On UK motorways, have you noticed that?

Question

Everytime there is a collision, it nearly always involves a HGV. Statistically, the odds would be about 95% of motorway accidents involve a lorry whether they either jack knife, tail gate, or involve a third party through careless driving. Do you agree with my assumption?

What are you feelings on this issue?

All views appreciated from all motorists, motor cyclists, PSV and HGV drivers.

Answer 1

One reason is the number of foreign lorry drivers on our roads.

Almost all of them are used to driving on the right and their vehicles are equipped on this assumption.

It only needs a moments inattention to cause an accident.

Also such accidents are spectacular and the car driver notices them more.

Not sure about your statistics; where did you get them?

Answer 2

i totally agree dude!! and i think that hgv drivers should be able to take longer breaks from driving and the tachograph system should be greatly improved!

Answer 3

i drive a hgv .....  berghaus...    gave the right answer......   most common problem is car drivers pass the truck and  brake hard in front    causing truck to brake hard and swerve to avoid accident      trucks are limited to 56 miles per hour      cars pass the "slow" truck and slow down to 55 mph    truck slows to 55mph     then another car pulls into gap between truck and slow 55mph car     truck slows to 54mph to allow gap and so on until truck tries to overtake at 56mph cars travelling at 55 mph..  takes forever   then car speeds upto 56mph  truck can t do no more   has to reduce speed  return to inside lane and start over...  all day  every day      give trucks a chance    leave a longer gap    think ahead    44 tonne s  will not handle like 1 tonne......    take care

Answer 4

hi tango, well said, i totally agree,   blue

Answer 5

Most HGV's are involved in incidents trying to avoid other incidents caused by other idiotic car drivers

Answer 6

Generally speaking, I feel HGV drivers are amoungst the best on the road, especially on the motorways.

I recently was caught in some really bad stormy weather travelling from Dover to London and could barely see. I found a UK HGV and slid in behind, whilst watching idiots screaming past at 80 - 90mph +.  

I felt a lot safer knowing I was behind a professional driver, and knew that provided I maintained a safe distance I would safely reach my destination, all be it in less time.

I feel that as more HGV's use the motorway then most other roads then statistically the accident rate involving them is going to be higher.

I am a car driver.

Answer 7

i didnt know those statistics. but u make it sound like all accidents involving lorries are lorry drivers fault. in my experience of driving a large vehicles (double decker bus) people in cars fail to realise that a large vehicle has a slower acceleration, takes longer to break and stop, and they seem to misjudge the speed at which it is travelling.. and thats why so many people dash out to cross the road in front of a bus and ...whoops, and cut up lorries on motorways.

Answer 8

From all that I have read they are not the problem most of the time the other drivers are the problems.

Answer 9

My uncle is an HGV driver and had a crash on the A1 just before Christmas...caused by some pillock in a car in front who had a sofa strapped to his roof. The sofa blew off straight into my uncle's path - the car driver didn't even stop. Other cars were also affected and had to pull over on to the hard shoulder so although there were several vehicles including my uncle's lorry, you can bet that people driving past noticed the lorry first and assumed that the accident was his fault.

Answer 10

They were probably only swerving to avoid a bloody motorcyclist!!

Answer 11

I'd like to know where you are getting your statistics from.

No, i haven't noticed that. In fact most accidents i see on the motorway involve cars. I don't drive HGVs myself, but i do know a few HGV drivers. I have been out on some runs with a couple of mates and you would not believe the stupid things some CAR drivers do.  Like driving down the inside of a truck who is indicating left but has pulled out to the right so when he turns left he doesn't mount the pavement and wipe out pedestrians. Or while slowing down to stop safely in the distance he has a car or two suddenly shoot down the outside and pull in if front of him which now makes it a 50/50 chance that he can stop in time without parking in the boot of the idiot in front of him.

It is true that some truck drivers fall asleep at the wheel and cause accidents. But so do many car drivers. It is only the fact that when a lorry crashes it does so much more damage that it gets reported nationally. A articulated lorry can Jack knife so easily, especially when empty. I didn't believe this until my mate showed me. The skill involved in safely handling 38 tonnes is high. Another thing you mention, tailgating. Did you know that HGV vehicles are not allowed in lane three? So they only have two lanes that they can use. How much fun do you think it is when they have a life of going from point A to point B within the hours that they are allowed to drive, but can't make progress because some idiot is sitting in lane two doing fifty miles an hour when he isn't overtaking anything, oh apart from that other car half a mile in front of him. Another thing, they are only allowed to drive so many hours in a 24 hour period. Having to take breaks. Car drivers don't have to.  I used to do a lot of motorway driving and believe me, i used to see a lot more idiots in cars than i saw i driving lorries. I bet we have all seen the idiots towing caravans and trailors that are zig zagging merrily along the road. Usually because they have the nose weight all wrong. If you want to see REALLY bad, dangerous and inconsiderate driving, go and drive in London, and wonder at the motorcycle riders, at how they ignore pedestrain crossing, traffic lights, overtake on both sides of the car. If there was ever a case for banning a road user, it is them! I will stop now because the veins on my head are really throbbing:(

After ten minutes of surfing i came across some more information. Please check out the address below.

Answer 12

i know what r talking about. my old school was out of town so we use m25. it can be crazy sometime, one i didn't get pick until 9pm!

Answer 13

If you're going to make assumptions about statistics, stand on a motorway bridge for five minutes and watch the traffic, you will find that the majority of vehicles on the motorways are LGV's, given the law of averages it stands to reason that they're the ones most likely to be involved in an RTA.

Answer 14

If you think about it HGV drivers do it for a living, all day - so they have a much higher probability of having an accident.

I find its more the case that some idiot was looking round and didn't see the car in front brake which causes a pile up, or someone not checking their blind spot and pulling out.

The last time I saw a wagon involved in an incident he has been blown over by high winds - hardly to blame there!

Lorry drivers in the whole are an excellent breed, they take their position seriously and take all the necessary precautions to be as safe as possible!!

Answer 15

My view?

As a car owner, biker and ex-HGV driver, don't make assumptions you can't back up with genuine facts...