robroy:
The most ironic thing about this is that sat nav use is the main cause, and/or has increased all, or most of the problems that this proposed legislation is clumsily trying to counteract imo.
I may be way off here as I have no statistics to back this up, but as far as I remember there were not as many reports of large trucks getting wedged in villages, or as many bridge hits up to about 10 or so years ago when sat navs were used.
If I’m wrong, I’m sure somebody will tell me.
You even see the odd road sign now saying ‘‘Lorry drivers ignore sat nav down here’’ ffs that is what it has come to.
I know it’s unworkable, and it will never happen, but I reckon new drivers should be disallowed to use sat navs until they have say 6 months experience, to allow them to actually LEARN an important part of the job, which would maybe go a long way to stop them blindly following their sat navs.
Evil…can I have a posting extension on this thread as you know how much I love to wind up the sat nav reliant .
Evil8Beezle:
Of course you can mate, it’s amusing reading the posts from your adoring fans…
Yeh, but have you not heard?
I have been ‘‘Put in my place’’…apparently.
Oh yeah, you’ve had a proper ■■■■■ slapping in the form of insults and abuse without a single word of reasoning!
What you’re failing to grasp mate in this modern day and age of steering wheel attendants is that experience counts for nothing, and any chimp is now a pro the second they can put it in drive and hit the loud pedal.
robroy:
The most ironic thing about this is that sat nav use is the main cause, and/or has increased all, or most of the problems that this proposed legislation is clumsily trying to counteract imo.
I may be way off here as I have no statistics to back this up, but as far as I remember there were not as many reports of large trucks getting wedged in villages, or as many bridge hits up to about 10 or so years ago when sat navs were used.
If I’m wrong, I’m sure somebody will tell me.
You even see the odd road sign now saying ‘‘Lorry drivers ignore sat nav down here’’ ffs that is what it has come to.
I know it’s unworkable, and it will never happen, but I reckon new drivers should be disallowed to use sat navs until they have say 6 months experience, to allow them to actually LEARN an important part of the job, which would maybe go a long way to stop them blindly following their sat navs.
Evil…can I have a posting extension on this thread as you know how much I love to wind up the sat nav reliant .
If you need a Sat Nav to stop you driving under a Low Bridge then really you shouldn’t be driving a truck, in fact I’d worry about you driving a anything bigger than a wheelbarrow.
I think the real story here is councils want powers to fine drivers and keep the money.
Police forces in Wales and Greater London already have the power to enforce weight and height restrictions on HGVs but councils are urging the government to roll this out across England.
Some councils have been working with freight and haulage companies to ensure drivers are using the most suitable routes.
The money raised from the new powers could be put towards fixing potholes, says the LGA.
muckles:
If you need a Sat Nav to stop you driving under a Low Bridge then really you shouldn’t be driving a truck, in fact I’d worry about you driving a anything bigger than a wheelbarrow.
I think the real story here is councils want powers to fine drivers and keep the money.
Police forces in Wales and Greater London already have the power to enforce weight and height restrictions on HGVs but councils are urging the government to roll this out across England.
Some councils have been working with freight and haulage companies to ensure drivers are using the most suitable routes.
The money raised from the new powers could be put towards fixing potholes, says the LGA.
Agreed!
The one thing most drivers forget is to check the height of the load+/trailer. I have constructed my own conversion table and forms, which I fill in. Then change the height indicator (if fitted)!
What does ■■■■ me off about the LGA is that many heights are displayed in metres only. How many height indicators in cabs are in metric? So far as I was aware we still operated in imperial measurements. Sure the ■■■■■■■■■ traffic engineers might like to work in metric but I still work in imperial thanks very much.
At least you’ve still got the height clearly marked even if its in Metres. Our place use ferry trailers and they don’t have heights on them. You either have to guess or try and find someone with a height stick you can borrow.
muckles:
If you need a Sat Nav to stop you driving under a Low Bridge then really you shouldn’t be driving a truck, in fact I’d worry about you driving a anything bigger than a wheelbarrow.
I think the real story here is councils want powers to fine drivers and keep the money.
Police forces in Wales and Greater London already have the power to enforce weight and height restrictions on HGVs but councils are urging the government to roll this out across England.
Some councils have been working with freight and haulage companies to ensure drivers are using the most suitable routes.
The money raised from the new powers could be put towards fixing potholes, says the LGA.
Agreed!
The one thing most drivers forget is to check the height of the load+/trailer. I have constructed my own conversion table and forms, which I fill in. Then change the height indicator (if fitted)!
What does ■■■■ me off about the LGA is that many heights are displayed in metres only. How many height indicators in cabs are in metric? So far as I was aware we still operated in imperial measurements. Sure the [zb] traffic engineers might like to work in metric but I still work in imperial thanks very much.
As it’s a requirement that heights on bridges spanning the highway should be in imperial measurements, the metric measurement can also be on the sign, but you shouldn’t see any in metric only.
So if you see any metric only signs you can follow the guidance on this website.
It’s like Taxi Drivers about my way… no need to learn the ‘Knowledge’ anymore, just tap it into the sat nav. Taking me the so called shortest route at rush hour in a Taxi will take longer because you’re standing still in a Jam than if you avoided the congested shortest route and took an alternative route.
A spokesman on the news was blaming “tight” haulage bosses for supplying their drivers with these cheap car satnavs instead of proper truck ones, so it isn’t really the drivers fault!
Seriously though, who’s employer even supplies their drivers with any kind of navigation advice, oh and by the way if you want a truck satnav, get one bought soon because prices are bound to increase if it becomes law.
weeto:
A spokesman on the news was blaming “tight” haulage bosses for supplying their drivers with these cheap car satnavs instead of proper truck ones, so it isn’t really the drivers fault!
Seriously though, who’s employer even supplies their drivers with any kind of navigation advice, oh and by the way if you want a truck satnav, get one bought soon because prices are bound to increase if it becomes law.
Did a couple of weeks leading up to Xmas for a gen. haulage firm, all their vehicles have truck sat-navs fitted. Only time I decided to follow it for the main route to the area I was heading for it wanted me to go down a 7.5t limited road forcing me to take 20 mile detour. Any technology is only a good as the weakest link in its construction/ programming.
Lorry drivers should be banned from using sat-navs specifically designed for cars, council chiefs have said. The Local Government Association (LGA) wants legislation brought in to make sure lorry drivers in England and Wales use a GPS system suitable for HGVs.
FWIW the incident pictured at the top of that item (Maritime wagon hitting the bridge at Althorp on the A428 near Northampton) had nothing whatsoever to do with using the wrong sort of Satnav. AIUI the guy was returning to Maritime’s depot at Northampton and the M1 was seriously SNAFU’d around Watford Gap due to an accident with long tailbacks starting before J18 Southbound. His on-board Mk1 wetware made a snap decision to divert off at J18 and take the A428 to Northampton rather than sit in the queue. He did though pass (I think) three height restriction signs on his way to hitting the bridge…
Banning HGV’s using car sat navs won’t solve all the issues as unless the road have a legal restriction ie 7.5t weight limit a truck sat nav will still send you down it, the unsuitable for HGV signs are not recognised as a legal restriction there advisments
Lorry drivers should be banned from using sat-navs specifically designed for cars, council chiefs have said. The Local Government Association (LGA) wants legislation brought in to make sure lorry drivers in England and Wales use a GPS system suitable for HGVs.
FWIW the incident pictured at the top of that item (Maritime wagon hitting the bridge at Althorp on the A428 near Northampton) had nothing whatsoever to do with using the wrong sort of Satnav. AIUI the guy was returning to Maritime’s depot at Northampton and the M1 was seriously SNAFU’d around Watford Gap due to an accident with long tailbacks starting before J18 Southbound. His on-board Mk1 wetware made a snap decision to divert off at J18 and take the A428 to Northampton rather than sit in the queue. He did though pass (I think) three height restriction signs on his way to hitting the bridge…
But telling the truth of the story don’t help sell papers of fit an editor breif, easier to use lazy juornalism to get across your own warped veiw of events and fill newsprint or air time with more 2nd rate crap !
I have a car nav, but it’s an assistance to my navigation, not be all and end all. With judicious use of Google maps and map book and common sense I manage to get around quite happily. Drivers don’t seem to want to look for clues on the road, such as tyre scrub at the entrance to a narrow lane, loads of tyre scrub means it’s a well used route by trucks so crack on, non means think before committing yourself. Before navs and Google maps, we carried countless A to Z maps, and you’d use your tongue to ask, the man on the street would have English as his first language and know where you were asking about, nowadays you’ll be lucky if either the man on the street or the enquiring driver speak English.
TheNewBoy:
Banning HGV’s won’t solve all the issues as unless the road have a legal restriction ie 7.5t weight limit a truck sat nav will still send you down it, the unsuitable for HGV signs are not recognised as a legal restriction there advisments
Er - Banning HGVs hasn’t been mentioned, has it? Besides, satnavs don’t “send” you anywhere!
GORDON 50:
Not sure how they can actually ban them from trucks, the police aren’t going to pull over every truck they see with a sat nav in the windscreen and check that it’s a truck one, I would imagine any enforcement would be done after an incident.
But where would it stop? Nicking lorry drivers for having a normal A to Z with no bridges or anything marked on it?
I would imagine that no one gets looked at until they are in this kind of situation…
Once there, you get treated the same as when having an accident - and your mobile history is checked.
There will always be some drivers who ditch the phone, hoping that will get them off… Get caught though - and it’s conspiracy to pervert the course of justice IF the laws are all enforced fully and properly.
Meanwhile, the daft authorities amended the existing law about “using a mobile whilst driving” to include things like “eating a choc bar” or “swigging a can of coke” or even “adjusting the radio”, which of course not only dilutes the “no mobiles at the wheel” law - but encourages bystanders all guilty of doing the eating and drinking at some point - to all clam up, and not speak up against the prick on his phone who’s just run down an old dear on a zebra crossing because he was diddling in his lap instead of watching the road ahead.
This sort of thing didn’t happen in the 70’s and 80’s did it?
The more the plumbing is overtaken - the easier it is to block the drain.
GORDON 50:
Not sure how they can actually ban them from trucks, the police aren’t going to pull over every truck they see with a sat nav in the windscreen and check that it’s a truck one, I would imagine any enforcement would be done after an incident.
But where would it stop? Nicking lorry drivers for having a normal A to Z with no bridges or anything marked on it?
I would imagine that no one gets looked at until they are in this kind of situation…
0
Once there, you get treated the same as when having an accident - and your mobile history is checked.
There will always be some drivers who ditch the phone, hoping that will get them off… Get caught though - and it’s conspiracy to pervert the course of justice IF the laws are all enforced fully and properly.
Meanwhile, the daft authorities amended the existing law about “using a mobile whilst driving” to include things like “eating a choc bar” or “swigging a can of coke” or even “adjusting the radio”, which of course not only dilutes the “no mobiles at the wheel” law - but encourages bystanders all guilty of doing the eating and drinking at some point - to all clam up, and not speak up against the prick on his phone who’s just run down an old dear on a zebra crossing because he was diddling in his lap instead of watching the road ahead.
This sort of thing didn’t happen in the 70’s and 80’s did it?
The more the plumbing is overtaken - the easier it is to block the drain.
Hogwash. Ditching or hiding your phone (or satnav, map book etc for that matter) is not “conspiring to pervert the course of justice”. Helping your mate by ditching his might be…
“The authorities” have not amended the law about use of mobile phones while driving to include anything else either. Using a hand-held phone while driving is a specific offence under The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2003. Eating, drinking, fiddling with the radio etc while driving have been (and remain) covered by S2 Road Traffic Act 1991.
that is what it has come to.
.
That looks like the cheap copy that doesn’t include the spell-checker. 