I had my first mishap today. no one hurt just a damaged car. I know hind sight is a wonderful thing but what do people do if they get themselves in a tricky situation made worse by morons on motorbikes and other drivers.
do you guys and gals just stop and refuse to move or do you try and sort it.
The gist of the situation was I had finished my drops in wood lane and heading back to the yard. Because my pratnav gets to have an ■■■■■■ every time it takes me on the Westway or through the city I have to set it for Camberwell then when I get near there set it for the yard so I can head out on the queens road/a2. This time I made a mistake at Vauxhall bridge and took the wrong turn. The sat nav seized its opportunity to get it’s revenge for fooling it in avoiding the city and tried to take me down a temp weight limit which confused it more when I did a left. it then took me down a road with parked cars either side and room for me down the middle but not two cars.
I had pulled over to let oncoming traffic through so of course all the Muppets stopped behind me with their bumpers touching mine bar a ■■■ paper. This lady stopped to let me through aprox 100 yards away as I approached I realised it would be tight but do able at that moment and as I had cars right on my back bumper I couldn’t reverse to let her through. By the time I was half way past her a hearse had pulled up behind her so she couldn’t move either then a moped joined the fray and jammed himself between the hearse and me. Long story short the corner of the tail lift and the lady’s rear bumper had a coming together.
As said I hind sight I can he people screaming why the blink didn’t you just stop but I honestly felt there was no other option but to proceed as everyone had jammed themselves in tighter than a nuns knicker elastic.
Over-reliance on the prat nav is your error.
Co-op has alot of tough places to delivery to so I understand but they give you maps use them.
You do not need to know them inside out but as long as you know roughly what roads to look out for you will be great. If in doubt just stick to the A-roads or find the nearest A-road.
Never take a narrow street as your rolling the dice.
But I understand, I dont bother with maps even now. What I do is use google maps only, as it gives a fantastic overview of the roads and traffic. I just look at the overview of google maps and I know what turn to take and if its telling me to go down “Old lady’s lane” I think hmm maybe that is a bit dodgy and I check it out via satellite view or street view. But you still need to look out for bridge heights.
That being said if you INSIST on using sat navs which is fine I would recommend a newish phone with the COPILOT app. I’d personally recommend the google Pixel 2/3/4.
Why? Because they make use of GPS, A-GPS, Glonass and Galileo satellites. So they work well in London and copilot wont spaz out because it loses satellites.
Check your phone if it is a newer one it might make use of Galileo and Glonass along with GPS so may well be more reliable in terms of getting your location compared to your truck prat nav.
SatNav has naff all to do with it.
This is a tight situation.
However you got there, SatNav, A To Z, or following star charts, is irrelevant.
.
I wasn’t there, obviously, but it sounds as if you’ve reviewed your actions yourself.
Figure out what YOU could and should have done differently. Learn.
What other drivers should/not have done is also not down to you.
They do tend to behave like idiots, so assume that in future.
.
No one hurt? Learn. Don’t forget about it, but don’t fret on it.
I was gonna sympathise with you mate until you mentioned a ■■■■ sat nav.
A sat nav doesn’t ‘send you’’ or ‘‘take you’’ anywhere , YOU are the driver, it advises you.
Try not to totally rely on it in future.
That said, ■■■■ happens and we all ■■■■ up, so turn it into a positive by learning something from it.
adam277:
Also as your working at Thurrock depot I suspect you will be expected to wait hours for the drugs tester to take a urine sample.
um I think you have me muddled up with someone else. never worked for coop or out of Thurrock.
You ended your post with coop. Said you was driving in London. So I assumed you was working for the COOP out of thurrock.
My bad. The rest of my post still stands though, truck sat navs use only a limited amount of satellites. Uusally just GPS / A-GPS. So they spazz out when you get to London due to the high buildings. Whereas a phone that makes use of european and russian sats wont have that issue due to making use of extra satellites.
There’s a good rule of thumb in that crap hole which says don’t move unless you’re absolutely sure that nothing can go wrong.Even if it means causing total gridlock.Otherwise stay where you are and let them drive into you.Hit while stationary always looks better on the accident form and the guvnor can’t argue about it.Also get used to lining the thing up for a gap as you approach it then everything after that is on the mirrors.
cooper1203:
I had my first mishap today. no one hurt just a damaged car. I know hind sight is a wonderful thing but what do people do if they get themselves in a tricky situation made worse by morons on motorbikes and other drivers.
do you guys and gals just stop and refuse to move or do you try and sort it.
The gist of the situation was I had finished my drops in wood lane and heading back to the yard. Because my pratnav gets to have an ■■■■■■ every time it takes me on the Westway or through the city I have to set it for Camberwell then when I get near there set it for the yard so I can head out on the queens road/a2. This time I made a mistake at Vauxhall bridge and took the wrong turn. The sat nav seized its opportunity to get it’s revenge for fooling it in avoiding the city and tried to take me down a temp weight limit which confused it more when I did a left. it then took me down a road with parked cars either side and room for me down the middle but not two cars.
I had pulled over to let oncoming traffic through so of course all the Muppets stopped behind me with their bumpers touching mine bar a ■■■ paper. This lady stopped to let me through aprox 100 yards away as I approached I realised it would be tight but do able at that moment and as I had cars right on my back bumper I couldn’t reverse to let her through. By the time I was half way past her a hearse had pulled up behind her so she couldn’t move either then a moped joined the fray and jammed himself between the hearse and me. Long story short the corner of the tail lift and the lady’s rear bumper had a coming together.
Seriously, you call motorcyclist and other road users morons. All because your an incompetent driver and need to use a sat Nav to do your job? … sorry, but the only moron is you… if you can’t read a sign or even know where you are going maybe hang up the keys to the truck, seriously how hard is it to get around London using the main routes… ok, admittedly I am from London … but only yourself to blame for hitting a car…
As said I hind sight I can he people screaming why the blink didn’t you just stop but I honestly felt there was no other option but to proceed as everyone had jammed themselves in tighter than a nuns knicker elastic.
Carryfast:
There’s a good rule of thumb in that crap hole which says don’t move unless you’re absolutely sure that nothing can go wrong.Even if it means causing total gridlock.Otherwise stay where you are and let them drive into you.Hit while stationary always looks better on the accident form and the guvnor can’t argue about it.Also get used to lining the thing up for a gap as you approach it then everything after that is on the mirrors.
^^^
Exactly.
So did you forget to turn right for Harleyford rd and the Oval here?
Kennington Lane takes you to the Elephant and then the A2 New/Old Kent rd. You should have been OK if you’d just kept going. You need to study a London map when you get the chance so that you have a mental picture of the direction roads are taking you and the alternatives available to get to the same destination. Then look at Google street view to see what the various junctions look like from different directions. A satnav can only help you so far - it won’t give you directional awareness nor of the route one mile ahead.
Sat nav is all very well, but should only be used to confirm the route you have already planned for yourself, used as a spotter for junctions and turnings where signs are missing or confusing its brillant, BUT,it should never be used to plan a route nor relied on.
As for the bump, you know what you did wrong but at the end of the day its piffling, don’t worry about it just learn from it.
You could have knocked an ecojesus off their bike grazing a knee and brought the great hell hole to a standstill amid tv cameras and assorted protesters and hundreds of coppers and find yourself on the evening news along with pics of your killer juggernaut.
Juddian:
Sat nav is all very well, but should only be used to confirm the route you have already planned for yourself, used as a spotter for junctions and turnings where signs are missing or confusing its brillant, BUT,it should never be used to plan a route nor relied on.
You might as well tell some of em on here that the earth is flat.
cooper1203:
I had my first mishap today. no one hurt just a damaged car. I know hind sight is a wonderful thing but what do people do if they get themselves in a tricky situation made worse by morons on motorbikes and other drivers.
do you guys and gals just stop and refuse to move or do you try and sort it.
Stop, put park brake on and sit there until they work out they’re the problem. If needs be get out a newspaper to enforce the point you’re not moving. Do not ever move because of what they do if you know you’re likely to hit something.
As said I hind sight I can he people screaming why the blink didn’t you just stop but I honestly felt there was no other option but to proceed as everyone had jammed themselves in tighter than a nuns knicker elastic.
Not worth it mate. You’re being employed and you’ll always be the one who gets the worst of anything handed out by plod etc so you need to ensure you’re completely not at fault and if that means the road is shut until the police turn up and sort out the divvies then so be it.
cav551:
Kennington Lane takes you to the Elephant and then the A2 New/Old Kent rd.
That’s the only way across London I really know from there and it’s the route I used to use to go to Charlton depot from Feltham and wouldn’t have liked to made a wrong turn anywhere.I’ve always been hopeless in London and relatively lost anywhere much past Merton let alone Wimbledon and to this day I don’t know how I managed to get around the place with an artic multi dropping steel to numerous tower block sites and couldn’t really place where all the roads I had to go to were even then let alone now.
Mostly all done on route from reading the A to Z book.It could only have been more luck than judgement.On that note have you ever noticed how having to read an A to Z while stopped at a red light was always a sure way to make the thing turn green when you didn’t want it to.
m.a.n rules:
I always used the giant Collins map book of London years ago ,great bit of kit…
It was another one i used and at the moment the name escapes me, size of a largest yellow pages, clearest street mapping from St Albans poossibly as far as Luton right to the south coast and from Basingstoke i think across nearly to or possibly including the Kent coast, with unrivalled street mapping of greater london.
Name remembered, Nicholsons street atlas of London and the South East, best map i ever used, arounf £30 in the 80’s excellent value.
cooper1203:
I had my first mishap today. no one hurt just a damaged car. I know hind sight is a wonderful thing but what do people do if they get themselves in a tricky situation made worse by morons on motorbikes and other drivers.
do you guys and gals just stop and refuse to move or do you try and sort it.
The gist of the situation was I had finished my drops in wood lane and heading back to the yard. Because my pratnav gets to have an ■■■■■■ every time it takes me on the Westway or through the city I have to set it for Camberwell then when I get near there set it for the yard so I can head out on the queens road/a2. This time I made a mistake at Vauxhall bridge and took the wrong turn. The sat nav seized its opportunity to get it’s revenge for fooling it in avoiding the city and tried to take me down a temp weight limit which confused it more when I did a left. it then took me down a road with parked cars either side and room for me down the middle but not two cars.
I had pulled over to let oncoming traffic through so of course all the Muppets stopped behind me with their bumpers touching mine bar a ■■■ paper. This lady stopped to let me through aprox 100 yards away as I approached I realised it would be tight but do able at that moment and as I had cars right on my back bumper I couldn’t reverse to let her through. By the time I was half way past her a hearse had pulled up behind her so she couldn’t move either then a moped joined the fray and jammed himself between the hearse and me. Long story short the corner of the tail lift and the lady’s rear bumper had a coming together.
Seriously, you call motorcyclist and other road users morons. All because your an incompetent driver and need to use a sat Nav to do your job? … sorry, but the only moron is you… if you can’t read a sign or even know where you are going maybe hang up the keys to the truck, seriously how hard is it to get around London using the main routes… ok, admittedly I am from London … but only yourself to blame for hitting a car…
As said I hind sight I can he people screaming why the blink didn’t you just stop but I honestly felt there was no other option but to proceed as everyone had jammed themselves in tighter than a nuns knicker elastic.
coop
Tottenham supporter say it all all gob and no brains. Absolutely noting wrong with a sat-nav but of course you are a hard line truck driver and using a sat - nav is for wimps. Well what a heap of Verbal diarrhoea. Your problem matey is lack of intelligence to use one correctly.
im looking for a decent road map with bridge heights weight limits etc and a decent scale. I realize im not going to get 8 inches to the mile. I have had a quick look at amazon and some mark narrow roads (less than 4 meters wide) and some have bridge heights etc. is there one that does everything what do people recommend. I have maps.me on my phone for assessing things and trying to find exact places. however the imperial setting does everything in feet rather than yards and it doesn’t recognise postcodes.
As I am doing the same drops over and over it would be useful to have a paper map I can scribble on.
cooper1203:
im looking for a decent road map with bridge heights weight limits etc and a decent scale. I realize im not going to get 8 inches to the mile. I have had a quick look at amazon and some mark narrow roads (less than 4 meters wide) and some have bridge heights etc. is there one that does everything what do people recommend. I have maps.me on my phone for assessing things and trying to find exact places. however the imperial setting does everything in feet rather than yards and it doesn’t recognise postcodes.
As I am doing the same drops over and over it would be useful to have a paper map I can scribble on.
That’s the one I use mate (think it replaced my 1996 one )
It does everything you want it to anyway, …I use it in conjunction with a car sat nav, which kinda covers every angle for me personally, but maybe not for everyone.
Apologies for getting my knob in the picture btw.
Edit…just noticed it hasn’t got wt limits btw, but afaik you can buy some truckers maps with them on.
cooper1203:
I had my first mishap today. no one hurt just a damaged car. I know hind sight is a wonderful thing but what do people do if they get themselves in a tricky situation made worse by morons on motorbikes and other drivers.
do you guys and gals just stop and refuse to move or do you try and sort it.
The gist of the situation was I had finished my drops in wood lane and heading back to the yard. Because my pratnav gets to have an ■■■■■■ every time it takes me on the Westway or through the city I have to set it for Camberwell then when I get near there set it for the yard so I can head out on the queens road/a2. This time I made a mistake at Vauxhall bridge and took the wrong turn. The sat nav seized its opportunity to get it’s revenge for fooling it in avoiding the city and tried to take me down a temp weight limit which confused it more when I did a left. it then took me down a road with parked cars either side and room for me down the middle but not two cars.
I had pulled over to let oncoming traffic through so of course all the Muppets stopped behind me with their bumpers touching mine bar a ■■■ paper. This lady stopped to let me through aprox 100 yards away as I approached I realised it would be tight but do able at that moment and as I had cars right on my back bumper I couldn’t reverse to let her through. By the time I was half way past her a hearse had pulled up behind her so she couldn’t move either then a moped joined the fray and jammed himself between the hearse and me. Long story short the corner of the tail lift and the lady’s rear bumper had a coming together.
Seriously, you call motorcyclist and other road users morons. All because your an incompetent driver and need to use a sat Nav to do your job? … sorry, but the only moron is you… if you can’t read a sign or even know where you are going maybe hang up the keys to the truck, seriously how hard is it to get around London using the main routes… ok, admittedly I am from London … but only yourself to blame for hitting a car…
As said I hind sight I can he people screaming why the blink didn’t you just stop but I honestly felt there was no other option but to proceed as everyone had jammed themselves in tighter than a nuns knicker elastic.
coop
Tottenham supporter say it all all gob and no brains. Absolutely noting wrong with a sat-nav but of course you are a hard line truck driver and using a sat - nav is for wimps. Well what a heap of Verbal diarrhoea. Your problem matey is lack of intelligence to use one correctly.
No, just because the driver is thick, he has the nerve to call other drivers a moron due to his mistakes… I don’t drive trucks, if you plan accordingly you don’t need a sat Nav, I stated I come from London and know most main routes very well … but if he is like you all claim to be " professional Driver" then he shouldn’t do as a sat nav says, it’s rather pathetic going down a road because he was told too. Of course I have used a Sat Nav before, but I wouldn’t drive down a road where unsure and cause an accident… that’s the issue… he’s caused a preventable accident.
and to this day I don’t know how I managed to get around the place with an artic multi dropping steel to numerous tower block sites and couldn’t really place where all the roads I had to go to were even then let alone now.
