What is it with foreign trucks… some drivers seem incapable of moving out into another lane without sending some poor car driver
spinning across the carriageway!
I seen another one on the M1 South of J11 the other day… I was about 2 artic lengths behind the car in the middle lane and watched in horror
as a foreigner moved out into the middle lane and clipped the nearside rear of the ( passing to slowly! ) car and sent it into the central reservation.
Had I been distracted or not reading the road I could have been involved, but thankfully I managed to avoid being caught up in someone
else’s accident! I think one or two others were involved
Yes, of course, it was a left ■■■■■■… but that’s no excuse is it?
I also partly blame the car driver… some people seem to have a bloody annoying knack for hovering in other vehicles blind spots!
No it aint an excuse mate, but it is a reason 
You just can’t see a car alongside you …end of.
When I was on VOS we had cameras attached to the offside step, they were excellent for seeing cars lurking alongside you.
Later, on for Brit Euro I had a fresnel lens, which was not as good as the camera, but still ok.( I ended up buying my own cheap camera in the end)
Still use the fresnel on my rhd motor today.
VOSA used to give them out free in the ports once over.
Cant comprehend what possible difference if makes whether lhd or rhd tbh. I was in the UK earlier this week and cant honestly see how a truck driver could make this type of mistake, most likely down to inexperienced car drivers misjudgement…
I reckon the biggest cause is exactly the cars that seem to synchronise speed , most are talking or on the phone or the nub end comes out the window and it’s back to flat out .
Those in cars are generally not vocational drivers, being a paid lorry driver carries responsibility.
Even if the idiot car driver puts themselves in the way, even if they loath us they always have, we have that professional duty to protect them from themselves, we after all, are the full timers.
good job Evil quoted me or wouldn’t have spotted the error.
Juddian:
Those in cars are generally not vocational drivers, being a paid lorry driver carries responsibility.
Even if the idiot car driver puts themselves in the way, even if they loath us have they always have, we have that professional duty to protect them from themselves, they after all, are the full timers.
Nurse, ease back on this ones medication! 
It is the responsibility of the truck driver to check and double check before departing any lane to ensure he aint going to sideswipe any car who is doing nothing wrong apart from having the audacity to be on a bit of truck drivers road, but in saying that I put my foot down to get by any LHD trucks, hence not seeing the speed camera on the A1 when overtaking 5 EE motors all bunched together. Speed awareness course !!
AndrewG:
Cant comprehend what possible difference if makes whether lhd or rhd tbh. I was in the UK earlier this week and cant honestly see how a truck driver could make this type of mistake, most likely down to inexperienced car drivers misjudgement…
I’ve not much experience driving left hookers, but I used to do a regular run over to Belgium every day in a RHD artic and never encountered
any such problems changing lanes… I’m sure some of these truck drivers are making ( what seems to be! ) badly timed, knee jerk reactions to
pull out for an overtake, ( daydreaming… and they’ve left it to late to get out safely!) and just having a single glance in the mirror, then out
and… BANG!!
Do some car drivers EVEN realise their habit of sitting in the blind spot of a LHD truck, or ANY truck for that matter & do they even care!
All the clues are there aren’t they… a quick glance at the number plate of the truck their approaching to overtake, the foreign signwriting on the cab/trailer… but still these Muppets in their cars just sit level with the truck cab, oblivious & brains in neutral, taking ALL day to pass…
then wonder why they get clouted!
Punchy Dan:
I reckon the biggest cause is exactly the cars that seem to synchronise speed , most are talking or on the phone or the nub end comes out the window and it’s back to flat out .
I couldn’t agree more mate… how many times have you wanted to pull out to overtake, and there’s some idiot just hovering around at your trailer
wheels and they just can’t seem to make a decision to either speed up & pass, drop back and let you out, or change lanes! 
I think that it is all down to poor observations. I constantly know what is in other lanes as I constantly observe it.
If I was to drive five miles in lane one without looking in my mirrors and had not been constantly observant there is a chance of me catching a vehicle in my blind spot when moving into lane two. Cannot blame the car driver at all.
if im driving in a car,then whether overtaking or undertaking any truck,i make sure im either behind it or well in front of it asap. left or right hand drive always have blindspots that the best drivers cant see into…the car driver dont know this and happily sits right in the middle of it in the flow of traffic with the predictable outcome…ive asked all my misses pals about this and theres not one of the gormless ■■■■■■■ have any idea of the possiblity of getting a smack from a truck. to put this into perspective…one of them remembers where theres a speed camera,but for a miilion quid,she could not tell you what the lines across the road are there for in front of it…drivers of lhd may do their best careless or otherwise,but cars shouldnt be stupid enough to sit where they cant be seen.
Judehamish:
I think that it is all down to poor observations. I constantly know what is in other lanes as I constantly observe it.
If I was to drive five miles in lane one without looking in my mirrors and had not been constantly observant there is a chance of me catching a vehicle in my blind spot when moving into lane two. Cannot blame the car driver at all.
I agree with you and I drive similarly, constantly monitoring the mirror in readiness for an overtake, so I know instinctively that
there is nothing in my blind spot.
However, accidents don’t just happen, there is always contributing factors in the lead up to the crash. I still believe some of the
blames lies with other drivers who habitually sit in people’s blind spots without realising!
Having the steering wheel on the wrong side of the cab is a serious disadvantage when lane changing and bloody hard work in U.K. Because …
I. The massive UK middle lane hoggers brigade that also ignore the Highway Code about blind spot driving.
Not as many 3 lane motorways in Europe so perhaps this is why middle lane hogging has not developed much over there or maybe they just don’t tolerate this idiotic behaviour.
- The biggest risk is when you have confirmed lane 2 is clear you indicate and move out…KaBoom!..just hit a guy who was moving from lane 3 to lane 2 also which is way beyond the scope of any mirrors.
Strangely this time, small fast manouverable car claims to police man he didn’t see large slow moving truck with about 7 indicator lights flashing and lorry driver is usually deemed responsible and must pay up.
-
European car drivers are more tolerant and accommodating of trucks trying to manoeuvre generally I think whereas not so in U.K. where traffic is very dense most of the time.
-
EE companies are now struggling to fill seats as well and some drivers are not very competent at all.
Driving on the other side of the road is very unusual for an EE “International” driver and the weaker ones soon get found out once they pass through Dover.
As RR said Fresnel lens is very helpful but I must check out this camera thing.
I have also heard some car mirrors have a red dot in them if the blind spot is occupied. Don’t know if that is true or not but wouldn’t it be a great gadget to have on all truck mirrors.
How often have you lot tried to move back into lane 1 only too see a car at the last second who’s been hiding in your blind spot trying to dive up the inside? Whilst I’d hazard a guess its not that often but the situation is the same. You’ve checked your mirror, thats clear so you begin the manuvour only too find some berk who’s been hiding out in your blindspot?
The fact we drive on the opposite side to the entirety of Europe means drivers who aren’t from here not only have the language barrier to contend with, they also have to deal with the fact that they are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to observation. Couple that with some of the worst driving standards in Europe from Joe Public when it comes to dealing with large vehicles its not surprising so many accidents happen.
This is of course not excusing some of the horrific driving displays from Johnny Foreigner. More times than I’d like I’ve been trying to overtake said JF only for him to suddenly drift into my lane, nearing driving me into the central reservation. This seems however to be a symptom of the very disease we have here, pay peanuts, get monkey’s. It seems that Europe is suffering from that affliction too.
IMO the vast majority of foreign truck drivers are excellent drivers,just the same as most UK truck drivers.yes,there are some useless ones,just like there’s some useless UK ones,such as the artic in the HGV restricted lane of the A34 n/b yesterday 
despite all the recent publicity.car drivers should be educated how to avoid being side-swiped by LHD lorries,just as i educated my kids when they started driving.
Lennoxtown:
I couldn’t agree more mate… how many times have you wanted to pull out to overtake, and there’s some idiot just hovering around at your trailer
wheels and they just can’t seem to make a decision to either speed up & pass, drop back and let you out, or change lanes!
I usually find that drifting towards the white line has the desired effect of aiding their ability to make a decision become their top priority
Let he who had never had a lapse in concentration or made a silly mistake cast the first stone. Like others have said the very poor standard of motorway driving amongst car drivers in UK is partly to blame. In general in Europe cars have better lane discipline and overtake trucks quickly without fuss. You almost never see cars over here sliding up and slowing down right beside the truck like British idiots do. In the interests of honesty I’ve side swipped a car in UK in a LHD Truck
Lennoxtown:
I’m sure some of these truck drivers are making ( what seems to be! ) badly timed, knee jerk reactions to
pull out for an overtake, ( daydreaming… and they’ve left it to late to get out safely!) and just having a single glance in the mirror…
Make no mistake, such behaviour is not solely the preserve of left hookers. Drive along any motorway or dual carriageway and you will see countless example of British-registered lorries that are driven in the most incompetent manner imaginable, displaying all of the characteristics that you describe and with not one ounce of forward planning or road awareness.
The only reason that these morons do not cause more accidents is because fortunately plenty of other drivers make allowances for them.
There are good and bad drivers from all countries, of course.
The question may be, “Are there more caused by foreign reg trucks in the UK than there should be?” ?
I can`t find any figures showing the number of foreign reg trucks involved in UK accidents, dunno if anyone else can? Any figures found would then need to balanced against the number of trucks there are, and the distances they cover to see whether or not they are more/less dangerous than UK trucks. And maybe see if UK trucks are involved disproportionately in other countries accidents?
Anyway we do have figures from the WHO of 2013 Deaths by Road Accidents by Country.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c … death_rate
Seems to show that the UK is one of the safest countries in the world on the roads. Sweden seems safer tho. Western Eu is generally safer than Eastern Europe. (Both are safer than most African countries.) If these figures are OK then can we probably say that East Eu drivers are less safe than West Eu drivers? I`d think so.
Once upon a time when East Eu drivers were a rarity in the West, only the best, most professional drivers made it here, and they were IMHO of a high standard. Now the East truck industry has expanded and all sorts of drivers are being thrown a set of keys and told to get on with it. We no longer see the experienced professionals, but place fillers.
carryfast-yeti:
IMO the vast majority of foreign truck drivers are excellent drivers,just the same as most UK truck drivers.yes,there are some useless ones,just like there’s some useless UK ones.
Whoa! Careful mate you can’t say that on here, have you not heard the general Trucknet opinion, ALL foreign drivers are fat smelly Johnny Foreigners who wear flip flops, egg stained t shirts with jog pants, are crap inept drivers who eat their own young, and do 23 and a half hour working days…100% fact apparently.
Where as all Brits are perfect drivers, never leave a mess after parking up, and you are dazzled by the sun shining out of their arse holes…unless of course they drive lhd trucks, if so see above.
If Luke is starting a side swipe confession amnesty, can I just join him, …I said I bought a cheap camera, that is why. 