Another 40mph debate

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
41

el gordo 78:

Rob K:

el gordo 78:
Out of interest, those of you who will go a little faster on a single carriageway road, i.e. space from you to oncoming traffic is not a lot, to minimal… Do you appreciate the effect on oncoming road users that a speeding truck has? Especially the more vulnerable road users?

I was nearly blown from my first (relatively small) motorbike by a truck clearly speeding, on the A15.

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Aww diddums!

That’s it !! We should ban all trucks because the poor bikers are getting blown into the hedgerows !!! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

I know there are some who don’t give a hoot, and they’d rather run ANYONE off the road than lift off - encountered them in all size vehicles… But I didn’t have you down as one such member of the dinky winky club :wink: :laughing:

So, joking aside, you feel no responsibility toward the safety of other road users, and don’t consider the effect that either illegal, excessive, or inappropriate speed may have when you encounter them?

Sorry but you can quit trying to turn the tables round because it won’t work on me. The fact of the matter is that you have chosen to travel about on something that weighs the same as a sheet of A4 and is completely unprotected from the elements so therefore I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever when the down-draught from a passing vehicle travelling in the opposite direction blows you into the weeds. If you don’t like it then go and buy a car and stop expecting everyone to pootle around 2.5 mph everywhere because you’re unable to keep upright. :unamused:

42

Rob K:
Sorry but you can quit trying to turn the tables round because it won’t work on me. The fact of the matter is that you have chosen to travel about on something that weighs the same as a sheet of A4 and is completely unprotected from the elements so therefore I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever when the down-draught from a passing vehicle travelling in the opposite direction blows you into the weeds. If you don’t like it then go and buy a car and stop expecting everyone to pootle around 2.5 mph everywhere because you’re unable to keep upright. :unamused:

Yeah, lets all ignore the bit of the highway code that is specifically aimed at HGV drivers that says along the lines of…show due care and consideration for other road users. We should all be able to drive as fast as we like, and if you have a bigger vehicle then you can push anyone out the way too, and if anyone wants to complain you should be able to get out and give 'em a smack. Lets have survival of the fittest on the roads. Sod rules and codes !!! It could be like ‘rollerball’ on the roads, there’s one sure thing…not many trucks would be late!! Well, only the ones with smal penises, eh?!

43

Trucks have penises :open_mouth: ■■?

Or should that be penii ■■?

44

Mike-C:

Rob K:
Sorry but you can quit trying to turn the tables round because it won’t work on me. The fact of the matter is that you have chosen to travel about on something that weighs the same as a sheet of A4 and is completely unprotected from the elements so therefore I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever when the down-draught from a passing vehicle travelling in the opposite direction blows you into the weeds. If you don’t like it then go and buy a car and stop expecting everyone to pootle around 2.5 mph everywhere because you’re unable to keep upright. :unamused:

Yeah, lets all ignore the bit of the highway code that is specifically aimed at HGV drivers that says along the lines of…show due care and consideration for other road users. We should all be able to drive as fast as we like, and if you have a bigger vehicle then you can push anyone out the way too, and if anyone wants to complain you should be able to get out and give 'em a smack. Lets have survival of the fittest on the roads. Sod rules and codes !!! It could be like ‘rollerball’ on the roads, there’s one sure thing…not many trucks would be late!! Well, only the ones with smal penises, eh?!

LOL !!! And of course you’d be the perfect mentor when it comes to demonstrating care and consideration of other road users - especially biker’s - wouldn’t ya !!!

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

45

dambuster:

206doorman:
I’m struggling to get my head around this debate.

Me too.

I was looking for someone to say why they stick religiously to 40 on a single carriageway because “that’s the speed limit” then increase their speed to 56 on dual carriageways where the speed limit is 50

It is down to the beliefs of the individual. Once those beliefs are set in stone then any improvement from their current one is impossible. The only way for some-one to change their beliefs is for THEM to do it.
If they believe that doing 40 on a single carriageway and 56 on a dual is right then they will believe that is the right thing to do. An opposer to that belief can put across all the sane, logical arguments they want but it will not change a thing until the original person looks closely at their own beliefs and is willing to change them.
Referenced from the book ‘Mind Driving’ by Stephen Haley.

46

dambuster:

206doorman:
I’m struggling to get my head around this debate.

Me too.

I was looking for someone to say why they stick religiously to 40 on a single carriageway because “that’s the speed limit” then increase their speed to 56 on dual carriageways where the speed limit is 50

Actually Mr dambuster, I was struggling to get my head around why anyone would bother asking such a question.
I’ll repeat myself, every driver is unique, for better or worse. You’ve probably experienced several drivers doing this, but those you spotted are but a millifraction of the rest of us who don’t drive like that.

If I ,twice in one day, get cut up by fellow truck drivers, am I going to ask this forum why? No i’m not, because I know the majority don’t do it, all I had
was a bad day. It’ll be forgotten by tomorrow (when it happens all over again!!!)

47

ROG,
re, Mind Driving by Stephen Haley,

I checked the reviews on Amazon, glowing…is this available at WH Smiths etc or is Amazon the best way to get it?

Thanks for the tip!

48

206doorman:
ROG,
re, Mind Driving by Stephen Haley,

I checked the reviews on Amazon, glowing…is this available at WH Smiths etc or is Amazon the best way to get it?

Thanks for the tip!

Got mine from Waterstones :smiley:

49

Thanks Rog, i’ll try them.

206

50

Rob K:
Sorry but you can quit trying to turn the tables round because it won’t work on me. The fact of the matter is that you have chosen to travel about on something that weighs the same as a sheet of A4 and is completely unprotected from the elements so therefore I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever when the down-draught from a passing vehicle travelling in the opposite direction blows you into the weeds. If you don’t like it then go and buy a car and stop expecting everyone to pootle around 2.5 mph everywhere because you’re unable to keep upright. :unamused:

Nobody’s turning tables - simply presenting it as it is. Though you’re doing a good job of twisting things to look unreasonable by exaggerating the argument with silly weight comparisons and sillier suggestions of speeds I expect. Now, you’ve dangled the hook and I’ve bitten - but I’m simply trying to pose a reasonable question.

So, to clarify…

When trucks travel at the LEGAL limit there is no issue. Even a little above, no issue.

When a truck is travelling nearly 40% above their legal limit on a single carriageway road, there IS a problem.
And it’s not just bikes that are affected. You’ll know from your driving career that your whole cab will rock in and trailer can be drawn to the lines, and cars can be rocked enough that people can have reduced control for a time. That could of course lead to a whole world of trouble in either a truck or a car, not just on bikes.

THIS is the question I pose - do you place so little value on human life, place your own personal desire to go as fast as the vehicle will let you, and want to break the law so much that it endangers others? (and on the assumption you’re playing devil’s advocate and have gone fishing with some stinky bait, that goes to those who really do put pedal to the metal on the single carriageways).

51

el gordo 78:
[When a truck is travelling nearly 40% above their legal limit on a single carriageway road, there IS a problem.
And it’s not just bikes that are affected. You’ll know from your driving career that your whole cab will rock in and trailer can be drawn to the lines, and cars can be rocked enough that people can have reduced control for a time. That could of course lead to a whole world of trouble in either a truck or a car, not just on bikes.

THIS is the question I pose - do you place so little value on human life, place your own personal desire to go as fast as the vehicle will let you, and want to break the law so much that it endangers others? (and on the assumption you’re playing devil’s advocate and have gone fishing with some stinky bait, that goes to those who really do put pedal to the metal on the single carriageways).

Yes, I couldn’t give a toss how fast other trucker’s drive at. It’s called live and let live. :unamused:

Anyone with even an ounce of sense would realise that no amount of jumping up and down on their soap box is going to get trucker’s to change their ways so either live with it and put up with blown into the weeds or catch a bus so that it will no longer cause you a problem. :unamused: Is it really so difficult for you to comprehend? :unamused:

52

Maybe it’s time the GPS transponders they keep mooting for bikes and cars were suggested for trucks, to notify the authorities and automatically issue a fine if caught going some way over a given limit… A few dirty licenses might help sort them out more than a few numbers in the highway code :wink: :smiley:

53

el gordo 78:
Maybe it’s time the GPS transponders they keep mooting for bikes and cars were suggested for trucks, to notify the authorities and automatically issue a fine if caught going some way over a given limit… A few dirty licenses might help sort them out more than a few numbers in the highway code :wink: :smiley:

:unamused:

54

OR where any other higher limit is posted - I have had trainees who think that a 50 on a single carriageway means that is their limit instead of 40

Hmmm! Some just cannot get their heads around that one. A single carriageway with a 50mph speed limit sign on it always caused havoc on one particular test route and resulted in fails for any trainee who could not get it through their heads that the 50 mph limit on this road was meant to slow down car drivers who had been doing 60 on the previous stretch - not speed up trucks from the statutory 40 mph :open_mouth:

55

I think that truckers are brain washed ( conspiracy theory ) when they first get into the industry so that they honestly believe they are doing every one a favour by speeding to the next traffic jam / waiting to load etc. Once they get a few points, hopefully without maiming any one, they seem to steady up a bit.
The ones I think are funniest are the ones that fly around all week knackering themselves so they can get home early, and then get an extra run 'cos they are so quick. Clever or what!!

56

I stick to 40 (cc @ 66km/h) on singles and 50 (cc @83km/h) on duals.
foot right down on motorways. And I know i’m hated by every single other trucker out there.

I’ll pull in every now and then when the queue behind me reaches a dangerous length, or when Mr. inevitable 56mph lorry catches up with me.

You know the speed limits are a complete joke when you are in fact the hazard for actually sticking to them, but I don’t care anymore - my licence comes first.

57

smile!:
I stick to 40 (cc @ 66km/h) on singles and 50 (cc @83km/h) on duals.
foot right down on motorways. And I know i’m hated by every single other trucker out there.

I’ll pull in every now and then when the queue behind me reaches a dangerous length, or when Mr. inevitable 56mph lorry catches up with me.

You know the speed limits are a complete joke when you are in fact the hazard for actually sticking to them, but I don’t care anymore - my licence comes first.

Not everyone hates you,mate.I stick absolutely to the limits,too.Got 6 points already,(speeding on me motorbike… :blush: ),can’t afford anymore.Oh,and I get excellent mpg out of me truck too… :smiley:

58

Yup, have to say I also stick to the limits.

Got 3 points in Scotland from
one of those scameras that detects goods vehicles. (doing 56 on a single
carriageway in a 7.5 tonner, stupid I know, it was that moment
of inattention )

59

206doorman:

dambuster:

206doorman:
I’m struggling to get my head around this debate.

Me too.

I was looking for someone to say why they stick religiously to 40 on a single carriageway because “that’s the speed limit” then increase their speed to 56 on dual carriageways where the speed limit is 50

Actually Mr dambuster, I was struggling to get my head around why anyone would bother asking such a question.

Well, I’ll tell you. (Why I would ask such a question on this particular forum)

Because I can. (Tell you)

I don’t know the membership figures of the site, or indeed how representative (or not) they are in relation to the number of actual ‘regular’ users. But … I’m quite sure that via this very medium, my question will be read, and possibly answered by far more HGV Drivers (or whatever we/they are called today) than if I stood up in a TruckStop (if I could find one) or the coffee/tea room of even a major multinational “blue chip” (PMSL) logistics and/or supply chain solutions/services company.

That’s why I would ask such a question of the membership here, rather than The Knitting Circle dot com or Swinging Heaven.

Now then - as to why I would ask the question at all.

I’ve met people from all sorts of (previously) different walks of life, that are now driving trucks; of many nationalities, religions and faiths. Clearly, I would include myself in that.

From my own point of view, whether I’m in working environments, or social; I have a firm belief in tolerance and understanding.

Understanding something or somebody helps me greatly to tolerate things/people that I’ve previously found difficult to tolerate.

I had a question about something I didn’t understand.

It was a genuine question. It wasn’t weighted, or biased.

I asked that question.

It wasn’t intended to be taken as anything other than a straightforward, genuine question.

btw - As some are “confessing” their transgressions and points …

I was banned from driving for 8 months in 1981 (or '82 ish) when the magistrate converted my then (current) endorsements to points, then awarded me another 3 :unamused: (And on the very day before I married Mk I :unamused: )

Since then, I have had a clean licence, without prosecution save a £125 fine and 3 points for a Weight Limit offence, which was overturned on appeal.

The tacho infringements I get from time to time are usually because I’ve had 8 hours, 58 minutes daily rest, or because I have inadvertently driven for 4 hours 32 minutes before taking the required “break from driving”

So there !

ner ner ner ner ner

60

As an aside, something that never fails to amaze me, when I’m the 40mph guy and a 56mph guy has just steamed up behind me, is how they site right up my back end, just far enough out to the line that I can see their face, (sometimes gesticulating but that isn’t the point here this time) and weave back in a bit and out a bit, trying to see when they can make their suicidal overtake attempt.

The fact they’re so bad at driving and getting so close usually means when they finally take everyones lives in their hands and go for it, I end up slowing down even more so they can get back in in-time, and to avoid the inevitable swiping back in before they’re past. A good few times I’d have taken myself into a lay-by to let them past but they’ve been so flippin’ close it would have been lethal to dream of lifting off, let alone manouvering off the road to a stop.

If they had the mental capacity to sit back a truck length or two then they’d increase their forward visibility many-fold, and instead of lurching out at 40mph and trying to accellerate past, they would have seen the gap already ages before and done their accellerating in a well timed way and already be doing a nice illegal 50ish when they draw level with the back of my trailer, be past quicker and back in safer, everyone is going home alive and happy.

Silly sods.