as reported in the sun newspaper today,two OAPs have been killed by a HGV reversing into them in sunbury on thames,i for one do not believe the driver was at fault because I and I am sure many other drivers have had plenty of experience of this,[not the death part]I have lost count of the amount of times I have reversed only to see some person walk behind the lorry while its moving,not so long ago I was at homebase Isleworth,you have to reverse up the service entrance,it was around 08 45 as I started reversing the beeper was going and about half a dozen suits walked behind the lorry,they normally cut through homebase on the way to their offices,when I happened to mention to them what a very stupid thing to do all I got was filthy looks,its sad two OAPs died but they could not have been concentrating or were hard of hearing not to hear the reverse beeper,no doubt all the lorry hating public will be out in force with their usual spiel like THE HGVS ARE THE ANTI CHRIST, BAN THEM,or some other kind of rubbish,they are bound to jump on the bandwagon
Just yesterday I was reversing & another truck driver thought it was a good idea to open the door & walk behind as I’m reversing, apologised after he realised how silly & dangerous his actions were.
Poor old folks, what a way for their lives to end.
That little Daf rigid isn’t the lorry in question surely?
Pimpdaddy:
Just yesterday I was reversing & another truck driver though it was a good idea to open the door & walk behind as I’m reversing, apologised after he realised how silly & dangerous his actions were.
unusual for a driver to do it
Juddian:
Poor old folks, what a way for their lives to end.That little Daf rigid isn’t the lorry in question surely?
You will be surprised at how much damage a small vehicle can do
Many years ago ( son was about 7 he now 25 ) a then school friend dad was killed when a lorry reversed into him pushing him against another this was in the local council yard as he was part of the delivery team IIRC it was a 7.5t that hit him ( ok the family were well compensated a year or so later he went to private school but non of that will compensate for him growing up without his dad )
I’ve very nearly run someone over whilst they were walking directly in front of the wagon an inch from the bonnet.
I was reversing right, into a side road with a 6ft wall on my nearside, a cyclist decides to ride in between the wall and the nearside of my cab as I was swinging the unit back round with only inches to spare. If I had not been watching him in my mirror he would have had to be scraped off both the wall and my cab corner.
I shouted out of the window that he was a ■■■■■■■ he told me to ■■■■ off 
as he sped off 
(where maybe an apology would have been more appropriate) even though I had just saved his life.
If I had cabbaged him I sure as hell know who would have got the blame.
There’s something fundementally wrong with our culture. At inquests the coronor NEVER says
“They died because of their own stupid fault”.
Without someone to blame therefore, the default situation is to blame anybody else involved in the “accident” who survived, especially if without a scratch.
I don’t know if they were stupid or not, but according to the link two elderly people, a husband and wife have apparently been killed by a small lorry reversing.
There have been kids on bikes riding round delivery points when we’ve trying to deliver there, pedestrians have crossed behind us, cyclists are a law unto themselves, and a myriad of other obstacles trying to get under our wheels, but we are supposed to be professional drivers, it is our job to ensure our path and the area of vehicle sweep is clear.
If there are people about bloody stop…if there’s kids riding bikes round your lorry, bloody stop and don’t move till they’ve buggered off, go and get a cup of tea the kids’ll soon get bored and sling their hooks.
80 year olds do not suddenly appear from nowhere.
You can be as defensive as you want, none of us know what has happened here, except for one thing…an old couple are dead before their time and its a bloody tragedy, and its another episode our industry could do without.
Pretty much daily, I am left open mouthed and speechless at the blatant disregard the pedestrianised masses seem to have for their own safety. I sometimes genuinely wonder if I have become invisible to them, despite hazards, bleepers and either a white or brightly coloured 30ft box slowly closing down on them. I also strongly believe that shops and businesses should be held more legally responsible for marshalling the areas required to get to their own drop points, as they are frequently in horrendously overcrowded locations. The blame game is unjustly heavily biased against the driver, and rear view cameras are the only other things I can think of to reduce the ever present risk of these things occurring. I suppose the cost of retro-fitting is one of the the main reasons older trucks do not have these potentially life saving systems, but ALL newly built trucks should really have them as a legal requirement by now. Sadly, still much easier and cheaper to blame one person for everything that goes wrong.
■■■■■■■:
I suppose the cost of retro-fitting is one of the the main reasons older trucks do not have these potentially life saving systems
Doesn’t have to be expensive, can’t be that hard to fit either…
amazon.co.uk/Monitor-Rearvie … iew+camera
animal:
Juddian:
Poor old folks, what a way for their lives to end.That little Daf rigid isn’t the lorry in question surely?
You will be surprised at how much damage a small vehicle can do
Many years ago ( son was about 7 he now 25 ) a then school friend dad was killed when a lorry reversed into him pushing him against another this was in the local council yard as he was part of the delivery team IIRC it was a 7.5t that hit him ( ok the family were well compensated a year or so later he went to private school but non of that will compensate for him growing up without his dad )
Same thing happened here in Coleraine, local council yard fella was behind a skip lorry and got crushed to death, horrible stuff, and tho it was deemed the drivers fault I don’t always believe that’s right, that driver has to live with that for the rest of his days, In my eyes the fella killed shouldn’t have been behind the lorry, no disrespect.
Kaistar:
■■■■■■■:
I suppose the cost of retro-fitting is one of the the main reasons older trucks do not have these potentially life saving systemsDoesn’t have to be expensive, can’t be that hard to fit either…
amazon.co.uk/Monitor-Rearvie … iew+camera
Very credible point Kaistar. Perhaps then, a lot of companies are too busy paying lip service to h&s, rather than being pro active and actually coughing up?
V8-Chris:
animal:
Juddian:
Poor old folks, what a way for their lives to end.That little Daf rigid isn’t the lorry in question surely?
You will be surprised at how much damage a small vehicle can do
Many years ago ( son was about 7 he now 25 ) a then school friend dad was killed when a lorry reversed into him pushing him against another this was in the local council yard as he was part of the delivery team IIRC it was a 7.5t that hit him ( ok the family were well compensated a year or so later he went to private school but non of that will compensate for him growing up without his dad )
Same thing happened here in Coleraine, local council yard fella was behind a skip lorry and got crushed to death, horrible stuff, and tho it was deemed the drivers fault I don’t always believe that’s right, that driver has to live with that for the rest of his days, In my eyes the fella killed shouldn’t have been behind the lorry, no disrespect.
Heard about that what happened to the driver
Not sure, I know that a council chief during the hseni investigation admitted failures in their H&S policy he went down for it I think, I think the driver was held responsible at the start but not sure of the final outcome, man killed was 39 year old from Coleraine wife and two young kids, doesn’t bear thinking about,
Very sad you would think they would do something about it
Apparently the H&S has been stepped up and they say that they will do everything they can to make sure nothing like this happens again, it’s just sad it takes a death to make them get there act together,
That’s just like them always complaining about speeding and being on the phone
Always blaming the driver
I can assure you that the two people tragically killed in this incident were far from frail elderly people portrayed in the ‘we don’t care what we print as long as we sell papers’ media. They both cared for their disabled daughter, so would hardly have been carers if they were not fit for this role, and due to their daughter being disabled they also took on the role of parents rather than grand-parents to their grand-children. To say “they could not have been concentrating or were hard of hearing not to hear the reverse beeper” is quite an ignorant comment, as that is an assumption, obviously based due to the media stating they were ‘OAPs’ and therefore stereotyping thinking they were hard of hearing; the facts are that neither of them had problems with hearing, eyesight or mobility, they were fitter and more active than people less than half their age. As you would be aware, lorries don’t have to have beepers, but if they are fitted it would be a MOT failure if it was not working. How this happened has thrown people who knew them well as they would also be aware just how safety conscious and alert they were and didn’t take any chances. The gentleman involved used to drive all manner and types of vehicles from heavy farm machinery to goods vehicles, so was very aware of lorries and their surroundings. The lady involved also drove and would have been aware of vehicles and how they were operated.
Also, the photograph of the ‘Scene of lorry accident’ The Sun published was nowhere near the scene, what they printed was the entrance and exit of the road leading to the Tesco store (known as Escot Road). The Sun did manage to get the fact they were married correct, unlike the Mirror, though they got their home town wrong, the ages they didn’t know, and the people that have been quoted in local papers (to the accident) said they arrived afterwards and did not see it happen, it has been said that the lorry was going forwards and others saying it was reversing, so if people were unaware, the papers certainly would be too.
I sincerely hope that the comment “They died because of their own stupid fault”. is not directed at the couple who sadly lost their lives in Sunbury, but I don’t think I would be shocked if it was, not because of the people commenting in this forum, but by the media printing incorrect information and portraying them as if they were in the wrong, of course, I am also not saying that it was the driver’s, I can imagine he is suffering too. What I do know though is the papers were just printing this for filling up column inches and didn’t care what they put in the papers or on the websites! This has caused a lot of damage to a heartbroken family, which people seem to have forgotten about. The distraught family and friends of the couple didn’t have the chance to say their goodbyes, and have the image of their loved ones taking their last breaths laying on the road in a public place without them being with them holding them and trying to comfort them and their loved ones being surrounded by strangers; they also have a lot of unanswered questions which is tormenting for them to say the least. All of us have people we love, imagine if it was them and they had their lives cut short and you were denied being able to say goodbye and telling them how much you loved them and not knowing or understanding why and how it could possibly happen. Where this couple were walking is frequented constantly by many people of all different ages, it could have literally been anyone of any age that this happened too. There is a purpose built bridge from Tesco to the Sunbury Cross shopping precinct which also includes a ramp for wheelchairs/pushchairs etc., so it is almost encouraging people to walk between the two, I have walked this route on countless occasions before, as have many others who have and still continue to do.
What I am basically saying is please don’t jump to false conclusions based on what a tacky tabloid has published, this couple were fit and active, and had absolutely nothing wrong with their vision, hearing or mobility. They would also have been able to have run out of the way if they sensed danger, there are question marks as to how it could have happened, and it is deeply upsetting to see the media printing utter nonsense about two very dear people who were much loved in their community who did so much for many people.