Dark wet roads, luck on your side

Not wishing to derail another thread where a foreign truck was on the wrong side of the road, but the thread made me think.

Now the dark wet roads are upon us, the roads slippery and ill maintained with previously melted surfaces offering little slip resistance, headlights on slick dark surfaces not having much effect, worse still as traffic volumes are huge and the modern light wars in their peak with each new vehicle having ever brighter lights, all reflecting off those wet melted surfaces, each doing their part to completely destroy what little night vision you might retain, not helped by the myriad of fairy lights some trucks are emblazoned with…all much brighter now with leds than they were when 5w filament bulbs were the thing.

What the issue really is though is just how poor so many of our A roads are, hardly wide enough for modern full size lorries to be passing each other at combined speeds of 80/100mph, yes wide enough in theory but with damaged road edges sunken drains and wear grooves shaking the hell out of the vehicle and making smooth direct controlled progress ever more difficult.

Maybe its an age thing, but sometimes when in some twisty sections and another truck has come flat out the other direction on what is a left hander for them with the truck most likely at the limit of its adhesion on said slippery road in pitch dark, well one starts to wonder if the years of luck that have seen us get this far, many of us with many decades in this game and millions of miles behind us, will our luck run out? it only takes a momentary lapse of concentration by anyone on the road, the carcass of a roe deer or a slight fuel spillage or even a light drive axle due to poor loading to cause a truck to step out of line stray over the white line and it could all end in uncontrollable mayhem and destruction, not just for us but for possibly dozens of innocent people if there were multiple vehicles concetrated in that one spot.

We’ve all had instances of what? a sixth sense, stupid overtakes by car/van drivers who lacked the skill and judgement where to overtake safely, how many times in our careers (if you can lorry driving that) have we sensed ‘‘this doesn’t feel right’’ and braked hard to accommodate the fool only for a very fast vehicle to appear the other way and if you hadn’t taken the evasive action for them then a serious probably fatal accident had been inevitable, how many times can we rely on that sixth sense to save the day before it wears out?

Maybe this is the musings of a feller realising the time to hang the keys up is approaching and no doubt some of the replies if any will reflect contempt for this thread (can already hear them), but one thing i am certain of, whilst you can help make your own luck in this game by doing your job well, preparing yourself and the vehicle well, ie loaded and prepped sensibly for stability and traction with windows mirrors and lights clean for max visibility, that it isn’t skill along that sees you going on for years (if only that were true) you need a dash of good luck too, the longer we go on the worse the odds will get.

Am i alone in this, do you sometimes get to the end of an hour on a nasty twisty A road and breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve made it safely once again.

Juddian:
Am i alone in this, do you sometimes get to the end of an hour on a nasty twisty A road and breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve made it safely once again.

Yep.
If you ever get to the end of any any drive, and give not an instants thought to "what if..." (I dont mean dwell on the negatives), but never give a thought to bad outcomes, then maybe you shouldn`t be on the road at all.

Don`t stress out on the dark side of things, definitely not.
But never ignore the possibility, of the worst.

It’s a joke isn’t it. M42 J10 is a junction I hate. Road markings are long overdue a repaint and in the dark and rain you just hope the other people around you are looking where they’re going.

Seen 3 crashes today. Lorry shoved a car off the road approaching J10 M42 on the A5. Another lorry shoved a car off the road at M6 J3 island. And saw that big pile up on the M5 between 8 and 9. Never seen so many blue flashing lights in one place.

Does make you glad to get home some days. When will people treat the dark and rain with more respect. If you’ve put your fog lights on coz the rain is so bad why are you still doing 70mph a few yards from the vehicle in front. Man alive

Maybe this is the musings of a feller realising the time to hang the keys up is approaching

I don’t think so because I’ve only just started and I could have written this. It perfectly describes my local driving conditions and what I think every day, and I’m not in an artic yet. I’m dreading it now!

how many times can we rely on that sixth sense to save the day before it wears out?

I think it only develops and gets honed, it doesn’t wear out.

Am i alone in this, do you sometimes get to the end of an hour on a nasty twisty A road and breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve made it safely once again.

No you’re not and yes, definitely.

Juddian:
Not wishing to derail another thread where a foreign truck was on the wrong side of the road, but the thread made me think.

Now the dark wet roads are upon us, the roads slippery and ill maintained with previously melted surfaces offering little slip resistance, headlights on slick dark surfaces not having much effect, worse still as traffic volumes are huge and the modern light wars in their peak with each new vehicle having ever brighter lights, all reflecting off those wet melted surfaces, each doing their part to completely destroy what little night vision you might retain, not helped by the myriad of fairy lights some trucks are emblazoned with…all much brighter now with leds than they were when 5w filament bulbs were the thing.

What the issue really is though is just how poor so many of our A roads are, hardly wide enough for modern full size lorries to be passing each other at combined speeds of 80/100mph, yes wide enough in theory but with damaged road edges sunken drains and wear grooves shaking the hell out of the vehicle and making smooth direct controlled progress ever more difficult.

Maybe its an age thing, but sometimes when in some twisty sections and another truck has come flat out the other direction on what is a left hander for them with the truck most likely at the limit of its adhesion on said slippery road in pitch dark, well one starts to wonder if the years of luck that have seen us get this far, many of us with many decades in this game and millions of miles behind us, will our luck run out? it only takes a momentary lapse of concentration by anyone on the road, the carcass of a roe deer or a slight fuel spillage or even a light drive axle due to poor loading to cause a truck to step out of line stray over the white line and it could all end in uncontrollable mayhem and destruction, not just for us but for possibly dozens of innocent people if there were multiple vehicles concetrated in that one spot.

We’ve all had instances of what? a sixth sense, stupid overtakes by car/van drivers who lacked the skill and judgement where to overtake safely, how many times in our careers (if you can lorry driving that) have we sensed ‘‘this doesn’t feel right’’ and braked hard to accommodate the fool only for a very fast vehicle to appear the other way and if you hadn’t taken the evasive action for them then a serious probably fatal accident had been inevitable, how many times can we rely on that sixth sense to save the day before it wears out?

Maybe this is the musings of a feller realising the time to hang the keys up is approaching and no doubt some of the replies if any will reflect contempt for this thread (can already hear them), but one thing i am certain of, whilst you can help make your own luck in this game by doing your job well, preparing yourself and the vehicle well, ie loaded and prepped sensibly for stability and traction with windows mirrors and lights clean for max visibility, that it isn’t skill along that sees you going on for years (if only that were true) you need a dash of good luck too, the longer we go on the worse the odds will get.

Am i alone in this, do you sometimes get to the end of an hour on a nasty twisty A road and breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve made it safely once again.

Apart from these horrible bloody headlights we’re now faced with over here as well as there, I’m sure a lot of A roads are simply re classified B’s.

You are not alone, I think its an age thing.
Eyes are not as sharp, you think about consequences more as you age.
Things move at a different speed today, I’m still in 1989 in my head that means I’m in the way, as well as being old and grey.

In my case I thought the same as you while using the A41 on night’s, it can be a bit of a race track.
I packed the job in found something else to do.
Law of averages vs miles vs experience mean nothing if you get involved in somebody else mess.

We need the younger lads they are more hungry haven’t got the time to worry about such things.
Just like we were in our day.
I moved over.

Juddian:
Not wishing to derail another thread where a foreign truck was on the wrong side of the road, but the thread made me think.

Now the dark wet roads are upon us, the roads slippery and ill maintained with previously melted surfaces offering little slip resistance, headlights on slick dark surfaces not having much effect, worse still as traffic volumes are huge and the modern light wars in their peak with each new vehicle having ever brighter lights, all reflecting off those wet melted surfaces, each doing their part to completely destroy what little night vision you might retain, not helped by the myriad of fairy lights some trucks are emblazoned with…all much brighter now with leds than they were when 5w filament bulbs were the thing.

What the issue really is though is just how poor so many of our A roads are, hardly wide enough for modern full size lorries to be passing each other at combined speeds of 80/100mph, yes wide enough in theory but with damaged road edges sunken drains and wear grooves shaking the hell out of the vehicle and making smooth direct controlled progress ever more difficult.

Maybe its an age thing, but sometimes when in some twisty sections and another truck has come flat out the other direction on what is a left hander for them with the truck most likely at the limit of its adhesion on said slippery road in pitch dark, well one starts to wonder if the years of luck that have seen us get this far, many of us with many decades in this game and millions of miles behind us, will our luck run out? it only takes a momentary lapse of concentration by anyone on the road, the carcass of a roe deer or a slight fuel spillage or even a light drive axle due to poor loading to cause a truck to step out of line stray over the white line and it could all end in uncontrollable mayhem and destruction, not just for us but for possibly dozens of innocent people if there were multiple vehicles concetrated in that one spot.

We’ve all had instances of what? a sixth sense, stupid overtakes by car/van drivers who lacked the skill and judgement where to overtake safely, how many times in our careers (if you can lorry driving that) have we sensed ‘‘this doesn’t feel right’’ and braked hard to accommodate the fool only for a very fast vehicle to appear the other way and if you hadn’t taken the evasive action for them then a serious probably fatal accident had been inevitable, how many times can we rely on that sixth sense to save the day before it wears out?

Maybe this is the musings of a feller realising the time to hang the keys up is approaching and no doubt some of the replies if any will reflect contempt for this thread (can already hear them), but one thing i am certain of, whilst you can help make your own luck in this game by doing your job well, preparing yourself and the vehicle well, ie loaded and prepped sensibly for stability and traction with windows mirrors and lights clean for max visibility, that it isn’t skill along that sees you going on for years (if only that were true) you need a dash of good luck too, the longer we go on the worse the odds will get.

Am i alone in this, do you sometimes get to the end of an hour on a nasty twisty A road and breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve made it safely once again.

Glad it’s not just me who recognises the ever increasing power of modern lights. I spend far too often seeing stars which is dangerous.

Good post
I agree, bumper car season is upon us. Being on nights varied work I don’t really enjoy the job this time of year.
Had some whopper last night who wasn’t satisfied with my progress on the a15 out of Lincoln despite the poor conditions. Sailed past him once on the motorway

Some roads are in a really shoddy state, bad enough during the day I’d reckon but add darkness and bad weather and soon brought me down a peg or two.

Some of the new Xenon type headlights are a killer, they just seem to reflect towards you until you both reach a certain point.

I travel to work along a minor road to get to the A5 and urs not in great shape, but sometimes you meet other vehicles and they just keep their full beam on or they have the Xenon and you just can’t look where you need to so you just have to wing it and hope. I don’t use my full beam because I know the road so well, even to the point where the big puddles are and where the dips and potholes are.

Which is another matter because months ago they put loose stones down, left them then eventually white lined the road, but how many times in those road do you see the drains and utility covers and such are so sunken due to the added road height that if you dip into one it feels like your suspension may detach from the vehicle?

one of our guys was involved in a nasty bump on Tuesday on the A419 Swindon…he was approaching the M4 i believe when a tipper ran straight into the back of his trailer,then a Military lorry,one of those bonneted Oshkoshs’ ran into the back of him. 1 driver hospitalised our driver badly shaken and a sore neck…and a wrecked brand new trailer!

Perhaps only an “age thing” because we remember when driving standards were a bit higher. When I passed my car test around 1980, me and my mates aimed to be “a good driver”, it was just “the done thing”.

Now… Jay-zuz!! People not knowing the basic rules of the road, being constantly on their phone, late braking, not reading the road ahead…

Twice in the past week on a rural A road (A177) I’ve had cars overtake me by going on the chevrons for a significant distance to complete their manoeuvre, as well as tailgaters with high beams on. It’s a genuine, physical relief to get to a well-lit residential area.

I think Juddian as you get older with more experience and wisdom you realise just how easily things can go wrong. I certainly do especially when on two wheels which is a lot less frequent these days. A lot of drivers, especially these days just seem to lack natural skills that myself and most professional drivers had and probably took them for granted back in the day.
Driving has changed and not for the better. (Have I said that before? ) An awful lot just use a car to get from A to B and are not interested in driving correctly. Poor road positioning, no anticipation, unaware of speed limits and a lot of the time glancing at a screen. Just walking along a pavement (in the UK) it crosses my mind how I may get wiped out by some moron using a mobile phone.

Personally I feel lucky I only have to drive when I want to but my frequent but becoming less frequent trips to the UK and back certainly wake me up to the fact you take your life in your hands every time you hit the road.

5 day tour of the highlands next week, based in oban. The locals drive like lunatics overtaking on blind bends, I understand they know the roads but they haven’t got a crystal ball on their dash board to know what’s coming. Frightens me to death.

People say that driving a modern lorry is relatively easy and to an extent they are correct; physically it is easy, but I’d argue that if you are doing it correctly then nowadays with the traffic densities it is mentally draining. Personally if I do a 9 or 10 hour drive I’m mentally exhausted because I’m 100% focused 100% of the time and that is draining.

Lots of drivers seem to drive without putting much mental effort into it. The actual driving part is probably fourth or fifth on their list after thinking about what they are going to have for tea, what Tarquin is doing at school or whether they will win their e bay bid.

Yorkshire Tramper:
5 day tour of the highlands next week, based in oban. The locals drive like lunatics overtaking on blind bends, I understand they know the roads but they haven’t got a crystal ball on their dash board to know what’s coming. Frightens me to death.

Soft spot for Oban, spent a lot of my youth in Oban and surrounding area. Also YT when I was driving coaches (believe it or not) I took a rugby team on a day out and the journey included the A85.
It can be scary as it’s fairly narrow and a lot of oncoming traffic just don’t seem to want to slow down. Lovely road though especially on a nice sunny day on a motorbike.

As a man of a certain age you would expect my opinion of modern driving standards to be low.Do they have a driving test any more?If so,what do they teach?A lot of people drive like they are pushing a trolley around a supermarket with a complete lack of observation or awareness of what is close to them.
I spend a lot of my time on the other side of the channel and I much prefer to be there than on the island.We Brits used to be so smug with our superior driving standards.What happened?

Gidders:
As a man of a certain age you would expect my opinion of modern driving standards to be low.Do they have a driving test any more?If so,what do they teach?A lot of people drive like they are pushing a trolley around a supermarket with a complete lack of observation or awareness of what is close to them.
I spend a lot of my time on the other side of the channel and I much prefer to be there than on the island.We Brits used to be so smug with our superior driving standards.What happened?

I concur completely Gidders, same test, just as easy and totally inappropriate. Unfortunately most are now only taught to pass a test. No time or ability in a lot of cases to teach a driver how to drive. Standards.

Juddian:
What the issue really is though is just how poor so many of our A roads are, hardly wide enough for modern full size lorries to be passing each other at combined speeds of 80/100mpher

Lorries are the same width they’ve been for at least 50 years.

jakethesnake:

Yorkshire Tramper:
5 day tour of the highlands next week, based in oban. The locals drive like lunatics overtaking on blind bends, I understand they know the roads but they haven’t got a crystal ball on their dash board to know what’s coming. Frightens me to death.

Soft spot for Oban, spent a lot of my youth in Oban and surrounding area. Also YT when I was driving coaches (believe it or not) I took a rugby team on a day out and the journey included the A85.
It can be scary as it’s fairly narrow and a lot of oncoming traffic just don’t seem to want to slow down. Lovely road though especially on a nice sunny day on a motorbike.

Did a tour a few weeks back Inverness and Strathpeffer which was tight too, but lovely scenery as you drive along the winding roads. Looking forward to this one.