I could rant for England now.......(deep breath) but im not, im chillin insted
Grrrrrrrr
Moderator: Moderators
Well I have to jump in here I am one of the much hated HGV drivers I drive a 26 tonne Scania they are limited by law to 40 mph not 45 of single carriage ways and the reason for the need to over take another HGV that is only going about 2 mph slower than us is because when you have set that cruise control button you are determined that the brake pedal is only a last resort lol, we aint all that bad i don't see why they need to be restricted to such a rediculusly low speed anyway 
Me neither!
Trucks these days are far more capable of being stopped at short notice in a timely distance. The overall techology is safer too.
Let em do 70 on the Motorways and 60 on A roads! We'd get deliveries faster and it'd cause less traffic clogging.
Mind you, some of the problems is down to road hogging pricks in their HGVs.
For example:
Theres a 1 mile stretch of 5% uphill gradient on the M90 I have to travel on each day on the way home.
And because there is always some hooooge truck struggeling to make 30mph along this stretch, everying, and I mean EVERYTHING is on the outside lane. Including trucks struggeling to make 31mph.
Net result: Traffic abruptly brakes from 70/90mph to 20mph as drivers take action to avoif the prick in the Artic that pulls out at the last moment to overtake the struggling HGV. To exacerbate the issue, you have idiotic drivers who drive right up to the arse of anythign in front of them in the section of Motorway, then hit the brakes... hard.
On more than one occasion I've had to really stand on the brakes cos the twat in the white Transit Hicube in front of me left it to the very last second to react to the slow moving traffic ahead. Of course I leave plenty of room in front of me, especially when its a truck or van cos you can't see sh*t ahead of them. But more often than not, they brake so hard, your left with your back wheels almost lifting off.
HGV drivers can also be bullies and have cause plenty of accidents on the Forth Road Bridge. They use their size to bully they way into the outside lane, slwoing traffic from a gentrly 60mph to 45. This causes a ripple effect in braking along the 1.5mile long bridge. The further back in the line of traffic you are, the harder you have to brake. To a point where tires can often smoke and rear end collisions are common.
All because some fuckwit in hie canvas sided artic lorry decided that his 2mph advantage on the vehicle in front was enough licence to jump out into the outside lane and cause overtaking traffic to scramble for their brake pedals.
Trucks these days are far more capable of being stopped at short notice in a timely distance. The overall techology is safer too.
Let em do 70 on the Motorways and 60 on A roads! We'd get deliveries faster and it'd cause less traffic clogging.
Mind you, some of the problems is down to road hogging pricks in their HGVs.
For example:
Theres a 1 mile stretch of 5% uphill gradient on the M90 I have to travel on each day on the way home.
And because there is always some hooooge truck struggeling to make 30mph along this stretch, everying, and I mean EVERYTHING is on the outside lane. Including trucks struggeling to make 31mph.
Net result: Traffic abruptly brakes from 70/90mph to 20mph as drivers take action to avoif the prick in the Artic that pulls out at the last moment to overtake the struggling HGV. To exacerbate the issue, you have idiotic drivers who drive right up to the arse of anythign in front of them in the section of Motorway, then hit the brakes... hard.
On more than one occasion I've had to really stand on the brakes cos the twat in the white Transit Hicube in front of me left it to the very last second to react to the slow moving traffic ahead. Of course I leave plenty of room in front of me, especially when its a truck or van cos you can't see sh*t ahead of them. But more often than not, they brake so hard, your left with your back wheels almost lifting off.
HGV drivers can also be bullies and have cause plenty of accidents on the Forth Road Bridge. They use their size to bully they way into the outside lane, slwoing traffic from a gentrly 60mph to 45. This causes a ripple effect in braking along the 1.5mile long bridge. The further back in the line of traffic you are, the harder you have to brake. To a point where tires can often smoke and rear end collisions are common.
All because some fuckwit in hie canvas sided artic lorry decided that his 2mph advantage on the vehicle in front was enough licence to jump out into the outside lane and cause overtaking traffic to scramble for their brake pedals.
Faster deliveries? Most of the time you send something by a parcel service, it'll spend more time sitting on a warehouse shelf/basket/etc than on a truck. Besides, they probably wouldn't want to do 70 given 55 is about the best trade-off between speed and wind resistanceBlue406 wrote:Trucks these days are far more capable of being stopped at short notice in a timely distance. The overall techology is safer too.
Let em do 70 on the Motorways and 60 on A roads! We'd get deliveries faster and it'd cause less traffic clogging.
And trucks aren't capable of being stopped quickly full stop. There's this little scientific principle called inertia going on which combined with the huge momentum of a truck doing 60mph means that unless you've got a nuclear bunker for it to hit, it ain't going to stop in the distance a car will.
The only technologies that help things are improved rubber on the tyres and the addition of ABS which I believe is a legal requirement on new trucks/trailers now. Contrary to popular belief, ABS doesn't magically cut your stopping distance in half, not if you're a competent driver - which is very much the requirement for passing the Class 1 test iirc (unlike the fact any old dickhead can drive a 7.5T, and often it is any old dickhead behind the wheel of them). The crashes on the motorways which involve artics generally happen a fair distance before the lorry gets there, but the lorry just can't stop in time and that's when the carnage happens.
If you were to pay attention on the motorways you'd notice that artic drivers are some of the best on the road, always very aware of their surroundings and the capabilities of other vehicles. You do hear about/experience the occasions where an artic will try to change lanes into you without any notice, but 99% of the time that's not the artic driver's fault - it's yours for putting yourself in one of the artic's many blind spots without making sure the driver's seen you beforehand (mirrors work 2 ways you know!)
The 40mph limit on A roads is bullsh*t though.
And that would be anything other than the fault of the unobservant dickheads who fail to realise the faster truck behind is going to pull out?Net result: Traffic abruptly brakes from 70/90mph to 20mph as drivers take action to avoif the prick in the Artic that pulls out at the last moment to overtake the struggling HGV.
Than you're too close for what you can see! There's always ways of seeing what's going on in front - positioning yourself as far to the side as you can safely and moving your head usually permits great vision of the entire queue including who's braking, who's too close to anyone else, etc. I slipstream trucks for 3-5 hours a day every day sometimes getting quite close when safe, and I've NEVER had to slam on my brakes even when the truck I'm following has done - because I make sure that I'm aware of what everyone's doing at all times, ahead and behind and plan accordingly.On more than one occasion I've had to really stand on the brakes cos the twat in the white Transit Hicube in front of me left it to the very last second to react to the slow moving traffic ahead. Of course I leave plenty of room in front of me, especially when its a truck or van cos you can't see sh*t ahead of them. But more often than not, they brake so hard, your left with your back wheels almost lifting off.
In that case every single person stamping on their brakes is an idiot who shouldn't be on the road if they can't see a bloody great artic indicating.All because some fuckwit in hie canvas sided artic lorry decided that his 2mph advantage on the vehicle in front was enough licence to jump out into the outside lane and cause overtaking traffic to scramble for their brake pedals.
7.5T drivers are a very different matter however. At least 50% of them are dangerous f*ckwits who shouldn't be on the road. Their mass and unlimited (pre-2005 i think?) top speed makes them a serious worry when combined with a dickhead driver.
I feel I should explain that I know all about inertia etc and the usual quality of Artic drivers. My Dad was one and I accompanied him on many cross UK trips in his Volvo FH12 during which he would educate me on the rules of thumb and tips and tricks of Artic driving. So I'm not naive in that sense. I know trucks won't stop like a car and thats not what I was intimating. I meant that compared to trucks current at the time the speed laws were put in place for them, they've come a long way in braking tech.
Maybe its just up here in Scotland, but a there are regular Artic twats here. Twats who like 7.5t drivers, don't indicate when you're cruising toward them in the outside lane at 75 and they decide that the HGV a thousand yards ahead is too slow for them and they pull out into your lane. (It happens everyday with me!).
And when I talk about trucks jumping out into the outside lane and causing people to stamp on their brakes.. this is what I mean:
Slow moving truck is doing 45. Faster truck is at 50.
Traffic in outside lane doing 60 to 75.
Faster truck sees a small gap and jumps out. Instant 10 to 15mph speed difference. Thats a lot when theres less than a cars length between you and the bumper of its fecking trailer. They literally DO leave it that late up here. And if they are indicating.. thats no licence to jump out like that. They MUST wait untill the lane is clear or are signalled they can pull out.
I respect the fact that HGVs have blind spots and make a point never to hang around anywhere I think they may not see me. I always give them a wide berth and let them pull away first at round abouts etc, often assisting them my stradling the lanes the the left or right of them depending where they're turning and which directin I'm going to stop ignorant pricks invading their maneuvering space.
In particular, when I'm behind one, I leave a good 30 yards in front of me and I keep to the right hand side so that the driver can see me. Plus, I usualy have my headlights on anyway so it should be hard NOT to see me.
The same goes for vans and 7.5t-ers too. I leave plenty room. But even then, when someone really hits the brakes.. you will have to likewise.
Leave too much room and some fuckwit with undertake you, pull out and then brake hard, as they realise the van in front is slowing down. And because they pulled into the outside lane just 10 yards ahead of you, you HAVE to stamp on the breaks and the decelerate so damn fast in panic, despite the fact I lift off the throttle when they pull out. This too happens to be almost daily.
Maybe its just up here in Scotland, but a there are regular Artic twats here. Twats who like 7.5t drivers, don't indicate when you're cruising toward them in the outside lane at 75 and they decide that the HGV a thousand yards ahead is too slow for them and they pull out into your lane. (It happens everyday with me!).
And when I talk about trucks jumping out into the outside lane and causing people to stamp on their brakes.. this is what I mean:
Slow moving truck is doing 45. Faster truck is at 50.
Traffic in outside lane doing 60 to 75.
Faster truck sees a small gap and jumps out. Instant 10 to 15mph speed difference. Thats a lot when theres less than a cars length between you and the bumper of its fecking trailer. They literally DO leave it that late up here. And if they are indicating.. thats no licence to jump out like that. They MUST wait untill the lane is clear or are signalled they can pull out.
I respect the fact that HGVs have blind spots and make a point never to hang around anywhere I think they may not see me. I always give them a wide berth and let them pull away first at round abouts etc, often assisting them my stradling the lanes the the left or right of them depending where they're turning and which directin I'm going to stop ignorant pricks invading their maneuvering space.
In particular, when I'm behind one, I leave a good 30 yards in front of me and I keep to the right hand side so that the driver can see me. Plus, I usualy have my headlights on anyway so it should be hard NOT to see me.
The same goes for vans and 7.5t-ers too. I leave plenty room. But even then, when someone really hits the brakes.. you will have to likewise.
Leave too much room and some fuckwit with undertake you, pull out and then brake hard, as they realise the van in front is slowing down. And because they pulled into the outside lane just 10 yards ahead of you, you HAVE to stamp on the breaks and the decelerate so damn fast in panic, despite the fact I lift off the throttle when they pull out. This too happens to be almost daily.