Scenario 1:
You’re driving with a moderately laden artic on a single carriageway with a national speed limit. Weather and visibility good.
A car suddenly emerges from a side road. You react timely, hit the brakes but are unable to avoid hitting the car.
Driver cam shows you were travelling at 40mph when you hit the brakes.
Scenario 2:
Same as scenario 1, but this time the driver cam shows you were travelling at 48mph
What would be the likely consequences to you, the driver of the artic?
Nez
You’d possibly be found to be (partly) at fault for the accident, as if you were travelling at or below the speed limit it may not have happened.
BUT, I know a guy who was doing around 100mph in a 30 zone on his motorbike, a car pulled out and he hit the side, when the police arrived the car driver said “he was flying up the road, probably doing around 100” to which the copper replied “you saw him then, why did you pull out??”
In the second the LGV driver would probably be deemed to have some responsibility for causing more damage than the first due to the higher illegal speed
The hypothetical answer is no one knows, if you are breaking the law you are always liable for a spanking
I think it’s safe to say if you are breaking the law you will be dealt with as such. The excess speed could easily be a contributory factor in the accident
So who would get his hypothetical pants pulled down -
axletramp:
So who would get his hypothetical pants pulled down -
- The villain driving the lorry a bit over the limit?
- The old geezer in the car who came out of the side road when it wasn’t clear?
old geezer = either DWDCaT or dangerous
Lorry = excess speed
Sounds like you’ve just experienced scenario 2 !!
48mph in what we presume a 40mph limit in an HGV, points & fine & total blame, what do you expect.
Limits are limits stick to them, if people go over them & an incident occurs then don’t winge or blame anyone but yourself.
benbailey81:
The excess speed could easily be a contributory factor in the accident
However - had the lorry been doing 56 mph he may well have been past the junction before the car pulled out, thus avoiding the collision. Excess speed is rarely the sole, actual cause of crashes.
In no way am I condoning breaking the speed limit, but I don’t accept that doing so is the main cause of crashes; most are down to driver error and speed merely exacerbates them.
Not necessarily, but i’m going back 13 years to when coppers might have been able to and did use some common sense, and i don’t know if this is still allowed.
Mate of mine in line of traffic all doing about 50 mph 2 way road, bloke in car suddenly turns right for no reason across the front of my mate who T bones him, seriously hurt the geezer was.
Plod made mention of my mates speed on tacho, but no further action as his driving and all records were fine, if the line of traffic had been doing 40 the accident would still have happened as the bloke seemingly couldn’t see an artic, barely a scratch to the Scania and he carried on with his work after the usual.
Boo9729:
Sounds like you’ve just experienced scenario 2 !!48mph in what we presume a 40mph limit in an HGV, points & fine & total blame, what do you expect.
Limits are limits stick to them, if people go over them & an incident occurs then don’t winge or blame anyone but yourself.
This is purely hypothetical…it HASN’T just happened to me, thank (insert name of preferred deity here)!
I was in an argument with another driver who thinks it is worth (ME) taking the above risk, so he (and others waiting on my trailer) can start their weekends 15 minutes earlier!!
gardun:
benbailey81:
The excess speed could easily be a contributory factor in the accidentHowever - had the lorry been doing 56 mph he may well have been past the junction before the car pulled out, thus avoiding the collision. Excess speed is rarely the sole, actual cause of crashes.
In no way am I condoning breaking the speed limit, but I don’t accept that doing so is the main cause of crashes; most are down to driver error and speed merely exacerbates them.
I’m not saying it’s the main cause, I said it would have been a contributing factor. And I can guarantee if the car driver had died in this hypothetical situation the hgv driver would be up for death by dangerous/careless driving based solely on the excess speed. I’ve dealt with hundreds of road traffic collisions in my time in the police and a lot of the time it is difficult to point blame and find the exact cause. But if someone is blatantly breaking the speed limit, especially in a large vehicle, it makes it very easy to point the finger. Outside of the police, a friend of mine ran over and killed an elderly man who was crossing the road. He was driving at 37 in a 30. He was convicted in crown court of death by careless driving. The old man didn’t even look and just stepped out so it was his fault too but the excess speed meant my friend didn’t have a leg to stand on.
benbailey81:
gardun:
benbailey81:
The excess speed could easily be a contributory factor in the accidentHowever - had the lorry been doing 56 mph he may well have been past the junction before the car pulled out, thus avoiding the collision. Excess speed is rarely the sole, actual cause of crashes.
In no way am I condoning breaking the speed limit, but I don’t accept that doing so is the main cause of crashes; most are down to driver error and speed merely exacerbates them.I’m not saying it’s the main cause, I said it would have been a contributing factor. And I can guarantee if the car driver had died in this hypothetical situation the hgv driver would be up for death by dangerous/careless driving based solely on the excess speed. I’ve dealt with hundreds of road traffic collisions in my time in the police and a lot of the time it is difficult to point blame and find the exact cause. But if someone is blatantly breaking the speed limit, especially in a large vehicle, it makes it very easy to point the finger. Outside of the police, a friend of mine ran over and killed an elderly man who was crossing the road. He was driving at 37 in a 30. He was convicted in crown court of death by careless driving. The old man didn’t even look and just stepped out so it was his fault too but the excess speed meant my friend didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Fair comment!