GRRRRR lorry drivers!!! (sorry big rant)

[bushbaby28]

Oh my god i could really kill some of them. 2 lorries rushed past me today!!!! i yelled at one to slow down as he was coming straight towards us and he just totally ignored me!!!!

my horse was amazing as i think it scared me more than him but he was then jumpy at the smallest van. it could of been a really nasty accident as if my horse had chosen to turn and run (and i wouldn't of blamed him!) the lorry would of gone straight into us!

this isn't a rant at all lorry drivers as i've met many who are very considerate and who will stop and switch off their engines for us.

anybody else had this problem?

 

[RoyalPolo]

All the time and having my friends horse who likes to pretend some days she is scared she bolts backwards and ended up in a ditch last time thankfully some are good but on a whole theres plenty who aren't!

 

[Natch]

Do you wear high vis? Just a thought, as lorry drivers can't slow 10 ton of truck very quickly, so need as much distance as possible to be able to do so.

 

[YorksG]

I'm with Naturally on this, I wear a Hi-Viz fleece and gloves. Rather than shouting to get them to slow down (they have little chance of hearing you over the engine) wave your right arm up and down slowly in the 'please slow down' move. If you have Hi-Viz on your arm or hand they see you and tend to take notice.

 

[bushbaby28]

i had a high vis jacket on and it was on a straight road. i didnt want to wave coz wanted to keep both hands on reins incase my horse decided to panic but yeh thinking i'm gonna wear more high vis and stay away from that road in future.

another annoying bit is that i cant see why they'd be on that road anyway as its coming from a quiet village. possible sat nav short cut off the motorway though. the roads arent really built 4 the big lorries.

 

[YorksG]

That is annoying, and quite understand not wanting to take a hand off. My current mare is wonderful in traffic, the last one never was, even into her 30's if she wasn't hemmed in by a sensible friend, she would spin and take off. I did my utmost to avoid big traffic, but you can't always ;(

 

[golddustsara]

I'm on a single track road and luckily lorries are higher up so can see me over the hedges to slow down. Nine times out of ten they cut their engines too which is helpful. Its the bloomin bmw style drivers that annoy me. Despite the fact its a narrow lane they insist on driving at horrendous speeds down it then skidding when they see me. If I hear a car now I always try to get in close to the hedge. Its disgusting how some drivers behave...

 

[Natch]

In that case did you get note of the company the truck was driving for, and you could put in a complaint? Truck drivers have to seriously abide by very strict rules - I would imagine a complaint from a member of public would not go down well with his/her boss and would "educate" that driver not to do it again to you or someone else

Another thought on the subject... I don't know much about the workings of trucks, but maybe he/she decided not to use their breaks if they were going to be the noisy air break type that would spook even the most bombproof of horses?

6 of 1 half a dozen of the other, I suspect.

 

[Mosh]

An Argos lorry tried to kill me and my horse once. He had seen us and had been following for about 10 minutes, despite me stopping to wave on traffic.
He then followed me ont a roundabout, let his airbrake off and then over took me.
Frightened me to death And i was wearing hi-vis (jacket, and a strap thing on my ankle) and my horse had a pieces on his reins and was wearing brighly coloured brushing boots.
Luckily my horse was a saint.

 

[Rana]

QR-

As someone with an HGV licence, I can completely agree that it does take quite a while to slow down a large truck (think about when you would brake in a car, then triple it). Depending on the load being carried, you can't always brake suddenly, and need to slow down on your gears (tankers and livestock lorries in particular). Airbrakes make a hell of a noise, and are probably more likely to spook the horse than passing quickly would. Also, lorries are more noisy when accelerating, which could also spook the horse.

I'm not condoning this lorry driver whizzing past you, he probably was just being ignorant. Just please bear in mind that driving a truck is not like driving a car and you don't have the luxury of being able to slam on the brakes to slow down. Many lorries aren't fitted with ABS, and the last thing you want to do is slam on your brakes and skid (which in an articulated truck could lead to a jacknife).

 

[Flame_]

I've had more problems with buses tbh. I find lorry drivers very considerate in general, but the speed some buses go round the little lanes round our way its amazing the front of them aren't splattered with bits of dead horses and cyclists.

 

[OWLIE185]

Sadly people drive far too fast these days.

My only advice is to wear Hi-Viz with long sleeves so that hand signals can be seen at a distance and always wear a Hi Viz hat band as well so that you can be seen over hedges.

Take the BHS Road Safety course as that will also provide you with a number of usefull tips.

Next time get the registration number/companies name of the vehicle and report it to the police/company.