Not proud of it in fact I’m really ashamed and disappointed as I was hoping not to have any bumps in my 1st 2years as a lorry driver
Was kind of stupid and pathetic I know I’m going to get slated for this but I will tell you anyway.
I was on the Docks in Felixstowe at the security gate, as I drove up to the gate I leaned out of my window and said I’m here to see FitzPatrik (I normally at this point get let through everytime) the guard goes you have to be escorted on to the docks so are going to have to wait for the ■■■■■■ to come back. I reply with I been here 10-15 times never been escorted before I know exactly where to go etc.
He replies with new rules son, so at this point he say right I want you to reverse back over there to the left and wait now.
So I look in my mirrors both sides and stuck it in reverse and then all I hear is a horn beeping constantly so I stop. I get out and behind me was a Citroen C1 I had pushed him back and his bonnet was Fcked.
He obversely got up behind me and sat up my rear while I was talking to the guard. I know I should have kept checking my mirrors while I was talking to the guard a costly lesson.
1st crash in nearly 2 years as a lorry driver and only 2nd in 10 years as a overall driver. Just annoyed my 1st crash was as stupid as this
Don’t sweat it driver, I am the best driver in the world (along with everyone else on here ) and I have done exactly the same
Mine had far worse consequences though I had just pulled a rather nice looking receptionist at a firm in Becton, I was well in there and going to pick her up later that night to go for a few beers and a curry as her car was in the body shop, it had been hit up the arse by a tipper on the A13. I asked if she wanted a lift home, but she said her dad was coming to pick her up. The forklift driver came and got me out of reception to move the lorry back so he could get around the front and unload the driver’s side. I walked up to it, jumped in and backed up about twenty feet, apparently in the first two foot of that manouvere I hit the car that had parked behind me as I got in the cab and toatlly mangled it, both front wings, the bonnet and oil and water puddles on the floor type of mangled, guess who’s car it was? Yep, my new bird’s dad
Bad luck! Personally I’d have walked to check no one sneaked up behind me then walked back to the cab backwards so I could guaranteed not to do anything stupid like that. TuT TuT
■■■■ happens pal the car should not have been that close but i think work may argue you should have got out and checked imo th bloke who told you too reverse should have had a look to s if it was clear anyway its happened move on onwards and upwards i say
I’m sure you didn’t set out that day to have a mishap but it does happen. I had my first in 30+ years only a couple of weeks ago so you obviously need to be alert at all times. (All companies need good lerts so I’m reliably informed) Don’t beat yourself up it was not intentional, just that these days there has to be someone to blame to appease life’s perfectionist know alls!
Accidents happen, that’s why they’re called accidents, and why even the best drivers require insurance.
I’m suprised you didn’t catch a glimpse of something moving in your peripheral vision though to be honest, without knowing what it was, but all this walking back and checking, surely reverse lights and bleepers and hazards usually give enough warning to someone stupid enough to park up your arse that you’re about to reverse over them?
I thought the cars went in the left side at Felix and trucks right side, it’s been a few months since I was last there though.
newmercman:
Mine had far worse consequences though I had just pulled a rather nice looking receptionist at a firm in Becton, I was well in there and going to pick her up later that night to go for a few beers and a curry as her car was in the body shop, it had been hit up the arse by a tipper on the A13. I asked if she wanted a lift home, but she said her dad was coming to pick her up. The forklift driver came and got me out of reception to move the lorry back so he could get around the front and unload the driver’s side. I walked up to it, jumped in and backed up about twenty feet, apparently in the first two foot of that manouvere I hit the car that had parked behind me as I got in the cab and toatlly mangled it, both front wings, the bonnet and oil and water puddles on the floor type of mangled, guess who’s car it was? Yep, my new bird’s dad
So would we be right in assuming it was a date eith Pam that night and a curry for one■■?
Wouldn’t sweat it as mentioned if he/she parks that close to you and you can’t see them in your mirrors it’s just one off these things .
Ps we had it so often doing shop deliverys that they retro fitted cameras to our ridgeds at extra cost and on all new trucks it’s standard saved thousands on ins claims !
stagedriver:
Car driver was too close so you could argue that one.
No, he could not. The car driver have right to be there and it’s his duty to check.
I am too lazy to check, but I always sound horn when unsure before reversing. On few occasion car behind me sounded his horn and I stopped.
Not always so. I had a very similar incident to this a few years ago and the final insurance outcome was against the car driver. It was deemed that the car had stopped too close to my rear therefore when I checked my mirrors I could not see the car.
You can only do so much in the driving seat and are you REALLY going to get out everytime you reverse back to take a look?
msgyorkie:
You can only do so much in the driving seat and are you REALLY going to get out everytime you reverse back to take a look?
No, off course no. It’s the rist I take, because its clearly in law that it’s my duty as a driver to assure I am safe before reversing.
That car driver of yours was stupid to accept such an insurance outcome, I would not let them rip me off as this.
If that was true, the towns were paralysed, if every time I am queueing behind lorry or bus I would have to stay 15 metres behind him to make sure he can see me in case that he would decide to reverse for some reason.
The car driver in OP’s situtaion has full right to assume that after dealing with the security the truck will go forward. And as for security - they should allow him to enter and make u-turn inside. They are always maniac about health and safety, but as we can see not when it really matters…
stagedriver:
Car driver was too close so you could argue that one.
No, he could not. The car driver have right to be there and it’s his duty to check.
I am too lazy to check, but I always sound horn when unsure before reversing. On few occasion car behind me sounded his horn and I stopped.
Not always so. I had a very similar incident to this a few years ago and the final insurance outcome was against the car driver. It was deemed that the car had stopped too close to my rear therefore when I checked my mirrors I could not see the car.
You can only do so much in the driving seat and are you REALLY going to get out everytime you reverse back to take a look?
I failed a driving assessment years ago, had been out for a drive, got back in yard and the guy asked me to blind side into a space on the left.
There was a fence behind the spaces and a good few free spaces, so not a tight squeeze between 2 trailers.
I positioned myself and did the best blind side I’d ever done, perfectly straight between 2 white lines.
The guy said to me “you’ve failed the assessment for not getting out and checking before reversing, someone could’ve walked behind the truck” blah blah.
I replied the same to him as I’m going to say now “Whilst in the driving seat, all mirrors are visible and I’m on hightened alert, so movements are noticed in peripheral vision. However, whilst walking down the side of a trailer to check the back, and then walking back to the driving seat 50 feet away, THEN someone could get behind the trailer without me knowing.”
As I said, I’m shocked that he didn’t noticed the movement, but there is 100 reasons that this could’ve happened, whilst distracted with gate hitlers etc, but walking down the side of the truck creates as many dangers as it reduces IMHO.
Any car driver that’d sit behind a truck in reverse, hopefully with reverse lights, bleeper and hazards going, is a muppet and they’re lucky it’s only bent metal that their stupidity has caused.
If you had walked to the back of the truck and checked that it was clear how would you have known anyway as you are getting back in the truck he has driven up close into the blind spot anyway?
Don’t fret over it, I squashed an old mini into a wall one night, parked inbetween two trailers and it was pitch black, I simply didn’t see it nor did I hear it crunching. Smallest mini you ever saw, dunno who owned it I scarpered before the owner came back this was 1988 so mini’s were ten a penny then anyways.
The car driver should have some responsibility for not maintaining that safety bubble around large vehicles - they put themselves in a potentially dangerous position regarding not seeing the truck mirrors IMO. I mean, why stop that close?
keebs26uk:
Not proud of it in fact I’m really ashamed and disappointed as I was hoping not to have any bumps in my 1st 2years as a lorry driver
Was kind of stupid and pathetic I know I’m going to get slated for this but I will tell you anyway.
I was on the Docks in Felixstowe at the security gate, as I drove up to the gate I leaned out of my window and said I’m here to see FitzPatrik (I normally at this point get let through everytime) the guard goes you have to be escorted on to the docks so are going to have to wait for the ■■■■■■ to come back. I reply with I been here 10-15 times never been escorted before I know exactly where to go etc.
He replies with new rules son, so at this point he say right I want you to reverse back over there to the left and wait now.
So I look in my mirrors both sides and stuck it in reverse and then all I hear is a horn beeping constantly so I stop. I get out and behind me was a Citroen C1 I had pushed him back and his bonnet was Fcked.
He obversely got up behind me and sat up my rear while I was talking to the guard. I know I should have kept checking my mirrors while I was talking to the guard a costly lesson.
1st crash in nearly 2 years as a lorry driver and only 2nd in 10 years as a overall driver. Just annoyed my 1st crash was as stupid as this
Had exactly the same kind of accident in my first year as well, went to leave a B&Q store in Mansfield where I had tipped, when you pull out you need to cross a main road and clear a set of traffic lights in one go when it’s busy else you will block the whole road up, I got caught in the middle of the road and check my mirrors and gently backed up into the exit I just left to free up the main road, nothing there, apart from a brand new mondeo right up the bar of the trailer which was invisible to my mirrors, same end result as yours mate, bumper bonnet, felt like crap.
Thanks lads, I was trying to and hoping I wouldn’t have any kind of bump in the lorry for many years like my car driving record.
Guess its down to that experience thing and even when talking to the security guard I should have kept looking in my mirrors. Either that or walk behind the lorry to check
Our other lorry has a rear view camera and they do help no end. It’s a shame my lorry on this day didn’t have one
) and I have done exactly the same 
I had just pulled a rather nice looking receptionist at a firm in Becton, I was well in there and going to pick her up later that night to go for a few beers and a curry as her car was in the body shop, it had been hit up the arse by a tipper on the A13. I asked if she wanted a lift home, but she said her dad was coming to pick her up. The forklift driver came and got me out of reception to move the lorry back so he could get around the front and unload the driver’s side. I walked up to it, jumped in and backed up about twenty feet, apparently in the first two foot of that manouvere I hit the car that had parked behind me as I got in the cab and toatlly mangled it, both front wings, the bonnet and oil and water puddles on the floor type of mangled, guess who’s car it was? Yep, my new bird’s dad 
