New respect for lorry drivers!

chaley

Hello,
I now have a new respect for lorry drivers, yesterday I had a chat with a lorry driver in the local cafe, there was a big semi type thing with a trailer on out side, I'm on the daily,
He was getting out of the cab as I pull up and the driver, I'll call him "Steve" as it was his name, shouts down at me "NICE" bike, of course I think "piss taker", but no I lock up the bike and go inside, only to see him having a nose around the beast. He comes in and sits down across from me and asks why I would have drops on a mtb/hyb, anyway turns out that lorry drivers as a whole have a lot of respect for us cyclists, as we cut down on congestion and make their lives easier in town, the reason that we all think they hate us is because the only time we speak is the exchange words after near miss etc. The main thing that he said would save alot of mangled bikes and bodies, would be to make sure that we are seen, and makes sure we are seen, when we go into a green box look up at the driver, if you can't see him he can't see you, the same goes for going down the side in traffic if you can clear it before the lights change and you can get well in front then okay, if you can't then they have no chance of knowing you are there! Again if the lorry has it's left indicator on and is going to the right don't cut down the inside as it will be just about to swing to the left to clear the bend. Just before he left I had a sit in the drivers seat and I can tell you know that Steve put on a hi-viz jacket and walked the whole way a round the truck waving his arms and I didn't see him once until he banged on the window next to me! Sure was an eye opener and I will give lorries a lot more room for now on. I also explained why we do some of the things that get on his nerves about us and he said he would give us a lot more room to dodge glass, drains and pot holes from now on. Next time you see a truck by a tea stand say hello to the driver and have a chat and ask to sit in the cab, Steve said most drivers would love for us to know what they can and can't see as it would make all our lives a lot easier, at the very least it shows that we don't hate lorry drivers and we can spread the love
Just thought that I'd share!
Chaley

Wrath Rob

Very interesting mate. As a rule I don't go down the inside of lorries at lights unless I can see the TLs at the junction and I can see that I will get well ahead of them by the time the lights change. More than once I've held back only to see another cyclist nip ahead of me as the lights change and then see some panic braking from them to avoid an accident.

Wise words from Steve and yourself!

downfader

I know a few lorry drivers from work. Have also sat in one or two cabs back when my Uncle used to drive them, but that was back in the 80s. Would be cool if someone could do a youtube video showing their visibility imo. :?

don_don

Best thread I've read in a long time

Everyone should read this IMO

OldSkoolKona

Great thread

Tranced

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.
That's without taking into considderation trucker may be looking elsewhere, concentrating on road ahead etc.
Ride with self preservation in mind. No point in pointing fingers after the crash.

_Brun_

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

Breathless Commuter Man

Nice thread.

spen666

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you read the whole statement, instead of taking only part of it, the statement is both complete and accurate

spen666

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.
That's without taking into considderation trucker may be looking elsewhere, concentrating on road ahead etc.
Ride with self preservation in mind. No point in pointing fingers after the crash.

sums it all up very well

_Brun_

spen666 wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you read the whole statement, instead of taking only part of it, the statement is both complete and accurate

I disagree. Sit at a certain point along side a truck and it's perfectly possible that the driver could check their mirrors and not be able see you. Nothing in the original post states that may be the case.

spen666

_Brun_ wrote:

spen666 wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you read the whole statement, instead of taking only part of it, the statement is both complete and accurate

I disagree. Sit at a certain point along side a truck and it's perfectly possible that the driver could check their mirrors and not be able see you. Nothing in the original post states that may be the case.

Erm really?

Tranced
Joined: 03 Oct 2008
Posts: 27



Posted 13 Oct 2008 12:22
General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.
That's without taking into considderation trucker may be looking elsewhere, concentrating on road ahead etc.
Ride with self preservation in mind. No point in pointing fingers after the crash.

spen666

_Brun_ wrote:

spen666 wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you read the whole statement, instead of taking only part of it, the statement is both complete and accurate

I disagree. Sit at a certain point along side a truck and it's perfectly possible that the driver could check their mirrors and not be able see you. Nothing in the original post states that may be the case.

Read the post- it is clear by the use of the words etc that this is not an exhaustive list and that you should "Ride with self preservation in mind"

robvalentine

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you are gonna use the mirror 'test' then at least make sure you can see the driver's head, the angle of the miror might be pointing elsewhere, but i usually stay behind the lorry, several tons of metal v 200lbs of flesh and metal....

i usually find that lorry drivers give you lots of space in traffic jams if they know you are there.

TheMightyHet

I have some experience through my work of lorry mirrors. If you can see the driver when you look at his mirrors then he can most likely see you. From both driving them and guiding other drivers reversing out I know this to be a pretty accurate rule of thumb. That said however I'm with Tranced don't take chances, self preservation all the way!!

prj45

Not only have you got to be able to see their mirrors, you've got to be able to see the driver's head (and ideally face and eyes) in the mirrors.

Practice this and you will be shocked how often drivers (including some HGV drivers) manouvre their vehicles WITHOUT checking their mirrors correctly, or even at all.

Several times I've remonstrated with a driver who had said "sorry mate , I didn't see you" and because I've been keeping an eye on their head in their mirrors I can catagorically say to them, "that's because you didn't look".

The Chingford Skinhead

Great thread. I think we could all learn a lot from talking to other people.

I'm always careful to say thank you even when a pedestrian has walked out without looking and then stopped dead to let me pass. There are far more likely to think next time - in my experience (and I'm as guilty as the next person) if you shout at someone they become defensive and end up justifying their behaviour and condeming yours - even when they know they were in the wrong.

Even the most ignorant lorry driver doesn't mean to injur other road users - well unless you're talking about that guy in Duel or Jeepers Creepers, or (darn - that was a bad example :twisted: )

gondwanaman

I will add support for truckies too. They generally give the widest berth & will sit behind until safe to overtake. Unusually I also find the dreaded white van man to be ok as well.
By far the worst are BMW drivers, pretend BMWs (Audis, SAAB,Volvo etc) and clean 4 x 4s.

TheMightyHet

I've been let out of junctions and received more respect from lorry and bus drivers, far more than any car driver!

Gothmeister

_Brun_ wrote:

spen666 wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

Tranced wrote:

General rule of thumb...
goes for driving & cycling.... if you can't see trucker's mirrors, there is no way trucker can see you.

But the most dangerous blind spots are where you can see the driver's mirrors, therefore that statement is misleading and potentially very dangerous.

if you read the whole statement, instead of taking only part of it, the statement is both complete and accurate

I disagree. Sit at a certain point along side a truck and it's perfectly possible that the driver could check their mirrors and not be able see you. Nothing in the original post states that may be the case.

Yes, but the original post did NOT say (or even intimate) that if you CAN see the driver's mirrors then he can see you.....rather that if you CAN'T see the mirrors, then there is absolutely no way whatsover that he CAN see you....an accurate statement I would've thought.