Time to slow down lads

I have always had the greatest respect for our professional HGV drivers ,but sadly no more . As some of you know from a previous post i was in a near fatal collision in October on the m6. Today was one of those "horrible " days where weather conditions should dictate speed. Heavy rain,wind ,spray and poor visibility forced me on to the inside lane and a reduction of my speed. Unfortunately it seems that the weather plays no part in the speed of our larger cousins whom continue to hold their speed at a constant 56 mph (and still continue to overtake each other regardless) And of course, anyone who dares to stay in their "inside" lane is bullied to go faster . If you don't move then they overtake you at a speed that keeps you penned in for miles !! What is wrong with these morons?

I admit that that there are as many car driving morons who actually go faster in poor conditions , but i expect higher standards from so called professional drivers

Very good point, I had in with a DHL lorry on the M6 near Stoke, 4 years ago, the 3 lanes where very busy at about 6pm in November average speed was down to about 40 mph, I moved over from the 2nd lane into the slow lane, after about 5 minutes a pair of bright lights appeared on high beam about 2 foot of my rear bumper, they kept flashing me, I couldnt go any faster because it was very busy, I decided to pull onto the hard shoulder and this loony went past, I was empty and on my way home, I got back on the motorway and followed him in a rage, after about 25 miutes he went off onto the M56 towards Manchester, once on the M62 which was a lot quieter I pulled along side him and got him to pull onto the hard shoulder (wrong I know) he pulled up behind me and I couldnt calm down I walked upto the wagon, stood on the bottom step grabbed hold of the door handle and guess what, he wouldnt open his door, but he did wind his window down where he got a mouthful, he started to apologise, you cant apologise for something like that, it wasnt an accident it was madness, Its perhaps a good job he didnt open his door because I was fumong, I did report it to dhl in the Uk & Germany, you dont get a second chance with hgvs .

I had a class 1 licence from 1976 (age 19) till I let it expire earlier this year. I dont generally have a problem with truck drivers as a rule, But I do see some of the moranic truck drivers mentioned by AJM and MrG. But I also see it with White van man, Caravans pulled by large 4x4's, Cars pulling a multitude of different size trailers and of course the car driver. I once saw a car drive at the guys coolecting the road work signs from the central res walking back to the hard shoulder. 4 weeks ago I watched a polish artic side swipe a small car driven by a woman on the M25. Obvious it wasnt her fault but could of easily been an accidental collision as she was obviously in his blind spot under his passenger door. After the collision she made no attemp to move, Strange. and 10-15 seconds later The same happend again. Only this time she pulled forward but didnt pull on to the hard shoulder for about 2 miles. But the polish driver kept going.

For these reason my vehicles are fitted with cameras and I had all this on video..

Now I dont know how many of us drivers know this but if you dial 101 on your mobile phone for non emergancy calls, You'll be directed to a local exchange where a police/operator will take your call. If your unlucky you might get one from the MET like I did, When I explained wat I had seen and I had it on video. her Attitude was " Like I care and dont disturb me again while Eastenders Omnibus is on"" As yet no one has asked for the video... The truck driver probably got away scott free, And the girls lost her no claims. And why did I stop. Cos it seemed the woman made it a last minute decision to pull over.

" As yet no one has asked for the video...

Put it on Youtube .........

Maybe the name is on the truck.?

Sexy ,the collision you describe is identical to mine !! The polish lorry driver hit me from his passenger side . In my case i was clipped at the rear and spun around violently facing the oncoming traffic. The search for the guy continues( incorrect number plate) and although i didn't previously mention whom he was working for ,i feel that after 6 weeks without trace its time to name the haulage firm concerned .

Well O'Leary international from Wick in Ireland i would very much appreciate you giving me your insurance details for the driver you employed that mashed up my van and nearly orphaned my children .

I was coming down the M6 yesterday in lane 1 and doing about 50mph cos it was chucking it down and visibility wasn't so good. Lorries were constantly crawling past me in lane 2 and one mad bugger decided he wanted my bit of road so I was left with no alternative but to move over left onto the hard shoulder. It was either that or get squished.

Sorry 021

Theres no name on the truck or trailer. Only the trailer plate number was visable on the trailer, Which I passed on to the " Like I care MET operator" along with the vehicle (tractor unit) reg plate number, which was only visable on the front of the unit.

For thos interested in cameras for your vehicles. A friend of mine who rides a motorbike with with yellow and blue markings and has a tune like an ice cream vendor. recently told me... "You can buy chinese cameras for your vehicles with a small monitor fitted. From the internet for around £20 An Investment like that has got to be worth it or you could be out of pocket for £1000's in a case like MrG

If website admin alows it . This video add clout to what MrG. said

FLIPPIN SLOW DOWN

link text https://www.youtube.com/embed/oFkw5JFOmHk

Not sure if you have sent the right video, is there meant to be 3 naked women and only 1 naked man, that seems so one sided?

Ow do AJM

Yep you have the right video. ..

Its full frontal and in your face... Theres definatley no hidding it... How peolpe get in these positions..!

Those videos are frightening, I had a phone call yesterday asking if I wanted a job back at sea for the next month (€7,000 + as well !!) thanks but no thanks but if I watch those clips again I may just change my mind, phone them back and take it. Somehow don't think my other half would be best pleased though if I said I was going away again over this Xmas and new year period as well as the last one.

On the subject of danger...

A couple of years ago on the M11, someone chucked a stone off a bridge onto my car. My then-girlfriend was in the passenger seat, and the stone hit the windscreen directly in front of her face, chipping the screen. If I'd been going 5 mph faster, or if the screen had been just that little bit weaker, she'd probably be dead and I might be too. I rang 999 and the operator told me they'd send someone out right away, but I doubt they were able to catch the bastard in time.

Now I always look up when going under a bridge!

sold a car to a local hgv driver that was involved in a horrific incident locally some guy decided to throw himself off a bridge in front of his truck and came smashing in through his windscreen guy been off work 3 months already and unable to get back into his truck...on subject of hgv drivers i was one who gave it up last year and i believe theres good and bad in all drivers the ammount of vans cars etc thats cut me up in the five years i was driving aveaged about 4 to 5 a day i got sick of long days away constant hassle from delivery collection points and weeks on end on my own never looked back since i quit sad really as it was all i wanted to do since leaving school but the industry has gotten so bad i dont think ill ever go back to it. one of the reasons these incidents happen is the ammount of pressure put on these lads to get to delivery points at set times get tipped and get loaded for next day ok when your local but when your doing 500 miles a day dosent take much to go wrong and start piling the pressure on that why you see them side by side on motorway they believe every second counts never happened before the bloody speed limiters were introduced you could overtake slower motors get in front and back to 60mph they are now limited to 56mph how does that work? that and the digi tacho logging every overspeed and minor infringement that vosa love to jump on just makes for a miserable thankless job. the irish polish etc in a different league ive seen them driving whilst watching dvds making coffee and one eating a roast dinner off his lap i kid you not!! for me most of them get my total respect despite the few that give them a bad name...

I never renewed my class one last July either for some of the same reasons as stated before but also the cost of the medical, £80 to do my merchant navy one and another £140 to do the drivers medical plus the dreaded DCPC costs and time involved. But now when driving my wee van about and see some of the idiotic actions of some so called professional hgv drivers I wish I were driving something a bit bigger to stand a better chance of surviving if the worst did happen.

Other countries seem to, dont quote me on this, send a lot of goods by rail, we are a tiny country and the roads are jam packed with lorries and it's getting worse every year, when I was a kid our garden went upto the main london to glasgow railway line, and there where always goods trains coming past.