The Truck Menace Strikes Again ...

[sunny-dave]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-27049165

When will we see some action on the ever growing menace of HGVs on our trunk roads?

The entirely bogus 'war on speed' needs to be replaced by an 'assault on trucks'. Virtually every accident/fatality on our motorways and major dual-carriageways involves (and is usually proved to be caused by) one or more HGVs.

Perhaps if the relevant Government Ministers were forced out of their 'blue-light-convoys' and had to spend a few days driving themselves in a modest family car along the A14 and M6, we'd see some action on the appalling standards of driving and (lack of) consideration for other road users displayed by far too many HGV drivers.

I know that there are, hopefully, more 'good' than 'bad' HGV drivers (although it doesn't seem like that some days) - but something needs to be done before entire sections of the major road network become 'no-go areas' for cars and motorbikes.

And don't just blame 'foreigners' - the worst examples are often in GB plated vehicles.

[ToraToraTora]

noooo, speeders are the evil ones! how dare you deviate from established wisdom!

[gness]

If my trip home yesterday, hindered by side by side HGVs is anything to go by, speeding is impossible........ unless you are Baldric.....☺

[Baldric]

Hi gness,

[Baldric]

I picked the Truckers day off ;-)

[douglas9401]

Since you're jumping to conclusions Dave, let me add mine.
Some pretendy executive in an entry level German car made an insanely dangerous move on the road leaving the truck driver having to take catastrophic avoiding action. The driver of that car, of course, saw events unfold in his rear view mirror.

[gness]

Hi, Baldric....fancy a passenger for your next...."outing"?...;-)

[Baldric]

Sometime after Easter gness, give you a shout!
need about 2 miles good straight 2 or 3 lane carriageway, No ingress/egress what you got to offer?

[gness]

Well not the A14...that's for sure....☺

[ludwig]

I do an awful lot of motorway driving, and the most dangerous behaviour I see is perpetrated by people in cars.

[sunny-dave]

I agree I'm jumping to conclusions about this incident - although the pictures lend some credence to my guess.

But ... my point about the majority of serious accidents involving poor driving by an HGV is a genuine one.

http://tinyurl.com/osveyo2

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/media/21-10-2013-lorry-fatalities-research

[sunny-dave]

On motorways: More than half (52%) of fatal accidents on motorways involve HGVs, despite HGVs only making up 10% of the traffic on motorways

On A-roads: HGVs are involved in 1 in 5 fatal crashes on A roads, a ratio that has worsened over the last 5 years

On minor roads: An HGV is five times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident on a minor road than other traffic

[gness]

HGVs make up 10% of motorway traffic and are involved in 52% of fatal accidents!
Those figures are worse than I had imagined despite watching some dreadful HGV behaviour on the stretch of A14 that I can see.

[shaneystar2]

My son is an HGV driver who runs his own business supplying the building trade .Please don't tar them them all wth the same brush .
Ok ..his main area of work is East Anglia,Cambs ,Lincs and we don't have many multi lane motorways here but he's a courteous road user. His licence is far too precious to him to exceed speed limits and act like a pr*t .

[sunny-dave]

The problem shaney is that, unless someone gets a grip on the bad behaviour of the minority, your son will suffer by association - which isn't fair at all.

[Baldric]

Like you say SD, builders/scaffolders all as bad as one another.

[gness]

When I started driving in the 60s lorry drivers were the most courteous of road users........
Now the majority....not all but sadly the majority..... seem unaware that there are other drivers on the road at all.

[shaneystar2]

He used to work for a company that had "targets " which made them have to hare around like blue a rsed flies all day .He found this impossible and refused to cut corners and dash hither and thither,sometimes having to speed so that Mr.Smith could get his bricks at a certain time so this is why he went into business for himself .
It's a stressful job and until they bring in some sort of regulations and stop the top men who run these companies exploiting the drivers you will get accidents .Everything is target driven these days .
I get chapter and verse ,when he comes round, at some of the antics that he sees on the roads .
It's a difficult one .

[boxtops]

Our local TV has shown this in some detail, as the M26 is still closed in one direction and very slow in the other. The Police are appealing for witnesses as to how the accident occurred. Please let's not jump to conclusions.

The country would come to a dead stop if it weren't for the truckers moving stuff about, stuff we all need on a daily basis - please don't tar them all with the same brush.

[shaneystar2]

Cheers boxy :)

[boxtops]

I know my OH has commented that many car etc drivers just don't realise how long it takes an HGV to respond to an emergency, how many hundred yards it takes a vehicle of that size to brake, etc. I'm not defending those who do drive poorly (and we see it round here as trucks come in and out of the country, 24/7), but it's not all of them, by any means.