Commuter Safety - See the world from an HGV's perspective

WeirdNeville

Hi all,
Thought you'd appreciate this.
Tomorrow (Weds 14th Nov) from 8am to 6pm there will be three Large Goods Vehicles on Horseguards Parade (london) and a trailer as well. They are there to help cyclists appreciate how limited a view drivers of these vehicles have. You'll be able to climb in and get a truckers view of the road, with cyclist about to get an appreciation of blind spots and turning circles. There will also be road safety experts on hand to offer advice for dealing with these vehicles safely. Far too many cyclists are falling foul of large vehicles, so this could be an excellent chance to improve your skills and ultimately your chances of survival.

Try and spread the word, sorry for the short notice but I only heard about this today.

prj45

WeirdNeville wrote:

Hi all,
Thought you'd appreciate this.
Tomorrow (Weds 14th Nov) from 8am to 6pm there will be three Large Goods Vehicles on Horseguards Parade (london) and a trailer as well. They are there to help cyclists appreciate how limited a view drivers of these vehicles have. You'll be able to climb in and get a truckers view of the road, with cyclist about to get an appreciation of blind spots and turning circles. There will also be road safety experts on hand to offer advice for dealing with these vehicles safely. Far too many cyclists are falling foul of large vehicles, so this could be an excellent chance to improve your skills and ultimately your chances of survival.

Try and spread the word, sorry for the short notice but I only heard about this today.

Hmmm.

I still don't like the undertone that it would be OK for HGV drivers to drive around crushing cyclist under their wheels willy nilly, and its always the cyclist's fault for being there in the first place.

A bit of mutal understanding all round, sure, but I don't like the idea of drivers having the get out clause "well they shouldn't have been near me in the first place".

Random Vince

they have a limited movement on the road, bikes are more manouvareble,

in a channel or river smaller ships/boats must give way to larger less manoverable ships, this works nicely, not always convenient but works, its a similar thing,

dont go up the sides of them if they're turning, wait a moment for them to finish

ash68

nearly got sideswiped by a lorry coming home tonight. Gave me no room at all. I had two ld600 flashing lights on the back of my bike and a reflective waistcoat on and reflective tape allover my bike/panniers.So lets not get carried away with the idea that wagon drivers give a toss about cyclists. This, added to the prick in a renault megane who locked his brakes up to avoid going into the back of me in broad daylight doesn't give me much confidence in the standard of driving on our roads.

WeirdNeville

prj45 wrote:

WeirdNeville wrote:

Hi all,
Thought you'd appreciate this.
....
Try and spread the word, sorry for the short notice but I only heard about this today.

Hmmm.

I still don't like the undertone that it would be OK for HGV drivers to drive around crushing cyclist under their wheels willy nilly, and its always the cyclist's fault for being there in the first place.

A bit of mutal understanding all round, sure, but I don't like the idea of drivers having the get out clause "well they shouldn't have been near me in the first place".

I've just remembered why I haven't bothered with this forum for knocking on for two years.

Drop the victim mentality and get real to the fact that you have to be pro-active and take steps to ensure your own survival.

The reason that so many cyclist are killed by large vehcles is because THEY COULDN'T BE SEEN BY THE DRIVER. These vehicles have exceptionally large blind spots by virtue of their length and size. It is possible to move yourself directly in front of a Large Goods Vehicle without ever being seen by the driver, and he would never know until it was too late that he had driven straight over you. Likewise undertaking large vehicles swinging left. They only have one driver with two eyes (hopefully) and if you dive up the inside as he winds on the left hand turn the tarmac will dissapear and you will go under the back axle before the HGV driver has had any time to react.

Like it or not most deaths that result from this kind of accident are attributable to the cyclists failure to take account of the limitations of this kind of vehicle. This is an excellent chance to improve your skills in this respect.

ash68

In reply to the previous posts i agree, anyone going up the inside of a large wagon is asking for trouble, likewise we need to avoid drivers' blindspots.Seeing things from both points of view is essencial for safety on the roads.Wagon drivers as well as car drivers also need to understand that poor driving kills, wrecks families lives and causes untold suffering to people across the country. IMO anyone convicted of death by dangerous driving should be issued with the same sentence that a murderer would get.Doesn't matter if you use a knife, a gun or a motor vehicle, if you kill someone, it is still murder in my eyes.Perhaps if this was the law, driving standards might improve all round

Crapaud

WeirdNeville: Good posts! It's a pity it's down in London. Don't be a stranger.

prj45 wrote:

Hmmm.

I still don't like the undertone that it would be OK for HGV drivers to drive around crushing cyclist under their wheels willy nilly, and its always the cyclist's fault for being there in the first place.

A bit of mutal understanding all round, sure, but I don't like the idea of drivers having the get out clause "well they shouldn't have been near me in the first place".

What undertone? What get out clause? There are plenty of calls for driver education on this forum with comments like "they should be made to cycle for 6 months, before starting driving lessons, to see things from our point of view". Suddenly we've got a chance to get a little education from another perspective, that a majority on here will have no experience of, and somehow it's an excuse to mow down cyclists?

The best method of self-preservation on the roads is being able to read and predict traffic - to get that you need experience. It's better to get it in a safe enviroment than with near misses.

The best way to become a victim is to be ignorant!

ska aka

how's this from the other side of the fence. im an hgv driver of many years,and a cyclist all my life(also car driver and motorcyclist}. when im in my cab if you cant see my mirrors or my eyes then i probably dont know you are there period!!. some drivers make allowances for cyclists to do silly things,some dont!. those notices on the back of lorries are not for fun.also if you are within 5ft of my front bumper you are invisible! likewise down the kerb side. i want to go home safe and i want everybody else to go home safe as well so you watch for me and ill watch for you!.

prj45

ska aka wrote:

if you are within 5ft of my front bumper you are invisible! .

If these things have such terrible visibility why do we see some of them being driven like rally cars?

Panter

Thanks to the OP, thats a great idea 8)

I have a cat II HGV, and drove for about 5 Years.

They are not straightforward to drive, in fact given some of the limited views from some vehicles if there was a car with such limitations it would be outlawed on safety grounds.

Thats why there is a special license to drive the things.

Also, don't forget that lorry drivers are people, there are good and bad but on the whole they're very skilled drivers and I'd far rather be overtaken by any number of lorries than a car driver any day.

Cheers

Chris

t4tomo

Whetehr you are driving a car or a riding a bike, if you drive / ride defensively, don't take stupid risks and be aware of what other rad users might do (not what they aught to do) then you will have less accidents and live longer. Its common sense.

Lets drop the all road users should bow down to the holy non polluting cyclist rountine and the roads will be a better place for all.

Belv

Good info, thanks.

As a long time motorcyclist, it has often been touted that the motorcycle CBT (basic training) be incorporated into the driving test to create a bit of mutual understanding, just like this idea.

I don't think it gives anyone an excuse for bad road use, just an appreciation of the limitations of different types of vehicles.