Motorways, "middle lane hoggers" ?

[L00b]

When I've commuted from near Jnc 31 to the city centre before I've completely avoided the motorway (and the A57), it's quicker to use the back roads and the last bit of the parkway

I used to do just that when I was still based in N.Anston, but the state of these back roads these days is an absolute killer for my ageing car, not to mention the heavy roadworks everywhere for the foreseeable future (A57 lane doubling + new windfarm)

 

Happy enough with my 16-or-so miles commute as it is...my 6 miles in Dublin heart-of-the-city (intra-M50) was much, much worse BITD and, 4 years or so on, I still only need to briefly remember that, whenever the traffic queues a bit more than usual - lap of luxury around'ere, I tell you

 

And their (the Irish-) lane discipline is worse than over here by a country mile or 10, anyway

[Cyclone]

What 50 limit? It was removed a few days ago.

 

Working from home Friday/Monday, so I've not driven on the M1 since Thursday.

[Mr_Squirrel]

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?

 

On my truck (A pretty bog standard 44t tautliner) there are more blind spots than you can wave a pooey stick at despite having 6 mirrors. Its just the nature of the beast im afraid. The slightest turn of the wheel can alter the blind spots tremendously. Drivers do what they can to maximise visibility, personally i have nothing in my windscreen or windows other than the tax disc and operators license (required by law) but when there is so many blind spots to overcome, its a bit rich that some people expect the drivers to literally have eyeballs up their backside and see everything happening around them.

 

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.

 

I would welcome more (or better) mirrors on trucks to help visibility but currently the manufacturers of trucks are bound by criteria that limits just how much can be done. Too many mirrors can create more blind spots (Truck mirrors aint exactly small) create 'dazzle' for the driver and too many things sticking out from the vehicle body presents a danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

The majority of Cyclists that are injured or killed by being in HGV blind spots are unfortunately mostly.. (Note mostly) because of the cyclists mistakes. The 'offside' is a particularly nasty blind spot as the driver cannot look out of the nearside window to look downwards. The nearside rear view mirror, blind spot mirror and kerbside mirror fail to cover adequately a section between the back of the door and about 'mid trailer'.

The best advise for anybody, especially cyclists is quite simple.... Dont overtake on the left. Its suicide.

 

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?

 

Best advise i can give... When around great big lorries.. give them space, keep aware of their movements and pay close attention to the vehicle signals. I dont know of any trucker that dosent use his turn signals religiously. Remember, its big, its heavy, its powerful, it will kill you without question and in many cases, the driver will not feel or see a thing and will be therefore, unaware of any accident.

[Eater Sundae]

On my truck (A pretty bog standard 44t tautliner) there are more blind spots than you can wave a pooey stick at despite having 6 mirrors. Its just the nature of the beast im afraid. The slightest turn of the wheel can alter the blind spots tremendously. Drivers do what they can to maximise visibility, personally i have nothing in my windscreen or windows other than the tax disc and operators license (required by law) but when there is so many blind spots to overcome, its a bit rich that some people expect the drivers to literally have eyeballs up their backside and see everything happening around them.

 

 

 

I would welcome more (or better) mirrors on trucks to help visibility but currently the manufacturers of trucks are bound by criteria that limits just how much can be done. Too many mirrors can create more blind spots (Truck mirrors aint exactly small) create 'dazzle' for the driver and too many things sticking out from the vehicle body presents a danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

The majority of Cyclists that are injured or killed by being in HGV blind spots are unfortunately mostly.. (Note mostly) because of the cyclists mistakes. The 'offside' is a particularly nasty blind spot as the driver cannot look out of the nearside window to look downwards. The nearside rear view mirror, blind spot mirror and kerbside mirror fail to cover adequately a section between the back of the door and about 'mid trailer'.

The best advise for anybody, especially cyclists is quite simple.... Dont overtake on the left. Its suicide.

 

 

 

Best advise i can give... When around great big lorries.. give them space, keep aware of their movements and pay close attention to the vehicle signals. I dont know of any trucker that dosent use his turn signals religiously. Remember, its big, its heavy, its powerful, it will kill you without question and in many cases, the driver will not feel or see a thing and will be therefore, unaware of any accident.

 

Thanks .

[Cyclone]

Got home about 5 mins earlier without the 50 limit in place today, the traffic was definitely flowing better from 31 to 33. I don't believe I ever made it back into the left hand lane, but I did manage to get out of the fast lane several times.

[Parvo]

People who complain that they get 'stuck' in the middle lane because other motorists are undertaking them are missing a vital point... If people can undertake you, then there is no justifiable reason why you should not have moved back into the left lane in the first place.

The rules of the road are quite clear.. "Keep left unless overtaking" and should be adhered to. All this nonsense about other motorists breaking the speed limit is nobodys concern but theirs and is irrelevant to middle lane hogging. If they get caught, they get prosecuted - their problem.

Concentrate on being a better driver yourself and stop concerning yourself on matters that dont concern you.

 

u want me to cut in in front of a nun........

u can get stuck in the middle lane at times.....

i prefer the inside lane i feel safer....i use the other lanes to overtake but sometimes I can't manage to drive as perfectly as you can because other people do things that you can't always predict and you end up stuck in the middle lane until you can move out of it SAFELY.

[Mr_Squirrel]

u want me to cut in in front of a nun........

u can get stuck in the middle lane at times.....

i prefer the inside lane i feel safer....i use the other lanes to overtake but sometimes I can't manage to drive as perfectly as you can because other people do things that you can't always predict and you end up stuck in the middle lane until you can move out of it SAFELY.

 

 

Im all for safety first, Parvo and i certainly wouldnt condone cutting in front of anyone... Nun or not. I also agree that nobody is perfect, including myself but we can all strive to be as perfect as possible and sadly, some of the replies on this and other driving related threads on this and other forums make me wonder just how some people managed to pass their test in the first place... Bribery, i suspect.

 

If somebody can overtake you on the left, 99% of the time you (one - any individual) has had plenty of opportunity to return safely to the left hand lane. I dont expect anybody to move over to the left if they have to pull out 5 seconds later to pass a slower moving vehicle but some people think that because they see a HGV half a mile or more up ahead, it warrants staying in lane 2 when it dosent.

 

Just imagine the uproar if HGV's decided to take the same practice and stay in lane 2 for miles on end for no other reason than ignorance/arrogance? I had one guy tonight that was so keen to get back over to lane 1 after overtaking me, i thought he wanted to get in my cab with me.

[Cyclone]

u want me to cut in in front of a nun........

u can get stuck in the middle lane at times.....

i prefer the inside lane i feel safer....i use the other lanes to overtake but sometimes I can't manage to drive as perfectly as you can because other people do things that you can't always predict and you end up stuck in the middle lane until you can move out of it SAFELY.

 

If there is someone to your left then you are still over taking. If there isn't someone to your left, then you're not stuck.

[Eater Sundae]

Im all for safety first, Parvo and i certainly wouldnt condone cutting in front of anyone... Nun or not. I also agree that nobody is perfect, including myself but we can all strive to be as perfect as possible and sadly, some of the replies on this and other driving related threads on this and other forums make me wonder just how some people managed to pass their test in the first place... Bribery, i suspect.

 

If somebody can overtake you on the left, 99% of the time you (one - any individual) has had plenty of opportunity to return safely to the left hand lane. I dont expect anybody to move over to the left if they have to pull out 5 seconds later to pass a slower moving vehicle but some people think that because they see a HGV half a mile or more up ahead, it warrants staying in lane 2 when it dosent.

 

Just imagine the uproar if HGV's decided to take the same practice and stay in lane 2 for miles on end for no other reason than ignorance/arrogance? I had one guy tonight that was so keen to get back over to lane 1 after overtaking me, i thought he wanted to get in my cab with me.

 

 

I can think of a couple of occasions where I have been in the middle lane, and waiting until I am far enough ahead of the driver in the left lane before I pull back over, only to find someone pull over and undertake me. On one of the occasions I was already signalling left when he accelerated and undertook me. I think this is can happen because I leave what I consider to be a safe distance between me and the car in front, and try to do the same for the car behind. Some other people have different ideas about what is a safe distance.

[max]

I had one guy tonight that was so keen to get back over to lane 1 after overtaking me, i thought he wanted to get in my cab with me.

 

Without trying to appear rude, why was he able to get into the left lane while you were still in the middle lane? Perhaps he was trying to make the point that you should have been in the left lane already.