jakethesnake:
kr79:
Tailgating by hgv is trrrible I cringe at gaps I see between trucks every day.
I often wonder if big firms obsession with telematics and drivers using cruise control is part of the problem as drivers get grilled about it.
I don’t cover massive distances on motorways but tend to set cruise at 53 as it leaves the flat out boys free to pass and I can easy pass the limited to 50 trucks makes the day much less stressful.
Amount of traffic and standard of driving in south east is shocking in cars trucks buses etcYes I used to cringe all the time but thankfully not so much as I spend most of my time in Holland these days.It makes me wonder what goes these drivers minds?
Or maybe it is the lack of something that is the problem.Are they the ones that like to blame everything but the driver when an accident happens I wonder? It ain’t good.
If you are in Holland and driving on the Dutch motorways then you must be in a permanent state of cringe tailgating by all vehicles is a national sport in Holland.
jakethesnake:
bald bloke:
kr79:
Tailgating by hgv is trrrible I cringe at gaps I see between trucks every day.
I often wonder if big firms obsession with telematics and drivers using cruise control is part of the problem as drivers get grilled about it.
I don’t cover massive distances on motorways but tend to set cruise at 53 as it leaves the flat out boys free to pass and I can easy pass the limited to 50 trucks makes the day much less stressful.
Amount of traffic and standard of driving in south east is shocking in cars trucks buses etcI was coming back from West Wales yesterday and anyone who was around that area on Friday will know it was heavy rain and gale force winds and reduced visibility so I put her on 50 clicks and kept out of it but there were countless wagons going past inches apart, it just needed someone in the middle lane to get spooked by something and slam on their brakes and chaos would follow no doubt !!
Yep,it beggars belief the way some drive.Thank goodness there will be changes soon.
Enlighten us
Mazzer2:
jakethesnake:
kr79:
Tailgating by hgv is trrrible I cringe at gaps I see between trucks every day.
I often wonder if big firms obsession with telematics and drivers using cruise control is part of the problem as drivers get grilled about it.
I don’t cover massive distances on motorways but tend to set cruise at 53 as it leaves the flat out boys free to pass and I can easy pass the limited to 50 trucks makes the day much less stressful.
Amount of traffic and standard of driving in south east is shocking in cars trucks buses etcYes I used to cringe all the time but thankfully not so much as I spend most of my time in Holland these days.It makes me wonder what goes these drivers minds?
Or maybe it is the lack of something that is the problem.Are they the ones that like to blame everything but the driver when an accident happens I wonder? It ain’t good.
If you are in Holland and driving on the Dutch motorways then you must be in a permanent state of cringe tailgating by all vehicles is a national sport in Holland.
I am in Holland most of the time now however as I have now retired I spend very little time on motorways and certainly not in a truck.
Seeing you metioned Dutch drivers though, I actually find them to be far more aware of what is going on than in the UK.
Mazzer2:
jakethesnake:
bald bloke:
kr79:
Tailgating by hgv is trrrible I cringe at gaps I see between trucks every day.
I often wonder if big firms obsession with telematics and drivers using cruise control is part of the problem as drivers get grilled about it.
I don’t cover massive distances on motorways but tend to set cruise at 53 as it leaves the flat out boys free to pass and I can easy pass the limited to 50 trucks makes the day much less stressful.
Amount of traffic and standard of driving in south east is shocking in cars trucks buses etcI was coming back from West Wales yesterday and anyone who was around that area on Friday will know it was heavy rain and gale force winds and reduced visibility so I put her on 50 clicks and kept out of it but there were countless wagons going past inches apart, it just needed someone in the middle lane to get spooked by something and slam on their brakes and chaos would follow no doubt !!
Yep,it beggars belief the way some drive.Thank goodness there will be changes soon.
Enlighten us
Do you not read the news? New tacho’s, with GPS etc and more!
jakethesnake:
Mazzer2:
jakethesnake:
kr79:
Tailgating by hgv is trrrible I cringe at gaps I see between trucks every day.
I often wonder if big firms obsession with telematics and drivers using cruise control is part of the problem as drivers get grilled about it.
I don’t cover massive distances on motorways but tend to set cruise at 53 as it leaves the flat out boys free to pass and I can easy pass the limited to 50 trucks makes the day much less stressful.
Amount of traffic and standard of driving in south east is shocking in cars trucks buses etcYes I used to cringe all the time but thankfully not so much as I spend most of my time in Holland these days.It makes me wonder what goes these drivers minds?
Or maybe it is the lack of something that is the problem.Are they the ones that like to blame everything but the driver when an accident happens I wonder? It ain’t good.
If you are in Holland and driving on the Dutch motorways then you must be in a permanent state of cringe tailgating by all vehicles is a national sport in Holland.
I am in Holland most of the time now however as I have now retired I spend very little time on motorways and certainly not in a truck.
Seeing you metioned Dutch drivers though, I actually find them to be far more aware of what is going on than in the UK.
Not disagreeing that they may be more aware of what is going on around them but that does not mean it is safe to drive up the hole of the man in front which is much more prevalent there than it is in the UK
jakethesnake:
Yep,it beggars belief the way some drive.Thank goodness there will be changes soon.
Enlighten us
[/quote]
Do you not read the news? New tacho’s, with GPS etc and more!
[/quote]
Fully up to date with what is coming in but fail to see how having a GPS linked to your tacho will prevent you from tailgating it will just show precisely where you were at the time you ran up the hole of the man in front something which accident investigators can currently work out.Digi tachos were supposed to be the panacea to all the haulage industry’s foibles but they weren’t, the more technology is used to solve problems the more you dumb down the job and end up with unsuitable people in the job unable to think for themselves which results in more petty rules and regs and so the vicious circle is completed.
Just a little statistic for Jake the Snake
ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics/map-viewer/
Not sure if the link will work but clearly shows that the UK’s roads are safer than Holland’s and still among the safest in Europe!
Mazzer2:
Just a little statistic for Jake the Snakeec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics/map-viewer/
Not sure if the link will work but clearly shows that the UK’s roads are safer than Holland’s and still among the safest in Europe!
Two things
Those stats were for 2016, standards in the UK have certainly dropped in the last two years
How many of those deaths include accidents with trucks.
Maybe just a media thing but the number of trucks that are involved in rear end accidents certainly seems to have increased.
And the problem is that if a truck hits something it often ends up with fatalities
I use the A14 regularly and the standard of driving of all vehicles has dropped over the last few years. Thing is truck drivers are meant to be better than your average joe.
That used to be the case, it’s not now.
Which is an problem that the industry has created with low wages, a less skilled workforce and ridiculously short schedules to get produce arounnd.
Add in a percentage of drivers who think drinking is ok, and a greatly increased number of vehicles on the road and you can understand where it all goes wrong.
Would have been better to have built a rail line next to the a14 and moved all the trucks that go from the docks to the midlands onto that rather than put in more lanes.
jakethesnake:
I am in Holland most of the time now however as I have now retired I spend very little time on motorways and certainly not in a truck.
Seeing you metioned Dutch drivers though, I actually find them to be far more aware of what is going on than in the UK.
It’s just a pity that you weren’t posting on this forum a few years ago Jake. We had Albion19( something or other) who emigrated to develop top secret future driving technologies, we then had Dr Damon who eventually disappeared off to do the same thing. They also both had a recurring theme to the vast majority of their posts. It’s a pity you missed them, you’d have got on well. #justsayinglike. 
whyohwhy:
Mazzer2:
Just a little statistic for Jake the Snakeec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics/map-viewer/
Not sure if the link will work but clearly shows that the UK’s roads are safer than Holland’s and still among the safest in Europe!Two things
Those stats were for 2016, standards in the UK have certainly dropped in the last two years
How many of those deaths include accidents with trucks.
Maybe just a media thing but the number of trucks that are involved in rear end accidents certainly seems to have increased.
And the problem is that if a truck hits something it often ends up with fatalities
I use the A14 regularly and the standard of driving of all vehicles has dropped over the last few years. Thing is truck drivers are meant to be better than your average joe.
That used to be the case, it’s not now.
Which is an problem that the industry has created with low wages, a less skilled workforce and ridiculously short schedules to get produce arounnd.
Add in a percentage of drivers who think drinking is ok, and a greatly increased number of vehicles on the road and you can understand where it all goes wrong.
Would have been better to have built a rail line next to the a14 and moved all the trucks that go from the docks to the midlands onto that rather than put in more lanes.
I’m not disputing any of what you say but jake seems to imply that all UK lorry drivers are all morons and that those everywhere else are great, get out and about and you’ll see that there are good and bad everywhere. An interesting statistic would be to see what percentage of HGV’s involved in accidents were at fault for the accident, yes there are idiots driving HGV’s but I would say HGV’s prevent more accidents through their actions than they cause
Yep there are many crap car drivers. And some excellent truck drivers.
My old man was a police driver and he said always drive like everyone else is out to kill you.
I read somewhere that one in three drivers in East London don’t have insurance or a licence which if true makes me wonder why the police can’t just park an ANPR van next to a car transporter and get the lot scrappped off and taken off the road.
Same as would be good to have them sit at the ports and check the trucks coming in. If they are illegal put em back on the boat or impound them
Not disagreeing that they may be more aware of what is going on around them but that does not mean it is safe to drive up the hole of the man in front which is much more prevalent there than it is in the UK
Really don’t understand what you are getting at.It does not matter what country it is in is is highly dangerous.
I’m not disputing any of what you say but jake seems to imply that all UK lorry drivers are all morons and that those everywhere else are great, get out and about and you’ll see that there are good and bad everywhere. An interesting statistic would be to see what percentage of HGV’s involved in accidents were at fault for the accident, yes there are idiots driving HGV’s but I would say HGV’s prevent more accidents through their actions than they cause
No I have never said that but in my book the percentage of idiots outway the good ones especially in recent years.In all my time driving lorries I can’t say I have ever noticed another truck preventing an accident.
I have seen many nearly causing one though.Standards are pretty low and that is why all these new electronics(that are crap) are coming in because drivers prove time and time again they cannot driver responsibly on their own. Do I agree with it, no but it’s happening and there is a lot more to come. Just glad it is nothing to do with me now.
the maoster:
jakethesnake:
I am in Holland most of the time now however as I have now retired I spend very little time on motorways and certainly not in a truck.
Seeing you metioned Dutch drivers though, I actually find them to be far more aware of what is going on than in the UK.It’s just a pity that you weren’t posting on this forum a few years ago Jake. We had Albion19( something or other) who emigrated to develop top secret future driving technologies, we then had Dr Damon who eventually disappeared off to do the same thing. They also both had a recurring theme to the vast majority of their posts. It’s a pity you missed them, you’d have got on well. #justsayinglike.
I do remember reading some of their posts.I seem to remember two different albions and I also remember Dr Damon but the one I do remember and liked was UK tramp.He got ■■■■ he did not deserve if my memory serves me well.
Been reading this forum for years maoster.Even remember some of your good posts.(a cut above normal if you don’t mind me saying)
whyohwhy:
Yep there are many crap car drivers. And some excellent truck drivers.My old man was a police driver and he said always drive like everyone else is out to kill you.
I read somewhere that one in three drivers in East London don’t have insurance or a licence which if true makes me wonder why the police can’t just park an ANPR van next to a car transporter and get the lot scrappped off and taken off the road.
Same as would be good to have them sit at the ports and check the trucks coming in. If they are illegal put em back on the boat or impound them
So are you saying there are more crap car drivers than truck drivers? That may be your opinion but it is slightly flawed.I have met many a truck driver that thought he was the bees knees until he was checked and in actual fact most are not nearly as good as they think.Ask 99% of drivers how is their driving and they will reply, good or fantastic or the best so why are standards so low.
Finally are you aware having an LGV license does not automatically make you good in fact it can do the opposite.
jakethesnake:
Ask 99% of drivers how is their driving and they will reply, good or fantastic or the best so why are standards so low?
I suppose people’s criteria for judging what is good or bad differs. Some drivers probably think because they have nimble reactions, can duck, dive, and weave, tailgate, undertake, and shave 3 minutes off a 150 mile journey, and not have an accident in 3 years, they’re good drivers. Others would think defensive driving, knowing when to lift of the accelrator as much as when to press down on it, and treating maximum speed limits as maximums, not minimums, they’re good. The latter camp is tiny, the former camp is the norm. But from those, which would YOU say make good drivers? Which would the DVSA and driving examiners consider good drivers? What IS a good driver?
jakethesnake:
Not disagreeing that they may be more aware of what is going on around them but that does not mean it is safe to drive up the hole of the man in front which is much more prevalent there than it is in the UKReally don’t understand what you are getting at.It does not matter what country it is in is is highly dangerous.
My point is that you criticize driving standards in the UK and then say you are glad you spend more time driving in Holland yet tailgating is much more prevalent there so hardly a place to be held up as a beacon of safe driving and the stats for show that mile for mile it is not as safe as the UK
jakethesnake:
I’m not disputing any of what you say but jake seems to imply that all UK lorry drivers are all morons and that those everywhere else are great, get out and about and you’ll see that there are good and bad everywhere. An interesting statistic would be to see what percentage of HGV’s involved in accidents were at fault for the accident, yes there are idiots driving HGV’s but I would say HGV’s prevent more accidents through their actions than they causeNo I have never said that but in my book the percentage of idiots outway the good ones especially in recent years.In all my time driving lorries I can’t say I have ever noticed another truck preventing an accident.
I have seen many nearly causing one though.Standards are pretty low and that is why all these new electronics(that are crap) are coming in because drivers prove time and time again they cannot driver responsibly on their own. Do I agree with it, no but it’s happening and there is a lot more to come. Just glad it is nothing to do with me now.
So you’ve never seen a lorry take action that prevents a collision? Have lost track of the number of times that I have taken action either to avoid someone hitting me or moving to allow someone else the space to move out of danger.
i
Mazzer2:
jakethesnake:
I’m not disputing any of what you say but jake seems to imply that all UK lorry drivers are all morons and that those everywhere else are great, get out and about and you’ll see that there are good and bad everywhere. An interesting statistic would be to see what percentage of HGV’s involved in accidents were at fault for the accident, yes there are idiots driving HGV’s but I would say HGV’s prevent more accidents through their actions than they causeNo I have never said that but in my book the percentage of idiots outway the good ones especially in recent years.In all my time driving lorries I can’t say I have ever noticed another truck preventing an accident.
I have seen many nearly causing one though.Standards are pretty low and that is why all these new electronics(that are crap) are coming in because drivers prove time and time again they cannot driver responsibly on their own. Do I agree with it, no but it’s happening and there is a lot more to come. Just glad it is nothing to do with me now.So you’ve never seen a lorry take action that prevents a collision? Have lost track of the number of times that I have taken action either to avoid someone hitting me or moving to allow someone else the space to move out of danger.
i
I concur, it was an almost every day occurrence when I was driving.