I’m a pretty sensible driver and hardly ever invoke the wrath of my fellow drivers, except for the inevitable situations where I have to momentarily obstruct cars while manoeuvring etc.
However, today I really ■■■■■■ off an arctic driver and it left me with that doubt that perhaps I’d unknowingly done something foolish.
So, we’re coming off a roundabout. Three lanes, with the right being an overflow one which merges with the outside lane slightly further up. I’m in the middle lane in an unladen 18t flatbed and there’s a DPD arctic in the left lane. Immediately after exiting the roundabout he indicates and starts moving over. I wouldn’t say he exactly forced me over but he definitely started slowly encroaching at which point I moved into the outer lane just to be safe - I did wonder if he’d not seen me but it seems unlikely.
Thing is, I’m now I’m the overflow lane and gradually running out of space. As I was clearly accelerating faster I just used the kickdown and went for it. I moved back into the middle lane with a decent amount of space (I always check rear camera) but it’s conceivable that he may have braked to let me over.
As soon as I moved over he lays on the horn for a good 5-10 seconds and starts flashing etc. I’m not sure what he expected me to do. Surely it’s a bit of a ■■■■ move to push somebody into the overflow lane and then expect them to hit the anchors and fall in behind you, especially as we could’ve presumably just continued in our respective lanes without him moving over.
So I did wonder if maybe I read the situation wrong. DPD don’t strike me as the type of company who would put up with aggressive driving (I could be wrong) so I wonder whether he was maybe moving over as he needed more space etc, but surely he would’ve just straddled both lanes from the outset had this been the case?
Tailschwing:
I wonder whether he was maybe moving over as he needed more space etc, but surely he would’ve just straddled both lanes from the outset had this been the case?
That was my first thought, needing more room on the exit and no you wouldn’t automatically straddle both lanes from the start. Would help if you could put a link to it on Google maps, we’ll be able to give a better idea of whether this was the case or he was just being a nob.
Truth be told, I’d struggle to remember the exact location as I was picking up work from our other depot and was in three big towns I’m entirely unfamiliar with - loads of ringroads/roundabouts and I was having to sat nav it. Did about 50 jobs so lots of back and forth.
Perhaps a different scenario but I always straddle two lanes if I’m in an rigid with a big overhang and need space whilst turning right. It was like he just started moving over without waiting to see what I’d do, which makes me think he maybe did need more space. Perhaps he felt I was cramping his space, but I don’t generally ever have this issue as I’m pretty good at judging it and give arctics space if it looks like they’ll need it.
Tailschwing:
Truth be told, I’d struggle to remember the exact location as I was picking up work from our other depot and was in three big towns I’m entirely unfamiliar with - loads of ringroads/roundabouts and I was having to sat nav it. Did about 50 jobs so lots of back and forth.
Perhaps a different scenario but I always straddle two lanes if I’m in an rigid with a big overhang and need space whilst turning right. It was like he just started moving over without waiting to see what I’d do, which makes me think he maybe did need more space. Perhaps he felt I was cramping his space, but I don’t generally ever have this issue as I’m pretty good at judging it and give arctics space if it looks like they’ll need it.
Under normal situations I’m not a big fan of lorries overtaking other lorries on roundabouts. On most roundabouts things tend to get a bit too close for comfort tbh and I find it all a bit unnecessary. Perhaps in the o/p’s case there was plenty of room and the DPD driver was just being a ■■■■ because he could. I don’t know, I wasn’t there.
It tends to be doubly frustrating for me as the lorry I drive has a big engine and we generally run quite light so I find myself either feathering the throttle to let (the usually fully loaded muckaway lorry) past or I just say “sod him” and leave him hundreds of yards behind me still stubbornly clinging to lane two at the head of a stream of frustrated car drivers.
the maoster:
Under normal situations I’m not a big fan of lorries overtaking other lorries on roundabouts. On most roundabouts things tend to get a bit too close for comfort tbh and I find it all a bit unnecessary.
Absolutely, so many things can, and on this occasion, did go a bit wrong.
Being the professional driver, could or should the OP have wondered if the artic was going to do something like a lane change. If so, perhaps the OP could have held back and avoided the near-miss. Think of it another way, if the two had collided, the OP would start off to be at 550/fault and thats rarely a good position to be in.
the maoster:
Under normal situations I’m not a big fan of lorries overtaking other lorries on roundabouts. On most roundabouts things tend to get a bit too close for comfort tbh and I find it all a bit unnecessary. Perhaps in the o/p’s case there was plenty of room and the DPD driver was just being a ■■■■ because he could. I don’t know, I wasn’t there.
It tends to be doubly frustrating for me as the lorry I drive has a big engine and we generally run quite light so I find myself either feathering the throttle to let (the usually fully loaded muckaway lorry) past or I just say “sod him” and leave him hundreds of yards behind me still stubbornly clinging to lane two at the head of a stream of frustrated car drivers.
Cheers for the replies guys. That’s why I posted as I’d always rather learn from any mistakes I make rather than just stick my finger up and be a nob.
That said, I wasn’t overtaking him on the roundabout, we were clear of it when he barged over. We were both in our respective lanes on the approach, but to be fair had I been more familiar with where I was going I’d probs have been in the left rather than middle lane.