Don't hold up traffic, Police urge tractor and slow moving v

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Tue 15 Jul 2014
Police in Dyfed-Powys are issuing a plea to tractor drivers in the area to pull over, where safe, if they have a queue of vehicles behind them, following a number of complaints from irate motorists of delays caused by slow-moving agricultural vehicles failing to yield.

Insp Mark Davies from the Road Policing unit said: “A number of people have contacted Dyfed-Powys police to complain about this recently, so now is a good time to remind all drivers of tractors and other slow-moving vehicles of the need to comply with the law in respect of driving without due consideration for other road users.

"A few tractor drivers will travel slowly along main roads, towing long, laden trailers and not give other vehicles the opportunity to pass. This causes a long snake of cars behind the tractor. Driver frustration then sets in, making impatient car drivers take extreme risks trying to overtake.

“The police recommendation to slow-moving vehicles is to pull over, where it is safe to do so, and make use of lay-bys, when you have six or more vehicles behind you.”

Rule 169 of the Highway Code states you must not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

Tractor drivers are also urged not to pull over where there are double solid white lines and would mean passing cars crossing those lines. Common sense must be applied.

Insp Davies added: "Some staff on farms who drive tractors and slow moving machinery,may be unaware that failure to pull over when you have a long queue of traffic behind you could constitute an offence of inconsiderate driving.

"The offence could earn you 3 to 9 points on your licence and a fine of up to £5,000. We would urge farm owners to ensure that staff are aware of the law and they should pull over where necessary and safe to do so.”

2

Would dash camera footage on a civilian car be enough for a prosecution? there are many caravans constantly falling foul of this.

3

Wales must be some kind of crime free Utopia to live in if the police have nothing better to do than listen to some Audi driving berks who lost 30 seconds of their precious day held up behind a tractor in a rural area! These are the same sort of people who seem genuinely shocked when held up by a manoeuvring truck on a bloody industrial estate! :imp:

4

granted. but following one for 10+ miles without being able to pass (as i am quite often living in cornwall…) is a tad more than frustrating.

5

as long as the speed limit is adhered to there’s now’t they can do especially if your in a truck

6

the maoster:
Wales must be some kind of crime free Utopia to live in if the police have nothing better to do than listen to some Audi driving berks who lost 30 seconds of their precious day held up behind a tractor in a rural area! These are the same sort of people who seem genuinely shocked when held up by a manoeuvring truck on a bloody industrial estate! :imp:

Ask the people in Machynlleth if it was a utopia last year !!!

7

Pull over when you have 6 or more vehicles behind you?That means I would have to pull into every layby going down the A9 on a Saturday afternoon in summer.That’s not going to happen :laughing: :laughing:. Not got a problem pulling over to let people pass,usually pull in every 10 miles or so.

8

Highlander:
Pull over when you have 6 or more vehicles behind you?That means I would have to pull into every layby going down the A9 on a Saturday afternoon in summer.That’s not going to happen :laughing: :laughing:. Not got a problem pulling over to let people pass,usually pull in every 10 miles or so.

your only slow moving if your not able to travel at the speed limit for the class of vehicle your driving … there is No min speed limit unless posted

9

Car drivers should also note that if they use the right hand pedal along with the round thing in front of them ,then they can do what is called an overtake maneuver , when the slow moving vehicle is keeping as close to the nearside as possible ,this is to aid you to overtake ,not encourage you to follow suit and sit right up said slow moving vehicles arse ,constantly have this day in day out :unamused:

10

d4c24a:
Car drivers should also note that if they use the right hand pedal along with the round thing in front of them ,then they can do what is called an overtake maneuver , when the slow moving vehicle is keeping as close to the nearside as possible ,this is to aid you to overtake ,not encourage you to follow suit and sit right up said slow moving vehicles arse ,constantly have this day in day out :unamused:

This and more… if you don’t feel confident to overtake the slow vehicle - don’t sit right on its arse, drop back a bit and give more confident drivers room to over take you , then they can when its clear overtake the slow mover- I don’t have a problem with you not wanting to overtake, but denying the guys behind you the chance is just being an arse

11

Rikki-UK:

d4c24a:
Car drivers should also note that if they use the right hand pedal along with the round thing in front of them ,then they can do what is called an overtake maneuver , when the slow moving vehicle is keeping as close to the nearside as possible ,this is to aid you to overtake ,not encourage you to follow suit and sit right up said slow moving vehicles arse ,constantly have this day in day out :unamused:

This and more… if you don’t feel confident to overtake the slow vehicle - don’t sit right on its arse, drop back a bit and give more confident drivers room to over take you , then they can when its clear overtake the slow mover- I don’t have a problem with you not wanting to overtake, but denying the guys behind you the chance is just being an arse

This applies with cars following any large vehicle. They get to tight to a large vehicle, and then can’t see if its safe to overtake. Half of them need to re-take their driving test.

12

I don’t have a problem with our tractor driver friends. At the end of the day if it wasn’t for farmers then we wouldn’t have most of the food we buy from the supermarkets. I find tractor drivers 9 times out of 10 will pull in at a safe spot when they can and I give them a toot of the horn and an rasied hand of thanks in return.
At the end of the day you know which parts of the country you’re going to bump into a tractor I.e East Anglia, Somerset, ■■■■■■■■ North Yorkshrire and Linconshire, it just makes me laugh other drivers don’t.

13

nick2008:

Highlander:
Pull over when you have 6 or more vehicles behind you?That means I would have to pull into every layby going down the A9 on a Saturday afternoon in summer.That’s not going to happen :laughing: :laughing:. Not got a problem pulling over to let people pass,usually pull in every 10 miles or so.

your only slow moving if your not able to travel at the speed limit for the class of vehicle your driving … there is No min speed limit unless posted

But the maximum speed for that class of vehicle (ordinary agricultural tractor without truck-style ABS etc like a JCB Fastrac) is 20mph. Are you saying then that a tractor travelling at the maximum legally permitted speed of 20mph is not “slow moving”?

14

I have seen 55 vehicles behind a Tesco lorry on A47, that one beat the 47 behind a Morrisons lorry also on the A47. The problem is that there are not always that many empty lay-bys to pull into.

On A1065 through Suffolk/Norfolk a distance of 40 miles, there are about five lay-bys, three of which are within 800 metres of each other.

15

So often the queue is caused by the second vehicle who will not pass or hang back but sticks like a limpet to the tail end of the slow vehicle.When I am causing the tail back I pull over when possible.You dont know if you are delaying a doctor or a mid-wife sadly some people dont consider other people.

16

alamcculloch:
So often the queue is caused by the second vehicle who will not pass or hang back but sticks like a limpet to the tail end of the slow vehicle.When I am causing the tail back I pull over when possible.You dont know if you are delaying a doctor or a mid-wife sadly some people dont consider other people.

In many instances it is a lorry that has no chance of passing, but the driver is too thick to realise and just sits right behind preventing anyone else from passing.

17

m_attt:
Would dash camera footage on a civilian car be enough for a prosecution? there are many caravans constantly falling foul of this.

The speed limit for caravans is 50mph on single carriageways. The article is talking about slow moving vehicles, many of which are physically incapable of going more than 20mph.

18

I think that some of the problem with following a tractor/trailer is that a lot still have no lights or indicators, have no mirrors or an overhanging load so no rear vision for the driver, and folk are wary of overtaking incase it decides to turn right suddenly with no indication. Wary of this myself, though tractors usually only travel short distances, however I left my Brother in Laws house at Codnor last week and followed a stream of traffic behind a tractor/trailer load from there down the A610 to Ambergate then the A6 to Cromford where it headed up the Via Gellia and I carried on to Matlock. Really there was nowhere for him to pull in and he must have travelled at least 12 miles and probably several more to follow, however he kept a steady 30 mph so I just relaxed and went along, no point getting stressed out over it! A few cars did overtake but it isn’t the best route to do that safely.

My ex gaffer was pulled by the Law for doing less than 40 mph in his car on the A6 which has a 50 limit several years ago, no charges of course but he was a little annoyed about it! :slight_smile:

Pete.

19

I drive tractors through the summer and artics through the winter. Farms are getting bigger and kit is getting more specialised and dearer (the price of a self propelled chopper or combine would make most haulage bosses ■■■■ themselves) so mostly you have silage teams mower, rake, chopper, up to 17 trailers, and buckrake or two) hauling longer distances in a race against the weather. Longest haul I’ve done was 17 mile round trips from fields to pit but 6 or 7 isn’t unusual.

Biggest problem is that there are no places to pull in as they are full of lorries on a 45 which is fair enough, agree with all that’s been said about cars sitting up the @rse of bigger vehicles. What really, really, really ■■■■■■ me off is car drivers who even though you pull as far left as you can, flick the indicator to let them past STILL sit glued to your ring and prevent other vehicles getting past.

20

chicane:
I drive tractors through the summer and artics through the winter. Farms are getting bigger and kit is getting more specialised and dearer (the price of a self propelled chopper or combine would make most haulage bosses [zb] themselves) so mostly you have silage teams mower, rake, chopper, up to 17 trailers, and buckrake or two) hauling longer distances in a race against the weather. Longest haul I’ve done was 17 mile round trips from fields to pit but 6 or 7 isn’t unusual.

Biggest problem is that there are no places to pull in as they are full of lorries on a 45 which is fair enough, agree with all that’s been said about cars sitting up the @rse of bigger vehicles. What really, really, really ■■■■■■ me off is car drivers who even though you pull as far left as you can, flick the indicator to let them past STILL sit glued to your ring and prevent other vehicles getting past.

and once you’ve buggered off into the field we get the finger when they pass us because they think its us that’s been holding them up :unamused: :wink: :wink: