Last night was the first time I’ve had an arse clenching moment and I thought, “that’s it, my time has come” whilst driving and there was nothing I could do about it.
I was travelling s/b on the M1 towards my drop in Luton and was about 2 and half mile from Newport Pagnell services and the matrix boards were flashing up," Incident 40mph" As we got to the entry slip road from Newport Pagnell the traffic was stood so on approach as you do I put the hazards on to warn others behind me of standing traffic.
I came to a stop but unusually for the time of day which was around 17:00 traffic was not bumper to bumper and there was quite a big gap between us in the last line of traffic in the queue and others approaching. I looked in my mirror at this point to notice an artic in my lane who obviously was not concentrating heading stright for me probably on the limiter hazards flashing, he then locked up his trailer wheels, the trailer started to snake and then strighten up and somehow to avoid smashing stright into the back of me he had to use the entry slip of the services and the hard shoulder to come to a stop.
He came to a stop about halfway down my trailer so imagine if he couldn’t use the slip road or hard shoulder to avoid me? Luckily there was no one coming out of the services or broke down or even taking a break on the hard shoulder otherwise there would’ve been carnage.
All I could do when I saw him approaching was to grip hold of the steering wheel and tense up, God knows why maybe just instinct and think of my daughter and partner and that I could well have been crushed between the McBurney artic that was in front of me and the Yodel artic that had somehow avoided hitting me and him becoming a fatality and possibly even myself because the point he had stopped halfway down my trailer suggests if he had hit it full on then there probably wouldn’t have been much hope for either of us coming out alive.
Buy a lottery ticket, somebody looking after you .
Close call that must of been.
He obviously wasnt paying attention to up ahead traffic.
I had a royal mail muppet nearly push me out to the hard shoulder at 3am early sunday morning on the m25 when he went past he had a ipad on steering wheel!!!
Get couple of quid on the lottery this weekend Steve!
That’s the trouble on the road nowadays,now matter if your the best driver on the planet you can’t control those around you and it only takes a moment of their stupidity that can kill you and there’s nothing you will be able to do to stop it once the chain of events happens,it’s always a worry in the back of your mind.
xichrisxi:
That’s the trouble on the road nowadays,now matter if your the best driver on the planet you can’t control those around you and it only takes a moment of their stupidity that can kill you and there’s nothing you will be able to do to stop it once the chain of events happens,it’s always a worry in the back of your mind.
No you can’t control other drivers but there is quite a lot you can do to help if things do go wrong. For instance in a situation like Steves (and he did nothing wrong) you can stay well back from the vehicle in front and if you do see a vehicle coming towards you from behind that does not look like it’s going to stop you can start moving again and prevent such a big impact and it also save you from being pushed into the vehicle in front.
I am like Steve constantly watching my mirrors in a situation like that. The professionals amongst us will of course do that all the time but you do see a lot sitting 2 inches from the vehicle in fornt which is asking for trouble if things go wrong.
albion1971:
xichrisxi:
That’s the trouble on the road nowadays,now matter if your the best driver on the planet you can’t control those around you and it only takes a moment of their stupidity that can kill you and there’s nothing you will be able to do to stop it once the chain of events happens,it’s always a worry in the back of your mind.No you can’t control other drivers but there is quite a lot you can do to help if things do go wrong. For instance in a situation like Steves (and he did nothing wrong) you can stay well back from the vehicle in front and if you do see a vehicle coming towards you from behind that does not look like it’s going to stop you can start moving again and prevent such a big impact and it also save you from being pushed into the vehicle in front.
I am like Steve constantly watching my mirrors in a situation like that. The professionals amongst us will of course do that all the time but you do see a lot sitting 2 inches from the vehicle in fornt which is asking for trouble if things go wrong.
Very true but there still events that you will have absolutely no control over like the clowns that overtake on bends ect ect
Something like this…
youtu.be/Ixf11ikxJ8M
Not the drivers fault he had a blow out but it shows that all those caught up in it could do nothing to avoid it.
Horrific
Nearly happened to me on the road from glastonbury back to the motorway. Its a little tight in places etc but it’s a 50mph road. Whilst I was bobtail waiting behind two cars statutory whilst the first car pulled across the road onto their driveway I saw an artic coming. I put the hazards on and starting flashing the brake lights whilst edging forward the closer he got. He locked up his trailer which wiggled abit a lucky for everyone I think he was empty so stopped behind me in time.
Thing I found strange though was after this fright further down the road he is right on my ■■■ all the way to the motorway. Anyone else I would think he would hang back further then normal.
Always hang back and leave plenty of space. You’re not going anywhere so there’s no need to be reading the small print of the vehicle in front of you.
Horrid feeling and a good reminder to leave a gap.
2 things
- How much room did you leave from the motor in front ?
- Was your hand break on ?
I only ask as there’s 2 factors that would help in surviving if you had been rear ended.
By no way would you be criticised if you hadn’t.
A few years ago I was rear ended whilst solo so I know how you felt watching that lump of metal coming at you.
Yep I leave room at the front and hand break is on …
Had similar happen to me when the catthorpe interchange was nearside lane off m6.
Standard to be stopped a mile from exit so doing all the right things, gradually reducing speed hazards on for a sec, braking of course and leaving a safe gap to the vehicle in front as per Albion’s post.
But looking in my mirror I could see a obvious foreign registered vehicle (nationality of driver unimportant) approaching at full speed.
This is it I thought and braced for impact. But instinctively I angled her slightly in my lane in a self protection measure to someway deflect impact towards the hard shoulder and avoid 30ton of container coming through the cab. It’s up for debate whether this is correct or not.
Anyway the truck in question appeared alongside me on the hard shoulder travelling at great speed with the driver frantically trying to stop.
What surprises me was this all seemed to take place in slow motion, perhaps it was the adrenaline.
The only thing that wasn’t in slow motion was me ring peace that was twitching like a rabbits nose.
quote … ‘you can start moving again and prevent such a big impact and it also save you from being pushed into the vehicle in front.’
How the hell would that work if you are already moving slowly towards the vehicle in front ■■
xichrisxi:
That’s the trouble on the road nowadays,now matter if your the best driver on the planet you can’t control those around you and it only takes a moment of their stupidity that can kill you and there’s nothing you will be able to do to stop it once the chain of events happens,it’s always a worry in the back of your mind.
Agreed. There also seems to be double the amount of traffic these days from say 15 years ago. 
Can’t remember the last time I had the road to myself, so to speak.
raymundo:
quote … ‘you can start moving again and prevent such a big impact and it also save you from being pushed into the vehicle in front.’How the hell would that work if you are already moving slowly towards the vehicle in front ■■
There’s always one that can’t understand…You are stopped in stationary traffic and you have left a large gap in front of you.
You notice an artic hurtling towards your rear end so instead of staying still you move forward to lessen the impact or to give him more time to stop.
Better than sitting with the handbrake and watching it plough into you in my opinion but different circumstances can dictate the best action at the time.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
Last night was the first time I’ve had an arse clenching moment and I thought, “that’s it, my time has come” whilst driving and there was nothing I could do about it.
I was travelling s/b on the M1 towards my drop in Luton and was about 2 and half mile from Newport Pagnell services and the matrix boards were flashing up," Incident 40mph" As we got to the entry slip road from Newport Pagnell the traffic was stood so on approach as you do I put the hazards on to warn others behind me of standing traffic.
I came to a stop but unusually for the time of day which was around 17:00 traffic was not bumper to bumper and there was quite a big gap between us in the last line of traffic in the queue and others approaching. I looked in my mirror at this point to notice an artic in my lane who obviously was not concentrating heading stright for me probably on the limiter hazards flashing, he then locked up his trailer wheels, the trailer started to snake and then strighten up and somehow to avoid smashing stright into the back of me he had to use the entry slip of the services and the hard shoulder to come to a stop.
He came to a stop about halfway down my trailer so imagine if he couldn’t use the slip road or hard shoulder to avoid me? Luckily there was no one coming out of the services or broke down or even taking a break on the hard shoulder otherwise there would’ve been carnage.
All I could do when I saw him approaching was to grip hold of the steering wheel and tense up, God knows why maybe just instinct and think of my daughter and partner and that I could well have been crushed between the McBurney artic that was in front of me and the Yodel artic that had somehow avoided hitting me and him becoming a fatality and possibly even myself because the point he had stopped halfway down my trailer suggests if he had hit it full on then there probably wouldn’t have been much hope for either of us coming out alive.
had that once in Germany,just north of Kassel on A2. Lorry & Trailer full of Gravel. Driver was laying over to handle the Fusebox on Passengerside when i overtokk them. Im just in fron of him was standing Traffik. Stood 10 Meter behind another Lorry,turned Steeringwheel full left,all Brakes open, and waited for impact. In last Moment he turned to Hardshoulder,but was a bit passed me till i heard his Brakes.
You need a Lot of luck,not just cleverness alone to get old 
albion1971:
raymundo:
quote … ‘you can start moving again and prevent such a big impact and it also save you from being pushed into the vehicle in front.’How the hell would that work if you are already moving slowly towards the vehicle in front ■■
There’s always one that can’t understand…You are stopped in stationary traffic and you have left a large gap in front of you.
You notice an artic hurtling towards your rear end so instead of staying still you move forward to lessen the impact or to give him more time to stop.
Better than sitting with the handbrake and watching it plough into you in my opinion but different circumstances can dictate the best action at the time.
Well, depending on how you read the original statement, it can be a little confusing - I initially read it as “accelerating forwards…can prevent you from being pushed into the truck in front”, whereas in fact the reverse is true. Of course, leaving a bigger gap can prevent you from being pushed into the truck in front, and accelerating forwards can reduce the acceleration due to the impact.
Personally, I’d also say that if you think you’re about to be rear-ended, then getting yourself properly seated (bolt upright, back against the seat and head back against the headrest) is also going to help reduce any injuries.
You’re unlikely to get the thing going more than maybe 10-15 mph if you’re lucky are you Albion? Is that giving to make a lot of difference? Don’t want to accelerate too much and start to close the gap to the vehicle in front do you? If you leave too much of a gap people in cars and vans will start of to fill it.
What about turning full lock towards HS if in lane one and release the brakes to lessen impact force. I’ve heard of people taking off their handbrake in car parks as someone is about to back into their car, the cars just roll along abit at low speed, lessening impact dents etc?
Same idea scaled up?
If I was stopped and I saw in the mirror that another truck is likely to plough into the back of me my actions would be I believe to grab the steering wheel a ■■■■ site harder than I would me ■■■■ while staring at the mirror with me gob open. I couldn’t see myself consciously saying to my self ‘hang on the truck is going to hit into me in three seconds so I will put the truck in gear, release the handbrake and slowly move forwards so any impact speed will be reduced’.
But in saying that as all my brakes are off a little shunt up the arse will increase that speed significantly so more chance of smacking the vehicle in front.
I think that’s how it would pan out anyhow ! But I don’t profess to being or ever have been a superior driving supremo unlike some.