I have just had a phone call from some solicitors acting for a company I use to work for. Prior to Xmas I was involved in an accident where a car came up my inside on a roundabout & whilst driving through a hatched area came into contact with my vehicle.
It now seems he is claiming I swapped lanes !!.
Am I willing to go to court they wanted to know…You zb bet.
How the zb can someone driving through a hatched area blame anyone but themselves ?.
Dont they realise a truck sometimes needs more than onelane?, also sounds like they were overtaking on the left so good luck mate.
jammymutt:
Dont they realise a truck sometimes needs more than onelane?, /quote]The real zb is that I was in lane, & had no need for any space outside of my lane.
Car drivers always take the pee when it comes to trucks!!!
Many years ago, I was trundling along the M4, minding me own business as you do. Fully freighted!!! Along comes a car doing slightly more than 70… watched him approaching in me mirror… no other vehicle about except for a truck behind me. As the car came alongside, it had a major blowout!! Now this is all happening in milliseconds though even when I think about it now, it took forever!! The car swerved towards the crash barrier, the guy pulled it away from there but straight across my path! I was doing 60 and as I said, fully freighted. I didn’t even get chance to brake but hit him full on in the side. This had the effect of spinning him slightly, then I saw him disappear up my nearside going the “wrong way”. Then he reappeared going backwards and went straight off the motorway. Now normally all motorways have banking but this was one section of the M4 that never! The car flew over a ditch, narrowly missing some of those ‘electricity boxes’ that were stood down in the dip. The car hammered into a tree going backwards. Now believe it or not, but when the Police arrived along with other emergency services, the couple got out of the car and walked!!! They had had their seat belts on!! The car was destroyed!!
Obviously the consequences of going into the tree frontwards don’t bear thinking about. The Police stated at the scene he had had a blowout. These guys are usually experienced Officers and know what they are talking about.
After several interviews, the Police took NO action against me. Then one day I receive a letter. The couple are sueing me!!! Noriwch Union came and interviewed me and I told them I was more than prepared to go to court to fight this.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, NORWICH UNION PAID OUT!!! I was furious as I was insured with NU at the time and as I said to them, when my car insurance was renewable, was they going to pump my premium up as I had had this accident?? They wouldn’t answer me!!! Needless to say, I have never used Norwich Union since for any Insurances of any type
i had to goto court recently about an accident two years ago wich involved myself and a car driver. i was delivering to asda in w.s.m. i drove down towards the delivery entrance wich happened to be about 2 lengths of my artic away from the car park exit. as i pulled up to the gates i completely blocked off the n/s lane so as to alow for me to drive into there gate. i pointed the cab into the gateway and the guy opened the gate, so in i go, the next thing there was a guy in a car shouting and cussing about me hitting him■■? slightly confused to say the least, i asked him where / how did i do this? his answer was "when you came into the entrance i went around the back of your trailer and you turned and hit my car? (what a [zb] i thought). well one thing led to another and the insurance company accused me and mine said it was his fault etc.etc, well this went on for 2yrs as i said, so now we are in the court room all ready to fly at this idiot. he said his bit and then i said mine etc etc and the judge(woman) said that in her opinion it was entirely me at fault■■? (gobsmacked know) when i asked to explain how she came to this decision she said " being a driver of such a large vehicle i should have got out my cab and walked around to the back of my trailer and made sure that no one was overtaking me when i was turning? (stunned now) so i said to her are you trying to tell me that i must get out off my truck every time i make a left turn into premises.junctions etc? she replied “yes”. and you guessed it mr [zb]car driver one the day. explain that one?
speechless 
As I have already been PMd for language not much I can say, heard loads of similar stories though my sympathies.
Sorry for the language but its very annoying to say the least 
A couple of months back I had an incident involving a car driver. In heavy traffic going towards the Dartford tunnels northbound a car came straight onto the motorway from the last slipway and tried to undertake me as me and other trucks moved over to the nearside lane. I saw her and stopped, she continued and brushed passed me making the slightest contact, realising that she’d made contact she pulled into the hard shoulder, I followed. The result of the “collision” was a 8 inch scratch on the offside rear wing. Thinking no more about it we exchanged details with the said woman apologising profusely for her actions. She drove off, as she was late for an appointment.
Two days later my firm has received a solicitors letter claiming the car is a write off and the car had to be towed away. The cheek of it, my boss shrugged his shoulders and had let his insurance sort it.
What gets me is that my boss’s insurance company will settle for a few thousand that go through the costly court process.
Makes me mad!!!
Since this incident and many others with our company we’ve been issued with RHA accident kits which includes camera, tape measure etc.
The camera’s a good idea. Got into a shunt with a car on a roundabout that had been remarked from two lanes turning right to one. (I was in the correct lane). Got out and took the photo’s. Got told by the driver I had been drinking. Fine says I , called the feds. Feds arrived and brethalysed the both of us. I was clear, he wasn’t. End of story. Arsey MD lost his licence. Good says I.
Why do car drivers always fill your braking distance? why do they always change lanes without indicating? why do they tailgate lorries then panic when they have to brake suddenly? why do they race along lane 3 on the motorway then when they realise they are going to miss their junction , do they cut across 3 lanes regardless of what`s in the way and only then do they indicate on the broken line of the slip road (usually one quick blink) the mind boggles!!!
I believe that car drivers should have large vehicle awareness as part of their test.
placidcasual:
Two days later my firm has received a solicitors letter claiming the car is a write off and the car had to be towed away. The cheek of it, my boss shrugged his shoulders and had let his insurance sort it.
What gets me is that my boss’s insurance company will settle for a few thousand that go through the costly court process.
Makes me mad!!!
Since this incident and many others with our company we’ve been issued with RHA accident kits which includes camera, tape measure etc.
This is a common ploy from people; I think it has something to do with the no win no fee law firms. They send a letter to the driver or owner of the vehicle hoping that they will settle out of court. Both my brother and a former employer have received letters like this after an accident and both got in touch with their insurance companies and nether of those people got any money. Once you tell them to deal with the insurance company most will drop it, you know it’s dodgy because the insurance companies should be dealing with the case and therefore should deal with all correspondence. Once it goes the insurance company they will look into it and will want to see the car and receipts for towing the vehicle off the motorway.
i had one going in to wolfrun hall in wolverhampton, part of the civic center.
it is a very tight left turn and you have to get on to the wrong side of the road with one wheel of the unit on one curb and the trailer up the other.
got on to the wrong side of the road indicating left with no one coming the other way, go to make the turn and some old grandad comes flying the otherway and stops on my frount bumper, thus causing me to block the road.
insted of just stopping to let me make the turn i was commited to or then backing up about 4 feet he then sits there gesticulating at me to move over and let him by, to say i was in disbelif is an understatement 
after explaining to him i couldnt go backwards as there was cars behind me and all he had to do was go backwards he starts getting obusive saying all trucks are a menace blah blah blah all the usual old crap we hear every day, the old bill tip up have a word then nick him for causing an obstruction, then tell me to proceed very carefully 
and they would watch me round took a bout 5 mins for a monuver the should have took 30seconds
on the way out at 2:05am the civic center disco had kicked out 5 mins earlier with 1200 drunk muppets hanging around (anyone who knows the area will agree it is a little on the tight side) and taxis for said drunk people all stopped on double yellows getting out was not fun, then said taxi drivers carving me up on the r/bs on the way out of town if i ever have to go to wolverhampton again it will be to soon 
chris
Carnage merchants,thats the best discription of your average car driver
One question…
WHERE ARE THEY… ■■?
When they sit in the middle lane on an empty M-way
When they sit in the fast lane until the very last second before moving over to a junction…
When they brake in the fast lane first, when doing the above
When they undertake you at any opportunity…
When they don’t indicate…
(I think some cars only have indicators as an optional extra… Merc’s for example… 
In the dealers buying a new C class…
Metallic paint… Tick
Sunroof… Tick
Aircon… Tick
Indicators… Don’t think so… I’m way too important for indicators… )
Where are their feeble little driving minds at these critical direction changing (or not.!! see point 1 ) moments… !!! NOT on the road that’s for sure…
Why on gods earth did someone PASS these fools and give them a license, when it’s quite obvious to ALL of us that they belong on the BUS…
Ejgit the lot of em… 
Oh… Sorry, did I get a bit carried away there… 
I’m off to bed…
Luv
Chrisie… 
Having read the various replies on this thread, I whole heartedly agree with the comment made. As roytheboy says, “Why do the always fill your braking distance?”, this happens to me regularly on my run on the M62 (w) towards the M18 jct. Idiots leaving it till the last minute then driving into the gap infront of me at about the 200m markers and then breaking to avoid the truck in front causing me to have to back off.
Tailgators get on my paps, as when checking my mirrors all I can notice every now and then is a rear view mirror going in and out of view, particularly on country roads when they are right up my backside and have to keep crossing out into the other lane to see if anything is coming so they know whether to overtake or not. Why not just leave plenty of space between the back of my truck and your car, eh, then you be able to see further down the road without swerving from side to side?
Quite regularly in town centres after I’ve made my deliveries I’m trundelling down the road when I see a car appear at the junction on the left, the driver seems to wait until I’m getting quite close and then…whoosh…decides he now wants to pull out in front of me as he doesn’t want holding up, which forces me to have to slow right down. I had two do that to me this morning, both ruddy brand new BMW ‘shirt and tie’ blokes. What was it I heard someone say the other day? Oh, “What’s the difference between a hedgehog and a BMW driver? Hedgehogs have (zb)on the outside.”. Apologies to any BMW owners on this site as you shouldn’t all be tarred with the same brush.
Also, car drivers, when parking in an empty layby in front of some shops, please park either at the start or end of the layby ! Nothing winds me up more aswell when I’m just coming to my delivery point and I see a nice empty layby and think “perfect!” indicate, start slowing down, then the nice car in front of me also want to stop there. No problem, it’s big enough for both us, until the duck-egg pulls up right in the middle, locks her car and starts walking away. I lightly press the horn, said woman turns round looks at me I point to the car - motioning her to pull forward and that I need to pull in so I can deliver, she turns round and buggers off. Thanks a lot. I’m now double parked with eight big heavy racks to get off, up the kerb and into the store.
I could go on, but I’ve been on nights and it’s been a hell of a shift, so it’s time for a few hours kip.
Yeti
[/b]edited for language if you need to spell if differently it’s not allowed mrs mix
These days doing deliveries and such I’ve usually got about 6 cones on the truck to put out to get cars to “pass easier” yearh. Also helps out with parking tickets. Although, saying that I still get cars parking right behind the truck, with no room to manouver.
Although on motorways I have found that using exhaust brakes to slow down cause problems for those idiots tailgating me, as they tend to watch the brakelights not the actual truck…
One of these days I am gonna have a serious problem, and I do hope I am carrying a suitable camera. Which brings me neatly to another point. I’ve a digital camera and recently was told by the Police that photos could not be used as any evidence as they could have been tampered with! We’ll see about that! Grr!
smeserver:
…snip…
One of these days I am gonna have a serious problem, and I do hope I am carrying a suitable camera. Which brings me neatly to another point. I’ve a digital camera and recently was told by the Police that photos could not be used as any evidence as they could have been tampered with! We’ll see about that! Grr!
This has crossed my mind too… about the Digital age and the fact that digital photos came be edited, and such. Does anyone know the full extent of this??, as I carry a digital camera too, for this very reason…
if diggy cams cant be used as evidence how come they can use them as evidence that you have been speeding ■■?
oddsodz:
if diggy cams cant be used as evidence how come they can use them as evidence that you have been speeding ■■?
Ahhhhh…
Very very very good point… That will be something to think about…
good god a mod agreeing with me !!!