Big Trucks......

Mithras

Had few instances recently on my commute where I have held up some big TRUCKS. Usually because of double whites or twisty roads. I've been impressed by how courteous and proffessional most have been. Yesterday on my twisty village bit of road I could here a siren coming towards me as a truck was looking for the over take. i know the driver wouldn't be able to hear it so I signalled him in behind me. He immediately pulled in behind and waited. Once the ambulance had passed I gave a thumbs up. got a set of hazzards as thanks after he had gone by...Nice to know it's only the minority of drivers who are numpies on our roads.
Wonder how many of us thank those courteous drivers who are patient or give us more than ample room?

downfader

This week I have had several really stupid overtakes on a particular road by guys in normal everyday cars. Thing is I then get overtaken by a HGV immediately after a couple of these and the HGV driver is the one who gives me the space and respect.

I have more respect for the HGV than for anything else.

chuckcork

HGV Drivers have, or at least should have, more training for the vehicles they are in charge of, but generally my experience of getting into road cycling (in Ireland) was the same, the HGV drivers were a better class o driver. Mind you the few that weren't could have crushed me under their wheels into a bloody, roadkill like pulp and not even noticed :?

Personally though I'll try and do a thank you wave to drivers if I can, and if there is a need to on narrow roads with no overtaking and I'm by myself I'll pull in as well, not least because I don't want an impatient driver on my tail for mile after mile, and (generally) receive thank you waves back.

The club gear I usually wear is rather to distinctive and there are too many of us cyclists out in the Surrey Hills too often not to be polite to other road users, hopefully what goes around will in that positive sense come around.

Roastie

Mithras - nice post. You're right, we do need to give the good, courteous drivers a mention too. In my "extended" commute yesterday through the lanes in southern Essex I was shown a great deal of consideration by many drivers. It was good to thank so many people rather than be swearing.

Aidy

Yes, I find HGV drivers to be amongst the most considerate.

I was coming up a road the other day, bus/cycle lane on one side and normal traffic on the other - HGV driver stopped when the bus lane ended to let me out.

I'm not sure I buy the reason that they have more training, bus drivers should do too. And they're nearly all complete idiots when it comes to bikes.

downfader

Aidy wrote:

Yes, I find HGV drivers to be amongst the most considerate.

I was coming up a road the other day, bus/cycle lane on one side and normal traffic on the other - HGV driver stopped when the bus lane ended to let me out.

I'm not sure I buy the reason that they have more training, bus drivers should do too. And they're nearly all complete idiots when it comes to bikes.

...and when you think about it a lot of HGV guys are paid per load, so they have an incentive to get ahead.

Aidy

I suspect it's because they spend such a disproportionate amount of their time cruising on motorways that they just accept that it's going to be slower around town, and that cyclists really don't slow down the flow of traffic.

Most drivers will use the car for mainly local trips, and buses and taxis pretty much stick to travelling in town alone.

DomPro

Must agree with the HGV drivers being the most tolerant road users.

Audi drivers being the worst IME.

JonS123

I find while in the car on the motorway they annoy me, but on single file roads when im on a bike they are 9 times out of 10 considerate and don't try any silly overtakes.

Snudge

JonS123 wrote:

I find while in the car on the motorway they annoy me, but on single file roads when im on a bike they are 9 times out of 10 considerate and don't try any silly overtakes.

It's not truckers' fault just about all 1) can barely make 55mph max (by law modern lorries are restricted to 90km/h but that is usually an overestimate of true top speed), 2) nor are those vehicles normally allowed in the outer lane, assuming you are annoyed by their slowness, particularly when overtaking eachother. As long as you have a higher top speed and room to do so (1st and 2nd points above should apply) surely slower vehicles should be easier to overtake? If lorries overtaking eachother cause a build-up in the outer lane of a 3+ lane motorway then it's a case of (as in just about any type of road congestion) the sheer number of cars causing the hold-up with the addition of someone not going fast enough for the speeders comng up behind them. And I've been behind one in the centre lane of the M4 for 20+ miles whilst it was trying to overtake another! Not many deviate much from 55mph cruising speed on the motorway.

Of course if you're not annoyed by their slowness then this post is without point.

prawny

I always try to thank the good drivers, I generally sprint or pull over before pinch points too, drivers tend to give me a wave for this as well.

I'm speading the love down the chester road 8) oohh yeeahhh! (barry white voice)

Snudge

Bringing up pinch points is excellent as they must (in their various forms e.g. the notorious turning left at lights in London or maybe even overtaking with traffic coming the other way - not strictly pinch points at all) be one of the easiest ways of lorries hitting cyclists (apart from reversing). By easy I mean a simple misjudgement or lack of vision can have horrific consequences. Those traffic calming width restrictors and pedestrian crossings taking up road room make it safer for pedestrians but a bit more dangerous for cyclists in this respect in my opinion.

prawny

+1

The bollards and a lamp post in the middle of the road are the most nervewracking things on my commute, there one about 550 meters into a 700m 7% climb up to my house it kills me.

The ones on the chester road are worrying because I'm generally going between 20-30mph and the traffic is going 50+. They should be banned IMO.

benno68

I always give the thumbs up to considerate drivers.

Amongst the "professional drivers", I find the drivers of larger trucks are in general better than the 7.5 tonne brigade. Coach drivers are better than "local" bus drivers, van drivers and taxi drivers make life interesting and certainly keep me on my toes . :roll:

Kieran_Burns

Benno68 wrote:

I always give the thumbs up to considerate drivers.

Amongst the "professional drivers", I find the drivers of larger trucks are in general better than the 7.5 tonne brigade. Coach drivers are better than "local" bus drivers, van drivers and taxi drivers make life interesting and certainly keep me on my toes . :roll:

+1 my impression exactly

dilemna

I find most truck drivers - proper HGV 1 to be the most considerate road users. They have undergone a lot of trianing and have so much to lose. However I exclude tipper and aggragate trucks and 7.5 tonne courier lorries from this group of professional and considerate drivers. Most are psychopathic maniacs who would sooner run you down than slow or pull out to pass you safely. With the run ins they've given me I would sooner get off the road and let them pass and that's in my car as well.

davmaggs

a 7.5 tonne truck can be driven on a car licence if you passed before a certain date. So, all to often these are driven by people with no formal training.

An LGV (HGV is old term) requires a licence, and soon commercial drivers will need to retrain every 5 years so you will find that they are more skilled. It requires a huge amount of concentration to drive around town, far more than any car driver would imagine unless they'd done the course.

During the training you are taught to "steal" the lane so that you have the room to get around a corner. Despite indicating, moving out wide, or straddling both lanes so that it is obvious what you are doing many cyclists and cars see a gap and go for it.

Mrs_Ragbrutty

I'm always amazed at how truck drivers can 'breathe' in and sqeeze over in a carriage way to make room for bikes. I'm almost at the point of believing that a big bad truck is slimmer than a people eater.

Roougers

I didnt really have any opinion on HGV's till I moved back up North, but its true, they often give you a little wave or a friendly toot, unlike many other road users here.

My commute takes me up past Aberdeen Airport and through an industrial estate that is a race track for young offshore workers in Subarus and EVOs rushing to get on helicopters to get to rigs, give me Central London any day, I felt safer there, I also feel safer when there are a load of HGV's around becuase it tends to slow the nutters down because there is nowhere to pass.

Who would have thought the Lorry was the Cyclists friend

JonS123

Snudge wrote:

JonS123 wrote:

I find while in the car on the motorway they annoy me, but on single file roads when im on a bike they are 9 times out of 10 considerate and don't try any silly overtakes.

Of course if you're not annoyed by their slowness then this post is without point.

Part if it was about the general slowness, but a couple of times I have had to go evasive when I am in the middle lane overtaking a truck, motorway meets a feeder slip road, truck pulls into middle line on auto pilot to let truck in slip road merge in to the motorway, thats when it gets annoying.

shoulder_of_orion

In London they can be deathly - look at the facts. I pass the spot in Oval everyday where a cyclist was killed a couple of weeks ago. Her bike is there and some flowers that are about to die. (That was I think what someone meant when referring to an "aggregate" lorry - ie carrying some kind of building material).

I do however agree that most LGV drivers are amongst the best drivers on the road. I like to think of them as "shepherds of the road" and I class them with *some* black cab drivers and *some* bus and coach drivers.

The problem is when LGV drivers make a mistake a cyclist can end up dead. In the centres of major cities they need to look at changing something to protect cyclists especially.

iclestu

Shoulder of Lamb wrote:

...The problem is when LGV drivers make a mistake a cyclist can end up dead. ....

Whilst this is undoubtedly true, in the interests of balance and fairness we should also say that when a cyclist makes a mistake near an LGV they can end up dead.

Our school janitor (you guys call them caretakers!) was a keen cyclist. I will never forget the 'mock cyclist' he made up when we were doing our cycling proficiency at school. They borrowed a HGV & driver from a local haulage company and had him stop at a 'mock T-junction'. The "cyclist" was placed on the inside of him with Plenty of space between truck and "cyclist".

Of course the truck turned left, the trailer followed and the space dissapeared frighteningly quickly and the wooden cyclist (complete with balloon head!) was dragged underneath and crushed.

I am taking up cycling for the 1st time since I was a kid but, rest assured, I will NEVER go up the inside of an hgv!

shoulder_of_orion

I think my point is that cyclists need to be protected even if it's from themselves.

Maybe it means kerbed cycle lanes or banning LGVs in city centres during rush hours I am not sure... but I'm pretty sure that something has to be done, we can't just say "they shouldn't have gone up the inside".

It is a fair point to say that it might be the cyclist's mistake, but it doesn't change the fact that they are the one who is dead.

iclestu

Indeed.

I agree, and I agree with your original post. Wasn't really trying to just say the dead cyclist should not have gone up the inside. Was just trying to convey that the situation is so dangerous that anyone making a mistake could lead to the tragedy - not just the truck driver.

Wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments about something having to be done. 1 death is too many, but in the short time I have been reading this forum there have been reports of at least 4 that I can recall. Sadly, I am quite sure that more experienced posters & cyclists can recall very many more.

fnegroni

I too agree and find LGV drivers in general to attend more to our needs.

Snudge

JonS123 wrote:

Snudge wrote:

JonS123 wrote:

I find while in the car on the motorway they annoy me, but on single file roads when im on a bike they are 9 times out of 10 considerate and don't try any silly overtakes.

Of course if you're not annoyed by their slowness then this post is without point.

Part if it was about the general slowness, but a couple of times I have had to go evasive when I am in the middle lane overtaking a truck, motorway meets a feeder slip road, truck pulls into middle line on auto pilot to let truck in slip road merge in to the motorway, thats when it gets annoying.

Yes, I'd say that is a little frightening considering the possibilities and there can be no excuse for not being aware of what's coming up behind; after all, there is no need to pull out in that situation. It's driving with consideration but not due care. If however, in this sort of situation, there is nothing in the outside lane then I fairly often see drivers, coming up behind, move over from the middle lane in anticipation of this sort of thing happening before anything has the chance to develop. I consider that to be good driving. Rarely will a woman do it though; they just don't seem to have the awareness in general.