Lorry Drivers grr!

[abillybob]

So this happened on the way home from work today. Tractor was in front as was 2 other cars going up a bank.. Don't know what he was playing at.

 

[bald_pig]

Contact MWF Wood Fuel, a leading supplier of wood fuel

[FN-GM]

Do you have the footage from the front camera?

[abillybob]

Contact MWF Wood Fuel, a leading supplier of wood fuel

 

What would I say to them!?

 

Do you have the footage from the front camera?

 

I do but haven't taken the footage off? Do you think I'll need it for any reason?

[DJ-1701]

The driver obviously wasn't paying close enough attention to the road or got flustered. Obviously you're not in the wrong there, so not sure why they would have flashed their lights. At least this time, no one bumped into you thank goodness.

[Smee]

Looks like he wasn't concentrating to be honest but please don't think that all lorry drivers are the same, if you'd seen some of the footage from my hubbys cab cam you wouldn't believe the things he sees other road users do. Pleased you weren't hurt. Some digigraphs will show erratic driving as well as speed and hours driven so it may be worth you contacting the drivers employers if that's the route you wish to take.

[Dos_Box]

As a former truck driver I'll play devils advocate here.

He is close behind you initially as you are on a hill. If they were fully loaded they have a very restricted gear range they can use i.e. they can't get any higher and if you are making good progress then you will try and stay in the gear that allows you to go the fastest because if you slow down you won't get going very easily again.

When they go into the other lane they are taking a look at the road ahead to see just what is going on. This will allow then to plan for any potential overtaking spots etc. I would have done the same.

The bit which is iffy is when they come right up behind you. It seems to me they may have become distracted (tuning radio etc.) and not paid attention to the queue of traffic. Probably because they assume that going this slowly would not present any surprises! Oopsy. No excuse for that behaviour at all.

You can tell just how steep the hill is because it looks like the driver stalls his truck and really struggles to get going again after which tells me it is quite a steep run and he would have been trying to keep in gear earlier.

[elsiegee40]

The bit which is iffy is when they come right up behind you. It seems to me they may have become distracted (tuning radio etc.) and not paid attention to the queue of traffic. Probably because they assume that going this slowly would not present any surprises! Oopsy. No excuse for that behaviour at all.

 

Texting probably

[FN-GM]

I do but haven't taken the footage off? Do you think I'll need it for any reason?

 

It would make a better video and strengthen your case. We will be able to see why you braked etc.

Edited September 9, 2016 by FN-GM

[hardtailstar]

For me I cant see hes doing anything wrong except maybe being a bit too close at some points When he was going on the other side of the road he may have been looking to over take or trying to see what the hold up was. I do this if its clear.

 

The part where he nearly hits you could be anything from lapse of concentration to the load in his trailer carrying the momentum forward before actually stopping. Flashing his lights could have meant anything or maybe he knocked the lights as he was braking.

 

Glad you're not hurt and car is in one piece.

 

Id just chalk this up as experience, but that's just my opinion.

[FN-GM]

Flashing his lights could have meant anything or maybe he knocked the lights as he was braking.

 

 

He might have thought he would hit the OP so its a "get out of the way" flash.

[DJ-1701]

He might have thought he would hit the OP so its a "get out of the way" flash.

 

Which in that case, the only way for him would would have been clear was up, unfortunately cars don't have a flight mode ... then again, it never seem to work on phones, I gave up trying it after breaking 3 phones when they fell to the ground...

[abillybob]

For me I cant see hes doing anything wrong except maybe being a bit too close at some points When he was going on the other side of the road he may have been looking to over take or trying to see what the hold up was. I do this if its clear.

 

The part where he nearly hits you could be anything from lapse of concentration to the load in his trailer carrying the momentum forward before actually stopping. Flashing his lights could have meant anything or maybe he knocked the lights as he was braking.

 

Glad you're not hurt and car is in one piece.

 

Id just chalk this up as experience, but that's just my opinion.

 

Yeah I get that you can look whats at the end of the road to see what the hold up was, thing is I didn't have to do this and I'm in a low car, and the hill has a slight curvature to it so if I could see what's in front without doing this he could of in a truck he's much higher than us nothing was blocking his view. But I get that this could be the case I don't know exactly what he could see.

 

I just felt a bit intimidated and didn't like the way he was driving hence why I put it online. IMO there where things he could have done to ensure that if I did have to slam my brakes on for any reason he wouldn't have gone in the back of me which if I'd of stopped then he probably would have. Being too close I think is sometimes portrayed as not being a bad thing until something does actually happen and he was too close, something could have happened. That was my main issue with it all.

 

Thankyou, after that episode he did stay well back throughout the drive so I was just happy he was out of my bum for the rest of the duration.

 

He might have thought he would hit the OP so its a "get out of the way" flash.

 

Yeah I though it could be the same.

[Dos_Box]

Texting probably

 

You might think that. I couldn't possibly comment

[dry]

Texting probably

Think it's a bit harsh to assume that. I get very easily distracted and my mind wanders all the time.

 

My friend once said that in his uni lectures, he looks around and counts the number of windows in the room that he's not going to let himself be distracted by! Followed by the bricks, the chairs, the lightbulbs etc

[witch]

Think it's a bit harsh to assume that. I get very easily distracted and my mind wanders all the time.

 

My friend once said that in his uni lectures, he looks around and counts the number of windows in the room that he's not going to let himself be distracted by! Followed by the bricks, the chairs, the lightbulbs etc

 

Well, yes, that is possible, but probably not a good way to be whilst in charge of goodness knows how many tons of lorry. I think he was looking ahead and not noticing that you had braked.

[Sheepy]

Do you have the front view from the episode? Maybe the truck driver was anticipating that you where going to move off quicker when he comes right up behind you? If he felt you had some clear space in front of you? as after that you seem to make good ground pretty quickly?

 

He is obviously having to keep his truck moving as its very difficult to move off on a hill?

 

Without seeing the front on view I don't think anyone can make a fair judgment on the truck driver tbh.

[Lonix]

In all honesty I think people are over thinking this, most lorry drivers I've had my back side tend to keep a steady speed and steady gap. Every time I seen a driver up and down my backside have been the usual BMWs/VWs/White Van and boy racer cars. Rarely have I seen a lorry driver doing this and he's also breaking quite hard instead of the "slow right down and take your time approach".

 

He's probably frustrated that maybe you have not overtaken the tractor which to me is the most likely cause. The flash to me says that maybe you had time to overtake the tractor and he was going to follow you.

 

I've driven a lorry and it's a nightmare, I'd hate to spend my life in one. It's why they tend to drive a steady speed so they don't have to keep changing gear every 5 seconds. This lorry driver is doing the opposite of the word steady and is driving like I said before some one who is a boy racer and is being very impatient.

 

At the end of the day though if you choose not to overtake the tractor that's your choice and getting up and down your backside doesn't help. Instead of looking in front of you, you spend half your time making sure he's not crashing in to your back. As I said, he's quite hard on the breaking which again to me says - impatient and is expecting/wanting you to over take the tractor.

[3s-gtech]

Looks to me like he wasn't fully concentrating, but may have struggled a little due to the bright conditions and the shade of the trees on that section. Did you have your lights on (not that there's a problem if you didn't, he may just not have seen you so easily)?

[CAM]

Huge non-incident. He didn't hit you and if he did, he'd be the one at fault. Everyone makes mistakes on the road (I nearly had a head-on yesterday because I reached a gap at the same time as someone else who decided to speed through it!) and I'm pretty sure you've had your own share of driving errors on the road (AHEM SKIP!). This is minor.

[pcstru]

Huge non-incident. He didn't hit you and if he did, he'd be the one at fault.

That might depend on what is happening in front. If you brake for no reason (the kind of thing people sometimes do to deter tailgater's), you might be driving without due care or you might be driving dangerously. Police that observe that situation will likely pull the driver braking, not the tailgater. Not saying that is what happened here, but just because someone runs into the back of another car, does not automatically mean they are at fault (there are people who have been convicted of insurance fraud for effectively getting people to run into the back of them).

[abillybob]

There was no way I was going to overtake on a high incline hill, with 2 cars in front of me and a tractor right at the front. The top of the hill has a blind corner and I would have crashed if I had of done this. I did leave some space in front of me to keep a safe distance from me and the car in front hence why I could pick up speed again ok. It was because the tractor looked as if it changed gears down thats why I broke and I didn't exactly hit my brakes hard.

 

There's loads of reason I suppose I just felt he was being intimidating and didn't like the way he came up behind me extremely close on several occasions especially in a big truck like that it's scary - he could have kept his distance and none of this would have happened.

[Hokalus]

That might depend on what is happening in front. If you brake for no reason (the kind of thing people sometimes do to deter tailgater's), you might be driving without due care or you might be driving dangerously. Police that observe that situation will likely pull the driver braking, not the tailgater. Not saying that is what happened here, but just because someone runs into the back of another car, does not automatically mean they are at fault (there are people who have been convicted of insurance fraud for effectively getting people to run into the back of them).

 

Unless you have witnesses or the the front car is being a complete tool and breaks heavily with nothing in front of them it's rare for them to be found at fault as the following vehicle 'should have left safe distance'. My Dad had a nightmare proving he wasn't to blame as rear driver, did in the end but was a lot of messing around.

 

My wife and I got an Articulated lorry to the rear while stationary at traffic lights at the start of the summer break, car written off but still waiting for insurance payout over 6 weeks later.