Overturned Lorries on Motorways
15 August 2007, 04:34 PM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Location: Location:
Posts: 2,848
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Overturned Lorries on Motorways
Specifically on the M25, as I used it everyday, I can't help thinking that there's more overturned lorries in the last few months than there's been over the last few years. They also seem to be between junctions 6 and 10 (either direction) and quite frankly, it's started to **** me off as it often adds an hour + to my journey 
Firstly, how easy is it for a lorry to overturn and secondly when they're foreign (which they usually seem to be) do they end up being prosecuted if they caused the problem in the first place????
Firstly, how easy is it for a lorry to overturn and secondly when they're foreign (which they usually seem to be) do they end up being prosecuted if they caused the problem in the first place????
15 August 2007, 04:40 PM
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The land of Daisies and Bubbles!
Posts: 5,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Depends what the lorry is carrying - if it's a tanker with something like milk in it, it's pretty easy to roll (it's the second 'slap' that will get you!). Plus the weather conditions will have an affect.
It could be that they overturned because some numnuts in a car cut them up so they had to swerve to avoid - so really not necessarily their fault.
M25 Leatherhead stretch to be avoided at all costs generally - it's a magnet for accidents.
It could be that they overturned because some numnuts in a car cut them up so they had to swerve to avoid - so really not necessarily their fault.
M25 Leatherhead stretch to be avoided at all costs generally - it's a magnet for accidents.
15 August 2007, 04:43 PM
#3
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 16,517
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Depends what the lorry is carrying - if it's a tanker with something like milk in it, it's pretty easy to roll (it's the second 'slap' that will get you!). Plus the weather conditions will have an affect.
It could be that they overturned because some numnuts in a car cut them up so they had to swerve to avoid - so really not necessarily their fault.
M25 Leatherhead stretch to be avoided at all costs generally - it's a magnet for accidents.
It could be that they overturned because some numnuts in a car cut them up so they had to swerve to avoid - so really not necessarily their fault.
M25 Leatherhead stretch to be avoided at all costs generally - it's a magnet for accidents.
15 August 2007, 04:51 PM
#4
BANNED
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: --------------------
Posts: 13,289
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes it could be, but highly unlikely. Or it could be that they generally leave themselves no real braking distance whatsoever.
Trending Topics
15 August 2007, 05:14 PM
#9
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The place where indicators don't exist....
Posts: 1,376
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Judging by the number of p*ssed up Eastern European drivers I see every day coming through Dover docks, I'm truly amazed there aren't more accidents involving them. We refer all the ones we stop who seem a bit p*ssed to the port police who happily deal with them. It's the ones we don't stop (of which there are an awful lot - probably 300 trucks an hour pass through in total) end up causing bad accidents.
And I personally dont think laptops, tv's, coffee makers, p*ssing into bottles and all other sorts of sh*t sat on their dashboards help either.
And I personally dont think laptops, tv's, coffee makers, p*ssing into bottles and all other sorts of sh*t sat on their dashboards help either.
15 August 2007, 05:20 PM
#11
BANNED
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: --------------------
Posts: 13,289
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
15 August 2007, 05:47 PM
#12
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: GC8 Enthusiast - Scumball3000 Team 69
Posts: 2,002
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Allow me to put this into perspective. The odd lorry acts in such a way that could cause a collision, but I have to act to avoid collisions with stupid car drivers every day. If I didnt my 32 tonnes lorry would squash them and the fire brigade would have to get them out using a hosepipe. Most of the selfish, thoughtless, ignorant fools dont even realise that they have nearly caused their own fatal accident.
Simon
15 August 2007, 06:06 PM
#14
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The land of Daisies and Bubbles!
Posts: 5,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They do - but when I did a bunch of work with TRL (Transport Research Labs - do the NCAP testing) they were showing me how they're still very vulnerable. They have a full sized truck simulator and it can recreate the exact conditions of having a tank slapper in a tanker to help drivers learn to control it.
15 August 2007, 06:31 PM
#15
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 216
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Back to the M25. Is there something inherently tricky at / near the Clackett Lane services between J5 and J6? There are almost daily accidents there. Is there a design fault with the on slips? I always join at either J6 clockwise or J5 anticlockwise, so this is the one section I don't know.
15 August 2007, 06:40 PM
#16
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: I live in Wheelock near Sandbach Cheshire.
Posts: 801
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
When seeing a overturned lorry, Think ELK test. All it takes a a quick swerve in opposite directions, and over she goes. Vans, and 4x4's and of course the A class, will flip quite easily.
I is the drivers responsibility to ensure that the load is fixed and distributed evenly. Not much you can do with liquids execpt the baffles.
I is the drivers responsibility to ensure that the load is fixed and distributed evenly. Not much you can do with liquids execpt the baffles.
15 August 2007, 07:29 PM
#17
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 9,368
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Back to the M25. Is there something inherently tricky at / near the Clackett Lane services between J5 and J6? There are almost daily accidents there. Is there a design fault with the on slips? I always join at either J6 clockwise or J5 anticlockwise, so this is the one section I don't know.
astraboy.
15 August 2007, 07:36 PM
#18
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 318
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We have all seen at sometime the military convoys up and down the country. they drive at steady pace and are very well disciplined.
I think that was proved to be a car driver leaving it too late to leave the motorway and not judging the gap correctly. I think the car driver dissapeared without a scratch and left the scene almost none the wiser.
15 August 2007, 08:05 PM
#19
I was going to post this very same thing today!!!
It seems to be almost a daily things now lorries overturning on the M25, and after driving from junction 8 to 10 4 times on Monday i can see why.
The standard of driving in the lorries was awful. There was a car in the inside lane doing approx 50mph, and a truck was sitting about 2 foot off its rear bumper. There were 2 others who just indicated and moved lanes....failing to notice the cars beside them, and another one (not an artic) sitting in lane 3 holding everyone up trying to overtake a car that was going about half-a-mile an hour slower.
I'm not saying that car drivers don't do the same, but saying 'car drivers do it aswell' isn't a valid excuse. If you choose to drive these things for a living you must realise how much of a potential danger they can be driven incorrectly.
And why do you always find a lorrying doing 52mph overtaking one doing 50mph? Is there a point to it?
This isn't a post slagging off lorry drivers, as i know 90% of them are fine, but like all things the minority seem to tarnish the reputation of the majority.
(Rant over)
It seems to be almost a daily things now lorries overturning on the M25, and after driving from junction 8 to 10 4 times on Monday i can see why.
The standard of driving in the lorries was awful. There was a car in the inside lane doing approx 50mph, and a truck was sitting about 2 foot off its rear bumper. There were 2 others who just indicated and moved lanes....failing to notice the cars beside them, and another one (not an artic) sitting in lane 3 holding everyone up trying to overtake a car that was going about half-a-mile an hour slower.
I'm not saying that car drivers don't do the same, but saying 'car drivers do it aswell' isn't a valid excuse. If you choose to drive these things for a living you must realise how much of a potential danger they can be driven incorrectly.
And why do you always find a lorrying doing 52mph overtaking one doing 50mph? Is there a point to it?
This isn't a post slagging off lorry drivers, as i know 90% of them are fine, but like all things the minority seem to tarnish the reputation of the majority.
(Rant over)
15 August 2007, 09:01 PM
#22
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Mansfield Area
Posts: 1,126
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Some good replys here, some dont deserve the ink. I'm often fully freighted at 44 TONNE and try to be 100% professional but stupid car drivers who have to be there yesterday, if they could see the danger. I brake at 54mph I don't stop, I slow down and not very much either
15 August 2007, 10:27 PM
#23
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,581
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Anyone who hasn't driven with a significant amount of liquid on board hasn't lived with the white knucle fear that is "The Slosh".
I used to drive a Transit van with a 1000 litre unbaffled tank in the back (full of TFR for car jet washers). You'd stop at a junction with both feet on the brakes, plus handbrake and still end up moving a few feet. I dread to think what a fully laden 44 tonne tanker is like (baffles or no baffles)
I used to drive a Transit van with a 1000 litre unbaffled tank in the back (full of TFR for car jet washers). You'd stop at a junction with both feet on the brakes, plus handbrake and still end up moving a few feet. I dread to think what a fully laden 44 tonne tanker is like (baffles or no baffles)
15 August 2007, 10:41 PM
#24
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 5,528
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dave
15 August 2007, 10:57 PM
#26
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Surrey/London borders.
Posts: 8,300
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was going to post this very same thing today!!!
It seems to be almost a daily things now lorries overturning on the M25, and after driving from junction 8 to 10 4 times on Monday i can see why.
The standard of driving in the lorries was awful. There was a car in the inside lane doing approx 50mph, and a truck was sitting about 2 foot off its rear bumper. There were 2 others who just indicated and moved lanes....failing to notice the cars beside them, and another one (not an artic) sitting in lane 3 holding everyone up trying to overtake a car that was going about half-a-mile an hour slower.
I'm not saying that car drivers don't do the same, but saying 'car drivers do it aswell' isn't a valid excuse. If you choose to drive these things for a living you must realise how much of a potential danger they can be driven incorrectly.
And why do you always find a lorrying doing 52mph overtaking one doing 50mph? Is there a point to it?
This isn't a post slagging off lorry drivers, as i know 90% of them are fine, but like all things the minority seem to tarnish the reputation of the majority.
(Rant over)
It seems to be almost a daily things now lorries overturning on the M25, and after driving from junction 8 to 10 4 times on Monday i can see why.
The standard of driving in the lorries was awful. There was a car in the inside lane doing approx 50mph, and a truck was sitting about 2 foot off its rear bumper. There were 2 others who just indicated and moved lanes....failing to notice the cars beside them, and another one (not an artic) sitting in lane 3 holding everyone up trying to overtake a car that was going about half-a-mile an hour slower.
I'm not saying that car drivers don't do the same, but saying 'car drivers do it aswell' isn't a valid excuse. If you choose to drive these things for a living you must realise how much of a potential danger they can be driven incorrectly.
And why do you always find a lorrying doing 52mph overtaking one doing 50mph? Is there a point to it?
This isn't a post slagging off lorry drivers, as i know 90% of them are fine, but like all things the minority seem to tarnish the reputation of the majority.
(Rant over)
Most lorry drivers are excellent from what I see.
I guess you get a crap % in any job that tarnish the rest - plus everyone makes mistakes.
I almost got wiped out by one today as it veered into my path - but it was due to cross winds that took the rig like a sail. The way he got that massive rig back into check was F1 style driving. He then gave me a wave as a sorry as I passed.
I suppose when you lose it in one of them that's it - no second chance, bang, and someone's usually squashed.
16 August 2007, 10:13 AM
#27
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Swilling coffee at my lab bench
Posts: 9,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Top Gear did a feature on lorry drivers a few years back, and since then I have a lot more time for them - for example, if they're paid X for a delivery, but the diesel they need to make the journey costs most of X, then every time they're forced to slow down and get back up to speed (which burns a lot of fuel) it costs them a substantial chunk of their profit margin. Slow down too often and they face making nothing on the delivery at all.
Also 52mph vs 50mph might not seem like a lot - but it's nearly 20 minutes off a 400 mile journey...
Also 52mph vs 50mph might not seem like a lot - but it's nearly 20 minutes off a 400 mile journey...
16 August 2007, 10:47 AM
#28
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 16,517
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Top Gear did a feature on lorry drivers a few years back, and since then I have a lot more time for them - for example, if they're paid X for a delivery, but the diesel they need to make the journey costs most of X, then every time they're forced to slow down and get back up to speed (which burns a lot of fuel) it costs them a substantial chunk of their profit margin. Slow down too often and they face making nothing on the delivery at all.
Also 52mph vs 50mph might not seem like a lot - but it's nearly 20 minutes off a 400 mile journey...
Also 52mph vs 50mph might not seem like a lot - but it's nearly 20 minutes off a 400 mile journey...
16 August 2007, 11:04 AM
#29
16 August 2007, 12:02 PM
#30
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 39,877
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I certainly can understand about the effect of liquid moving around in a tanker.
I was wondering why we hear about so many upturned lorries too, Lyn Bowles is always mentioning them on the radio in the morning.
It occurred to me that perhap's some of them are falling asleep at the wheel because of insufficient rest.
Les
I was wondering why we hear about so many upturned lorries too, Lyn Bowles is always mentioning them on the radio in the morning.
It occurred to me that perhap's some of them are falling asleep at the wheel because of insufficient rest.
Les