Why do Lorry drivers take such risks in such bad weather on the motorways?

Question

Just recently and including today I have seen drivers of these large vehicles take so many risks. We have heavy rain, winds and flooding and they still drive at high speed and swap lanes with no regard for others.

Answer 1

because their cun*s who think they own the road

Answer 2

think they own the road, they intimidate car drivers by driving to close .

Answer 3

they think their big,and your not going to take on a big lorry,with a mini,ud be killed,so they act big,because of the size,of lorry,their driving,not all is like this,but,

Answer 4

Hello,

(ANS) Having some experience of working as a commercial van driver in the past, I understand some of the reasons for lorry drivers taking risks.

**Whilst I cannot condone the way some lorry & van drivers behave, such drivers are on Multi Drop trips. This means they may have as many as 70-80 items to deliver for a commercial van driver for a company like DHL (and may have bonus payments if they reach their daily targets?)

**For HGV1 lorries they can have long distance trips where they have to make 5 -8 drops or collections as well as covering distances of several hundred miles within 24hrs.

**Drivers of Vans, HGV's & 7.5 ton lorries should drive with care at all times, and stay within health & safety laws in terms of duration of driving & rest brakes, etc. A tired driver is a dangerous driver. Long distance driving can & does cause the equivalent of jet lag (road lag if you like!!) drivers do get fatigue which only catches up with you after a certain length of time. This is why drivers can fall asleep at the wheel in rare cases.

**However, like in ALL walks of life and within any kind of job, you have drivers who are first rate as well as trying to do their drops or deliveries on time. But you also have bad drivers who constantly cut corners to meet deadlines, some employers put extra pressure on drivers to do over time or fit in extra deliveries this means drivers get more stressed & fatigued more quickly which is more likely to result in serious accidents.

**Any driver either commercial or private should drive with due regard to other road users. Bad driving is NOT excusable just because you drive an HGV, in fact if you do driver an HGV you have even more of a duty of care towards other road users because of the sheer scale of your vehicle. So in my opinion bad driving can not be condoned no matter who you are.

Regards Ivan

Answer 5

Just because you don't understand anything about it does not mean that the professional driver is doing anything that is unsafe.  They frequently drive more miles in a day than you do in a month, and if they were unsafe, they wouldn't have a job for very long.  

One of the biggest problems that commercial drivers have is with ignorant drivers in little cars zipping in and out of traffic in front of them and forcing them to make maneuvers that their trucks are not designed for, just to avoid unsafe situations that the other guy caused.

Next time, how about you backing off and giving the big guy a break!

Answer 6

Hi Mark

In a word 'complacency', you'll find that this applies to foreign drivers mostly, they don't give a d**n.

Ray. West York's. U.K.

Answer 7

Theyre probably Polish and getting the miles in so as to  hold down two  driving jobs in order to save for a cheap house back there within a few years.

Answer 8

Pressures of workloads probably??

No it's not an excuse but it is a contributing factor in most cases!! Been there mate!!

Answer 9

Because their cabs are high up and they can crush cars without getting injured.

Answer 10

lorry drivers have a better view ahead and behind. what you think is risky or stupid could actually be a well planned manuvre. truckers have  less blind spots and bigger windows and mirrors so they can see much more!

Answer 11

They dont go out there and drive that vehicle for the love of it or because they have nothing better to do, they have a living to earn and a contract to fulfil.  If you dont do the job, someone else will and you'll have no living.  When they set out in the small hours of the morning to avoid traffic congestion they possibly are in ok weather conditions - it's long hours in the profession.  Dont knock them - they do their best.

Answer 12

Not wishing to repeat whats already been said, but because they have a better view of whats going on ahead, lorries are able to take action before an accident occurs.

Also, just picking up on a couple of points you have just made, NO driver is "an experienced driver" because to be classed as such, surely you must have come a cross a situation before and know how to handle it. As no 2 incidents are the same, I find this state hard to accept. However, you may be classed as a "driver with experience"!

Secondly, as far as lorries being involved in the majority of motorway accidents, have you ever stopped to think that the incident was as a result of a cars drivers actions!!

I personally travel at least 250 miles a day to and from work in my car and am getting more and more irritated by the actions of other car drivers who "tailgate" other vehicles, cut in last minute before exiting the motorway just to save 20 - 30 seconds. I am sure that if the government introduced re testing every,lets say 5 years, the number that would fail would be quite staggering.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that the standards of some lorry drivers leave a lot to the imagination, but these are a minority and in true human fashion, we always pick on them and not congratulate the majority for managing to deliver the goods that we all need to live in a safe and timely manner, what every the weather conditions.

Answer 13

If we assume your figure of 80% of motorway collisions involving lorrys (which I doubt), that in no way demonstrates that the lorry drivers were responsible.

Of course, there are always the bad apples that give the majority a bad name, but I would say most HGV drivers are the best drivers on the roads.

Of more concern to me are van drivers (multi-drop) who have commercial time pressures which affect their attitude.  But let's not tar them all with the same brush.

Answer 14

Just because they are big, they think they own the road.