Am i the only driver who gets worried when the road behind is empty?
If i’m tootling along on the motorway/ dual carriageway/ a-road and i check the mirrors and a previously busy road is empty, i get really worried! I wonder if it was something i did or has something fell off the trailer. Am i just paranoid? Does this afflict all drivers of flatbed motors or trailers?
*sits back in chair and awaits justification/ character assaination 
*
Maybe you were that much of in a trance you flew by a sign saying ROAD CLOSED■■? But seriously id rather be on the road alone than loads of idiots around, less likely to crash, and with the dodgy manouvers ive had this week alone so close to xmas I wish I was on the road alone.
Just one question - if it was busy and then it’s empty - where did you see the traffic go by looking in the mirrors ?
Rog, how about an example…
driving up the m42in a northerly direction from Brum, the motorway around me is quite busy. plenty of vehicles in front, passing me and behind me. as i pass j10 i concentrate on the vehicles leaving and then joining the motorway. when i get round to checking my mirrors again, the motorway behind is empty. surely not every vehicle left at j10?
I know that cars get held up by lorries overtaking each other but this can’t be the reason every time, can it? am i just more conscious of it because the road is empty?
Nah Timmo, it’s not just you.
I myself have, on occasions questioned why a previously busy road is suddenly empty. Did i cause an accident back there that was down to me or my load?
Not often but it does happen.
You aint losin yer marbles bud.
at the same time you to suddenly realise your truck suddenly got quickers up hills 
my boss has my marbles. when i started driving for him, i had to hand them in 
i drive a Daf 85cf 430. it NEVER goes quicker up hills 
maybe i’m so used to driving in traffic that an empty road is a novelty
hiabman:
Nah Timmo, it’s not just you.I myself have, on occasions questioned why a previously busy road is suddenly empty. Did i cause an accident back there that was down to me or my load?
Not often but it does happen.
Me too
It can be sometimes, quite “unnerving” 
timmo:
my boss has my marbles. when i started driving for him, i had to hand them ini drive a Daf 85cf 430. it NEVER goes quicker up hills
maybe i’m so used to driving in traffic that an empty road is a novelty
Maybe you go through some wormhole in the space and time and reappear in some alternative dimension were the roads are empty, facilities are great and you get paid a fortune for the job.
Sadly you reappear in this one before you can get your pay packet or stop for a break. 
So there you go a perfectly logical explaination, all explained and nothing to worry about.
timmo:
Rog, how about an example…driving up the m42in a northerly direction from Brum, the motorway around me is quite busy. plenty of vehicles in front, passing me and behind me. as i pass j10 i concentrate on the vehicles leaving and then joining the motorway. when i get round to checking my mirrors again, the motorway behind is empty. surely not every vehicle left at j10?
I know that cars get held up by lorries overtaking each other but this can’t be the reason every time, can it? am i just more conscious of it because the road is empty?
What you describe can often happen and, by good use of mirror timing, you can see them leaving the motorway.
What tends to happen in real life after a long day is that a driver is driving on semi auto pilot and does not see the traffic leaving - not an unsafe situation in most circumstances but it does highlight the end-of-day lack of awareness that was there at the start of the day.
ROG:
timmo:
Rog, how about an example…driving up the m42in a northerly direction from Brum, the motorway around me is quite busy. plenty of vehicles in front, passing me and behind me. as i pass j10 i concentrate on the vehicles leaving and then joining the motorway. when i get round to checking my mirrors again, the motorway behind is empty. surely not every vehicle left at j10?
I know that cars get held up by lorries overtaking each other but this can’t be the reason every time, can it? am i just more conscious of it because the road is empty?
What you describe can often happen and, by good use of mirror timing, you can see them leaving the motorway.
What tends to happen in real life after a long day is that a driver is driving on semi auto pilot and does not see the traffic leaving - not an unsafe situation in most circumstances but it does highlight the end-of-day lack of awareness that was there at the start of the day.
so being a professional driver am i meant to “account” in my head for each vehicle that was behind me say 2 minutes ago in 8 lanes of motorway traffic , should i know by reg number and colour if they took the junction behind me or have overtaken me or pulled onto the hard shoulder for some quick relief etc all without taking my eyes off the road
Cruise Control:
so being a professional driver am i meant to “account” in my head for each vehicle that was behind me say 2 minutes ago in 8 lanes of motorway traffic
Don’t be silly
There is a big difference in A LOT OF VEHICLES to NO VEHICLES
hahahahaha.
thought it was just me,i start checking all my cars are still on,when i see a empty road behind me.
quality!!
hiabman:
Nah Timmo, it’s not just you.I myself have, on occasions questioned why a previously busy road is suddenly empty. Did i cause an accident back there that was down to me or my load?
Not often but it does happen.
You aint losin yer marbles bud.
What’s worse is if the traffic has disappeared and I pass a couple of emergency vehicles going in the opposite direction.
Possibly paranoia.
Stopped for a break yesterday morning and the travel news said there was an accident a mile behind me.
Slightly different I know but when I used to live near heathrow was going over a railway bridge and thought to my self,this is bloody quiet for 5.30 in the evening,not a car,bus,wagon in sight,turns out all the roads bar the side road I came out of had been closed as the police were chasing a gunman around the streets of Feltham
Simon. 
PMSL
Ive done this , get paranoid thinking the back doors open and ive left 29 tonne of oats across 3 lanes.
buck rogers:
hahahahaha.
thought it was just me,i start checking all my cars are still on,when i see a empty road behind me.
quality!!
Me too, its a relief when I see traffic reappear and start to catch up and fly past, the though of a tractor landing on someones bonnet worries me 
Big Joe:
buck rogers:
hahahahaha.
thought it was just me,i start checking all my cars are still on,when i see a empty road behind me.
quality!!Me too, its a relief when I see traffic reappear and start to catch up and fly past, the though of a tractor landing on someones bonnet worries me
trying to kink the unit and trailer on a straight road to do a head count
Phew glad i’m not alone on this one! i like to think i’d notice if a large piece of bright green pipe came off the trailer but i don’t relax until the cars come flying past again
i was talking to a mate the other day and he thought he’d lost his load while going round an island. he stopped further down the road and cross checked his load against the delivery note. turned out the crash he’d heard was a lorry on the other side of the island losing control and smashing through the railings!
No, me too. I worry that something’s blown out of a skip I’m carrying when the road empties like that, and the next thing I’ll see is the fuzz pulling me over!