44 tonne lorries and towns don't mix (part 2 of 2)

Uploaded by kind permission of Robin Webb

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Cambridge
• cyclist
• lorry
• lorries
• town
• city
• mix
• hazard
• danger
• road
• safety
• HGV

[dogsoldier05]

At 2 mins 30 seconds they say about banning Artics from inner citys and using 7 half tonne trucks instead. Good idea BUT for 1 Artic fully laden you would need approx 10 smaller trucks to deliver the same amount on tonnage . What will the green people say about that .Its a hard one 1 artic versis 10 smaller trucks =( pollution road wear COST etc)

[mailpauljonescouk]

Yes, it could make things worse to split the load. A more practical solution would be to fit better mirrors to trucks and use them properly so that blind spots are eliminated. An incident in Cambridgeshire late last year involved a lady cyclist killed by a left turning truck with a mirror partially obstructed by a curtain.

[bobbynogs17]

Lets all get a massive chip on our shoulder and pick on the truck driver.....oh you already have sorry. Educate drivers ,cyclists , etc the art of patience. Remember if you buy off a shelf a truck put it there. Truckers are highly skilled people who work very hard.

[Griffencph]

Around 1:30 that woman says there should be more mirrors on the trucks.

I don't know about UK, but I have 5 mirrors and 8 windows to check on my truck each time I turn. I've only got 2 eyes, ant just to make it worse, those eyes point more or less the same direction.

[TridentTrucking]

@mailpauljonescouk problem with decanting loads is londons traffic would more than octuple in the space of 12 hours currently we are not allowed in city untill 7am and have to be out by 7pm so we catch both rush hours and the buisest parts of the day my guy who goes to switzerland cant run in the major areas unless at night and cant run at weekends and they have less fatalities and accidents (on compairing with a smiliar size city) than we do for every one fatal in swis theres 25 in london

[TridentTrucking]

@dogsoldier05 what about STGO loads how do you break a 150ton machine down to put in a 7.5ton truck bear in mind the counterwieght can be 60ton on its own , the local MP there clearly has no clue im in favour of the european approach ban all trucks in major cities over 18ton and only permit them in at night she did the opposite, id rather pay my drivers extra to run a night than have the worry of months of court cases because a driver took a cyclist off.

[Griffencph]

@jumbodoug

On the offside we have both the flat and the curved mirror, according to danish law.

On the nearside we must have the flat one and more than half have the curved mirror.

This goes for both lorries and buses as far as I've noticed...

[jumbodoug]

@Griffencph so obviously the problem is with the design of truck drivers heads, the driver should be built with more eyes so they can use more mirrors.....

im a city bus driver. we have one nearside, one offside, and one interior to watch the muppets, oops passengers. but over the last few years the trend has moved away from the smaller, convex mirrors which are surprisingly effective because of the curved glass to larger mirrors with flat glass. now our peripheral view is a lot less.

[elaineclews]

i think the problem is that as soon as an articulated vehicle starts to make any kind of turn it imediatly is in a blind spot left turn right turn you cannot see down the side of the trailer until you straighten up the use of smaller trucks in the towns and cities would create jobs and make the roads safer for pedestrians it would use less fuel and sometimes artics only deliver one thing or one pallet

[Tarunthakur01]

I would advise fitting along the near side of the large vehicle " A LOUD SPEAKER" shouting a message "THIS VEHICLE IS TURNING LEFT, PLEASE STAY CLEAR AND DO NOT UNDERTAKE ON THE NEAR SIDE" when you turn on your left indicator. Would that work???... I think that would be cheaper than anything else. SO no need for more silly videos on TV ... saves lots of money

[dropscale1]

@mailpauljonescouk the solution is simple.....if u see an orange flashing light on the left side DO NOT PASS on that side

[DinoDoesStuff]

ALL THE SKILL AND TRAINING ALREADY EXISTS ON THE HGV DRIVERS PART - WHAT IS MISSING IS APPROPRIATE TRAINING AND AWARENESS ON THE PART OF IGNORANT, SELFISH AND IMPATIENT CAR DRIVERS. MY DRIVING EARNS MY LIVING AND IS MY TRADE & SKILL - YOUR DRIVING IS THE FASTEST ROUTE BETWEEN HOME AND BINGO!

[DinoDoesStuff]

Swinging right before turning left is a typical car drivers manoeuvre born of ignorance. HGV drivers do not need to swing right and rarely do so. Often, a LH turn will dictate that the HGV must command more room, to do so an artic will often use two lanes and block out other vehicles for their own safety during the manoeuvre - this is perceived as bad manners. When an HGV must drive on the centre line to turn left - this is perceived as an opportunity to squeeze through the gap!

[DinoDoesStuff]

I love these people that have great solutions for solving perceived problems on vehicles that they have never driven. You can't get any more mirrors on an artic - it is possible to hide a house in the blindspot behind the existing mirrors - adding more mirrors will only add more blindspots not reduce them. Bringback the cycling proficiency course as a mandatory course - make cyclists pay road user insurance and then they may be more aware of other traffic. Cyclists have the better view!