Bad day - terrifying truck driver :(

saltpetres

saltpetres

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I'm still shaking :( I just need to share this with some horsey people who will understand!

I took my new lease horse out on a hack today that was supposed to be relaxing and gentle, as he's an old fella coming back into work. Almost all the ride is on dead quiet dirt backroads, except for the bit right near the yard gate, there's about 70 metres of tarmac on a curve, but there's still nice verges. The roads are usually quiet anyway, as I live in a tiny town, and the cars we did pass were all very courteous and sensible. I haven't taken him out before, so my mum kindly agreed to drive along in front of us so we weren't totally alone as it was our first time out. He was pretty good, shied a bit and looked at every little thing and was nervy but he hasn't been out in years, probably.

Well. Right as we were heading home on that little strip of road near the gate, a MASSIVE B-double truck comes haring along, sees us, speeds up and COMES OFF THE ROAD about four feet onto the verge DIRECTLY towards us! There was no way he didn't see us. We had hardly any space between truck and fence. I'd accepted our fate, I thought that was it for us.

It had to be on purpose, I just can't see why he'd do it otherwise! He came so so close and sprayed up all the grass clippings and dirt all over us, poor Charleston reared a little, spun around then started shaking so much he nearly dropped to the ground. I thought he was going to shake apart :( I felt so bad for him.

We went back after and you can see the tyre tracks off the road where the truck churned everything up. I just don't know what to think? Why would someone do that on purpose? I kinda feel like we were almost murdered today!
 
Guessing you didn't get the reg. was there a company name on the side? If so I'd be tempted to take photos and send in a letter of complaint. Don't make it personal ie I felt like we were going to be murdered. Just put the facts in, along with a photo of the verge. No doubt the driver of the van will not own up to it, but with any luck some kind of safety messages will be passed around the company
 
saltpetres said:
I'm still shaking :( I just need to share this with some horsey people who will understand!

I took my new lease horse out on a hack today that was supposed to be relaxing and gentle, as he's an old fella coming back into work. Almost all the ride is on dead quiet dirt backroads, except for the bit right near the yard gate, there's about 70 metres of tarmac on a curve, but there's still nice verges. The roads are usually quiet anyway, as I live in a tiny town, and the cars we did pass were all very courteous and sensible. I haven't taken him out before, so my mum kindly agreed to drive along in front of us so we weren't totally alone as it was our first time out. He was pretty good, shied a bit and looked at every little thing and was nervy but he hasn't been out in years, probably.

Well. Right as we were heading home on that little strip of road near the gate, a MASSIVE B-double truck comes haring along, sees us, speeds up and COMES OFF THE ROAD about four feet onto the verge DIRECTLY towards us! There was no way he didn't see us. We had hardly any space between truck and fence. I'd accepted our fate, I thought that was it for us.

It had to be on purpose, I just can't see why he'd do it otherwise! He came so so close and sprayed up all the grass clippings and dirt all over us, poor Charleston reared a little, spun around then started shaking so much he nearly dropped to the ground. I thought he was going to shake apart :( I felt so bad for him.

We went back after and you can see the tyre tracks off the road where the truck churned everything up. I just don't know what to think? Why would someone do that on purpose? I kinda feel like we were almost murdered today!
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Glad your both ok - had many of this type of experience - shame you could not get company name or reg plate maybe ask for a hat cam for birthday/Christmas.
 
God that sounds terrifying. I just think some drivers don't think that horses have any right to be on the roads. I can't undetstand it at all. Hope you and pony are ok.
 
Henry02 said:
Guessing you didn't get the reg. was there a company name on the side? If so I'd be tempted to take photos and send in a letter of complaint. Don't make it personal ie I felt like we were going to be murdered. Just put the facts in, along with a photo of the verge. No doubt the driver of the van will not own up to it, but with any luck some kind of safety messages will be passed around the company
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Nope, I didn't get the reg, I was a bit busy! Heh. I did get the company name though, they're a big haulage company. I figure they'll know which driver was in my town - at the very least he should be reported for speeding and dangerous driving I guess! (Also when I say "truck" I mean a huge great lorry with two dog trailers.)

Thanks so much everyone, we're both fine! A little hesitant to go out again, though!
 
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twiggy2 said:
maybe he fell asleep at the wheel? still needs reporting but it may not have been intentional-glad neither of you were injured
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I really really hope it wasn't intentional, because...if it was, that's pretty horrific. I'm sure he'll pass a lot more horses and riders in his career, maybe they won't be as lucky! I just don't know. It's really shaken me because it's one of my worst nightmares - that's what comes from watching The Horse Whisperer as a kid I guess. (I'm also afraid of volcanoes from watching Dante's Peak and being trapped in lifts from watching Towering Inferno ;) )
 
saltpetres said:
I really really hope it wasn't intentional, because...if it was, that's pretty horrific. I'm sure he'll pass a lot more horses and riders in his career, maybe they won't be as lucky! I just don't know. It's really shaken me because it's one of my worst nightmares - that's what comes from watching The Horse Whisperer as a kid I guess. (I'm also afraid of volcanoes from watching Dante's Peak and being trapped in lifts from watching Towering Inferno ;) )
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you need to stop watching films ;-)
 
Here's my theory: He was coasting, and wasn't expecting you, as he saw you he went for the brake, but hit the accelerator instead, and veered off the road as he frantically tried to work out what the *** was happening, before regaining control and driving on, (probably shaking as much as your poor horse).

Thank goodness you're OK.
 
I had a truck do this recently Nr Cranleigh Surrey. I was in my car at the time. The removal firm came too fast round the corner and lost it. I would imagine he sped up to stop the lorry from snaking or Jack knifing. Still very scary and they both should never have been going that fast so definitely need reporting. The amount of debris from the road verge is phenomenal my car looked like I had been rally driving. Hope you're all ok?
 
how awful, really glad you are both ok.xxxxx my poor friend had a horrible experience with a lorry driver when she took her young trotter out to ride over to me for a hack, lorry driver decided she wanted to race him when my friends horse objected to his air breaks being slammed on and bolted, he decided to race next to her and it is an awful road with a bridge and steep valley, no where to get off for ages, she was crying when i reached her and her horse was white with sweat and shaking. they both got over it so please don't let it affect your future pleasure riding your horse, it sounds as if he was pretty good under the circumstances.x
 
saltpetres said:
Nope, I didn't get the reg, I was a bit busy! Heh. I did get the company name though, they're a big haulage company. I figure they'll know which driver was in my town - at the very least he should be reported for speeding and dangerous driving I guess! (Also when I say "truck" I mean a huge great lorry with two dog trailers.)

Thanks so much everyone, we're both fine! A little hesitant to go out again, though!
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Well done for get company - yes call them they will know the trucks route and which driver. I did this whith a coach company
 
pennyturner said:
Here's my theory: He was coasting, and wasn't expecting you, as he saw you he went for the brake, but hit the accelerator instead, and veered off the road as he frantically tried to work out what the *** was happening, before regaining control and driving on, (probably shaking as much as your poor horse).

Thank goodness you're OK.
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Mum thought maybe this was the scenario, I hope so! If so then I'd feel bad reporting him :/ he was still going too fast to start with...but I know how easy it is to speed when you're tired and it's hard to concentrate...agh

Ella19 said:
I had a truck do this recently Nr Cranleigh Surrey. I was in my car at the time. The removal firm came too fast round the corner and lost it. I would imagine he sped up to stop the lorry from snaking or Jack knifing. Still very scary and they both should never have been going that fast so definitely need reporting. The amount of debris from the road verge is phenomenal my car looked like I had been rally driving. Hope you're all ok?
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Uuuugh that's exactly it, I think what scared my lad so much was the mass of debris and he thought it was the lorry touching him! Mum was opening the gate for me and she saw what happened, she's not horsey and constantly worries about me so it was the worst thing she could have seen, poor old mum. I think we all had a little heart attack but all fine! Thanks :)
 
If you've got the company name and your mum as a witness I would call the police. Glad you're ok, if shaken - I know what it's like, I've had a bus scrape my boot.
 
Shady said:
how awful, really glad you are both ok.xxxxx my poor friend had a horrible experience with a lorry driver when she took her young trotter out to ride over to me for a hack, lorry driver decided she wanted to race him when my friends horse objected to his air breaks being slammed on and bolted, he decided to race next to her and it is an awful road with a bridge and steep valley, no where to get off for ages, she was crying when i reached her and her horse was white with sweat and shaking. they both got over it so please don't let it affect your future pleasure riding your horse, it sounds as if he was pretty good under the circumstances.x
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thank you, I am too xx

OH I JUST HAD A THOUGHT, thank you for mentioning air brakes...possibly he was worried his brakes would scare the horse and attempted to take the corner without them but couldn't manage it and lost control? I'm trying to think the best of this because it's awful to think there are people out there wanting to see bad things happen.

Oh your poor friend, what a horrible experience! My last lad was an ex pacer who was good most of the time, but would rather die than let anything pass him once he was in front and in race mode! I'd always have to be careful not to let the "race switch" get flipped. Glad to hear they're doing okay. Hmm...I might make myself go out again soon instead of dwelling on it, as I'm a silly overthinker, and only just getting back into riding after illness. At least I know my bum is still pretty sticky!

Thanks for your encouraging words, everyone :)
 
OMG !! Quickly go and take photos of the tyre tracks before they fade, and send them to the haulage firm with an official complaint demanding a response within 14 days and a written apology. That is absolutely horrific and this idiot needs to be stopped before someone else becomes another 'statistic'
 
cobgoblin said:
If you've got the company name and your mum as a witness I would call the police. Glad you're ok, if shaken - I know what it's like, I've had a bus scrape my boot.
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Whoa man, that's awful! I'm glad you're okay too. Jeez. This is my first bad experience on the road, I live in a dairy producing area and I used to ride my last horse on the milk truck route, and the drivers were always so good! I was very surprised by this one.
 
Report it to the police and the road haulage company, did your mum witness it or anyone else ??
Were you wearing hi viz, he might say he didnt see you ?
Id ask the police to come out and see the marks where he came off road and take pics yourself with your moile phone.
Sadly these sort of things are why head cams are becoming as much a part of hacking as a high viz vest
 
Marydoll said:
Report it to the police and the road haulage company, did your mum witness it or anyone else ??
Were you wearing hi viz, he might say he didnt see you ?
Id ask the police to come out and see the marks where he came off road and take pics yourself with your moile phone.
Sadly these sort of things are why head cams are becoming as much a part of hacking as a high viz vest
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I wasn't wearing hi viz, but I'll definitely not go out without it from now on! I was wearing bright red and have a bright white horse though, against a backdrop of nothing but green fields. I think I'd have been easy to see, but you never know, truckies must get very tired eyes so I guess it's possible he didn't see me 'til the last minute!
 
OP you should report him immediatly to his employer and then to the police.this is a serious breach of the highway code.he didnt hit you luckily but it is a near miss and these are still reportable.you are classed as a road user.
 
I think you will get a lot further by approaching the company in a sensible manner, as per my first post.

Going in all guns blazing will do you no favours whatsoever.
 
Sorry to hear about this incident but pleased that you are both O.K.
Clearly this driver was driving at the very least without due care and attention.
Report to the police without any further delay and in future always wear Hi-Viz on you and your horse including a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket so that other road users can see your hand signals.
 
Very glad to hear you and your horse are only shaken not hurt op.

When an HGVs wheels on one side go onto a soft verge it creates more drag on the side and the physical drag then pulls the lorry towards that direction more onto the verge. That will have been why the lorry appeared to have swerved towards you. The driver may have accelerated to try to pull the tractor unit (Im assuming it was an artic) wheels back onto the road away from the verge. So I understand why the driver might have reacted in that way even though it could have been mistaken by you as a deliberate attempt to harm you I think it was accidental.

BUT why were the lorry wheels on the verge in the first place? Either too much speed (national speed limit for lorries on two way undivided carriageways is 40mph for very good reasons, the added stopping distance due to the size/weight of the vehicles and the above scenario are just two of them) OR too little attention (that's why driver hours regulations were introduced). The sheer carnage an HGV travelling at speed can wreck is terrifying and anyone that drives one should always bear this and their additional stopping distance in mind. So like others I would suggest the lorry driver was driving without due care and attention for other road users.

I would contact the police as soon as possible. If it were me I would not be contacting the company, that's for the police to do.

And yes I'm a vision in yellow every time I go out, as is the horse, in case we should part company then drivers have and extra 3 seconds to take avoiding action. Please wear high vis for other road users as well as your own and your horses sake :)
 
There is a possibility he didn't see you until last minute or didn't want to spook your horse.

Email the company just raising your concerns including asking if the truck driver is okay. It may simply that he was tired sadly.
 
That sounds absolutely terrifying! I would want to get both you and the horse out on that stretch again quite soon since it is so close and you are going to need to go past it regularly. Maybe at 6am on a bank holiday the first time though!

Personally I would contact the company initially. I had an unpleasant experience when out hacking with a friend some years ago with the driver of a disabled minibus (the type that pick up wheelchair users to and from school) when they very deliberately (lots of swearing and horn blowing) tried to squeeze past and force us into a ditch, not as scary as your experience since there was no speed involved but it could well have ended badly if the horses had been less sensible. I contacted their employer and got a very helpful and apologetic response that the driver had been identified and disciplined and they also arranged some additional horse sense training for all their drivers. The person I spoke to at the company was a horse rider and was pretty horrified at their employees actions.
 
alibali said:
Very glad to hear you and your horse are only shaken not hurt op.

When an HGVs wheels on one side go onto a soft verge it creates more drag on the side and the physical drag then pulls the lorry towards that direction more onto the verge. That will have been why the lorry appeared to have swerved towards you. The driver may have accelerated to try to pull the tractor unit (Im assuming it was an artic) wheels back onto the road away from the verge. So I understand why the driver might have reacted in that way even though it could have been mistaken by you as a deliberate attempt to harm you I think it was accidental.

BUT why were the lorry wheels on the verge in the first place? Either too much speed (national speed limit for lorries on two way undivided carriageways is 40mph for very good reasons, the added stopping distance due to the size/weight of the vehicles and the above scenario are just two of them) OR too little attention (that's why driver hours regulations were introduced). The sheer carnage an HGV travelling at speed can wreck is terrifying and anyone that drives one should always bear this and their additional stopping distance in mind. So like others I would suggest the lorry driver was driving without due care and attention for other road users.
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Yes absolutely, it was a truck exactly like this:

17112095127_efdd420786_c.jpg


so I can imagine how difficult that amount of weight can be to control. BUT, like you said, the speed limit on that road is 60 kph (I'm in Aus) which translates to 37 mph, he was definitely speeding as he was coming up to a corner he'd have to stop at anyway :(

laura_nash said:
That sounds absolutely terrifying! I would want to get both you and the horse out on that stretch again quite soon since it is so close and you are going to need to go past it regularly. Maybe at 6am on a bank holiday the first time though!

Personally I would contact the company initially. I had an unpleasant experience when out hacking with a friend some years ago with the driver of a disabled minibus (the type that pick up wheelchair users to and from school) when they very deliberately (lots of swearing and horn blowing) tried to squeeze past and force us into a ditch, not as scary as your experience since there was no speed involved but it could well have ended badly if the horses had been less sensible. I contacted their employer and got a very helpful and apologetic response that the driver had been identified and disciplined and they also arranged some additional horse sense training for all their drivers. The person I spoke to at the company was a horse rider and was pretty horrified at their employees actions.
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Good lord! Still pretty scary though. I wouldn't want someone with a temper like that working with disabled kids anyway :/


Thanks so much for your kind words and commiserations, everyone! I really appreciate it :)
 
saltpetres said:
Yes absolutely, it was a truck exactly like this:

17112095127_efdd420786_c.jpg


so I can imagine how difficult that amount of weight can be to control. BUT, like you said, the speed limit on that road is 60 kph (I'm in Aus) which translates to 37 mph, he was definitely speeding as he was coming up to a corner he'd have to stop at anyway :(



Good lord! Still pretty scary though. I wouldn't want someone with a temper like that working with disabled kids anyway :/


Thanks so much for your kind words and commiserations, everyone! I really appreciate it :)
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I used to drive through on a B road which passed through a very big industrial estate on my way from horse to work in the mornings and more than once nearly got totalled by one of those double trailer things on a roundabout - they didn't make ANY attempt to slow down, let alone stop at the roundabout and having pulled out in front of me, blocked all three lanes due to the length of them. Luckily I am IAM trained and was always on the ball, but I can't tell you how glad I was go to get through that particular roundabout safely every morning. A lot of lorry drivers use the excuse of "it takes ages to stop something like this", so they just don't bother with minor details like the Highway Code and simply bully their way around the roads. And you only have to spend some time on the motorway network to notice that they don't worry too much about staying in between the lane markers either. Next time you hear of a person being killed on the hard shoulder when their car had broken down take a look at the report - I can almost guarantee it will be an HGV that hit them.
 
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