Motorways, "middle lane hoggers" ?

[dvp82]

I agree with that. Lane 1 is mostly trucks and slow drivers and it's all too easy to get trapped in it when it's busy. You'll often find yourself in a vulnerable position between two trucks and if the front one brakes suddenly you're dead.

 

Lane 2 for general driving.

 

Lane 3 for overtaking.

 

Should you not leave a safe brakeing distance between yourself and the truck infront.

 

The middle lane isn't for general driving.

[WeX]

middle lane hoggers happen because if you move to the left hand lane, you rarely find anyone who will allow you to go back into the middle lane when you eventually come up behind the artic lorry doing 55mph. You have to keep slowing down and waiting, then the one in 10 who will allow you to get out comes along, you over take the lorry move back into the left hand lane and repeat every half a mile.

[Cyclone]

I agree with that. Lane 1 is mostly trucks and slow drivers and it's all too easy to get trapped in it when it's busy. You'll often find yourself in a vulnerable position between two trucks and if the front one brakes suddenly you're dead.

 

Lane 2 for general driving.

 

Lane 3 for overtaking.

 

If you can't drive safely using lane 1, then you should stay off the motorway (or possibly just off the roads altogether).

 

---------- Post added 03-03-2013 at 14:37 ----------

 

middle lane hoggers happen because if you move to the left hand lane, you rarely find anyone who will allow you to go back into the middle lane when you eventually come up behind the artic lorry doing 55mph.

This could only happen if there were a solid stream of traffic in the middle lane, doing at least the same speed as you.

A highly likely scenario even on a busy motorway.

You have to keep slowing down and waiting, then the one in 10 who will allow you to get out comes along, you over take the lorry move back into the left hand lane and repeat every half a mile.

 

It just sounds like you fail to plan ahead, aren't aware of the other traffic around you, and thus find your self wanting to pull out when there isn't a gap.

An ability to think 10 seconds further ahead, would not only make you a better driver, it would allow you to maintain your speed and to pull out into a gap without ever needing to slow down.

[Mr_Squirrel]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

Spot on really.

[Riche]

Get out of the way of my Ferrari you pleb. End off

[Nagel]

Its easy to get trapped if your a muppet. Otherwise, mirror, signal, manoeuvre generally works a treat.

 

The usual truck driver mentality is mirror, signal, manoeuvre and force any cars to get out of the way

 

How do you go on driving in the 'safe' middle lane when a 44tonne left hooker pulls out on you because he cant see you?

 

By never lurking parallel to a lorry and keeping out of his blind spot. Doesn't stop them though (see above).

 

Truck drivers are *****.

[Mr_Squirrel]

Whats the point in having a big ass truck if you cant terrorise car drivers? Thats no fun at all.

 

Seriously though, If us truck drivers that have passed several DOT driving examinations and are reassessed periodically by qualified HGV examiners... How do you think we feel, as professional drivers, having to put up with the incompetence and arrogance of car drivers that cannot be bothered to adhere to the basic principles of lane discipline? (amongst other driving issues)

 

The usual truck driver mentality is mirror, signal, manoeuvre and force any cars to get out of the way

 

That is only construed as 'force' or 'bullying' by the fact that we are bigger and heavier. We are also slower and that usually means that the idiot in the car cannot be bothered to either wait for a moment or adapt their road position accordingly. If the same manoeuvre was performed by a car, you wouldnt think anything of it.

 

By never lurking parallel to a lorry and keeping out of his blind spot. Doesn't stop them though

 

Keeping out of his blind spot? Interesting. And how would you know where the blind spots are on an artic?

 

Truck drivers are *****.

 

We are. But we can drive better than you mate.

 

What is interesting, is that since i shifted from regular days to regular nights where the only vehicles that are on the roads tend to be professional drivers.. I hardly ever come across an accident, Yet when i was on days, i lost hours and hours of time every week stuck in traffic jams because cars were always crashing. I wonder why that is?

Edited March 4, 2013 by Mr_Squirrel

[johnme]

try driving like this in france and see what happens, they overtake and move back into the slower lane and not many traffic jams and grouping up

[WeX]

It just sounds like you fail to plan ahead, aren't aware of the other traffic around you, and thus find your self wanting to pull out when there isn't a gap.

An ability to think 10 seconds further ahead, would not only make you a better driver, it would allow you to maintain your speed and to pull out into a gap without ever needing to slow down.

 

Not at all. Your comments would be valid if everyone drove a a constant speed, but this is not the case. Said lorry or even a slow driver can slow down without any reason. In fact this has been proven to be the cause of the majority of jams on main roads. Its not the volume of traffic but the random changes in speed of no more than 1 car can cause huge problems further back.

 

Here this is the experiment to show how it works:

[Eater Sundae]

Whats the point in having a big ass truck if you cant terrorise car drivers? Thats no fun at all.

 

Seriously though, If us truck drivers that have passed several DOT driving examinations and are reassessed periodically by qualified HGV examiners... How do you think we feel, as professional drivers, having to put up with the incompetence and arrogance of car drivers that cannot be bothered to adhere to the basic principles of lane discipline? (amongst other driving issues)

 

 

 

That is only construed as 'force' or 'bullying' by the fact that we are bigger and heavier. We are also slower and that usually means that the idiot in the car cannot be bothered to either wait for a moment or adapt their road position accordingly. If the same manoeuvre was performed by a car, you wouldnt think anything of it.

 

 

 

Keeping out of his blind spot? Interesting. And how would you know where the blind spots are on an artic?

 

We are. But we can drive better than you mate.

 

What is interesting, is that since i shifted from regular days to regular nights where the only vehicles that are on the roads tend to be professional drivers.. I hardly ever come across an accident, Yet when i was on days, i lost hours and hours of time every week stuck in traffic jams because cars were always crashing. I wonder why that is?

 

Do you have any blind spots on your truck? (Other than the obvious one directly behind). If you do, what are you doing about it?

 

Although not directly related to motorway driving, there has been a lot of discussion recently about cyclists being in blind spots (close to, down the nearside and even in front). The same would obviously apply to motorcycles. There are calls for more HGVs to be fitted with more comprehensive mirrors, to pick up these areas.

 

How many blind spots are there in relation to seeing a car? I recall signs and opinions along the lines of "If you can't see my mirrors, then I can't see you". But what about when you can see the mirrors, but the angle of them doesn't help the truck driver see you?