car safely and therefore doesn't drive at all yet the law entitles her to drive legally on the road a lorry... It makes no sense.

 

[Ashf]

I think you have misunderstood me.... I wasn't saying young people are better drivers because they are young.... I'm saying it is much harder to pass a test these days and the rules of the road are much fresher in your mind to that of a 70year old.... I'm sorry but they are one of the main accident causers on the road where I live. They don't seem to have a clue what a blind spot is, what lane they should be in and drive so slow it actually becomes a hazard. My argument is that I think ALL drivers should have to take a test to driver anything over 3.5T. It shouldn't matter whether you passed your test before 1997..... My mum for example passed her test about 30 years ago and is therefore entitled to drive up to a 7.5T however she can't even drive a car safely and therefore doesn't drive at all yet the law entitles her to drive legally on the road a lorry... It makes no sense.

They call that 'Grandfather experience'.

The reason why the restrictions were put in place for younger drivers is simply because lowering the odds of having an accident on the road is more than just about training with an instructor. Older or younger, we all know the rules if we have been brought up to test standard, but the older you get, the more you appreciate the risks of ignoring them.

That is why an 18 year old who has just passed his test pays 10 times what I pay in premiums.

You can't learn 20 years of driving experience in 30 x 1 hour driving lessons