HGV vs cyclist

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and to be looking in all mirrors at once is fairly impossible. A quick sweep takes 5-6 seconds, which is enough for someone to slip into the dead/th zone as the lorry moves

A competent driver will be watching a developing situation - cyclists take more than 5-6 seconds to appear in the picture, and there is no excuse for a lack of anticipation

I have had this conversation, face to face, with more than one cycling 'professional', and have offered to provide the necessary demonstration - unfortunately it costs money!

It would be good to involve the Driving Standards Agency

BB

 

[subaqua]

A competent driver will be watching a developing situation - cyclists take more than 5-6 seconds to appear in the picture, and there is no excuse for a lack of anticipation

I have had this conversation, face to face, with more than one cycling 'professional', and have offered to provide the necessary demonstration - unfortunately it costs money!

It would be good to involve the Driving Standards Agency

BB

agreed. but it does happen

 

[gaz]

A competent driver will be watching a developing situation - cyclists take more than 5-6 seconds to appear in the picture, and there is no excuse for a lack of anticipation

I have had this conversation, face to face, with more than one cycling 'professional', and have offered to provide the necessary demonstration - unfortunately it costs money!

It would be good to involve the Driving Standards Agency

BB

What are your views of cyclists filtering on the left of left turning vehicles? You comment a lot on how a hgv has no blind spot if the mirrors are adjust properly which kind of suggests that it is ok for cyclists to do what they want around Hgvs because the driver can see them.

Let's not forget that a. Not all hgv's have the extra mirrors, many still only have 2. B. Not every driver is compitent, even professional drivers.

 

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What are your views of cyclists filtering on the left of left turning vehicles? You comment a lot on how a hgv has no blind spot if the mirrors are adjust properly which kind of suggests that it is ok for cyclists to do what they want around Hgvs because the driver can see them.

Let's not forget that a. Not all hgv's have the extra mirrors, many still only have 2. B. Not every driver is compitent, even professional drivers.

Cyclists who filter in the way you describe place themselves in extreme danger because most HGV drivers will be unable to see them, and will have failed to anticipate the possibility of a cyclist's presence

ALL lorries have the necessary mirrors, but many many drivers don't use them properly

BB

 

[gaz]

Cyclists who filter in the way you describe place themselves in extreme danger because most HGV drivers will be unable to see them, and will have failed to anticipate the possibility of a cyclist's presence

ALL lorries have the necessary mirrors, but many many drivers don't use them properly

BB

That is only 2? 2 Mirrors is not enough.

 

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That is only 2? 2 Mirrors is not enough

The number of available mirrors only becomes significant when it is certain that the driver will use them properly

Where did you get the figure '2' from?

BB

 

[gaz]

The number of available mirrors only becomes significant when it is certain that the driver will use them properly

Where did you get the figure '2' from?

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There is no requirement for a lorry already on the road to have anymore mirrors than one on the left and one on the right.

*i should add that my term of lorry is probably different to yours and includes LGV which still have the same killing potential and similar blind spots.

 

[suecsi]

I'm sure it is mentioned elsewhere, but I wouldn't filter mainly because of what I have learnt from this forum, the TFL advert at the top of my road, and the fact I live in an area near the airport with lots of HGVs, so maybe I have developed an awareness. However, the way the roads are marked up, with cycle lanes, even the so called 'super' highway blue ones, going up the inside of trucks, and the fact that if you are sitting there, a larger vehicle can still pull up to your right, is worrying - for new riders, the assumption that the cycle lane is the safe place can be easy to fall into.

 

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Early in my HGV driving career, I had to filter onto a busy road from the righthand side (rather like joining a continental motorway)

I could see what was waiting behind me, and I could see what was coming towards me, on the busy road, from my right. I could also see the opposite side of the busy road

But I could get no view at all of the traffic on the busy road which was coming from my left, and travelling in the same direction as me

That traffic was in my blind spot, and I had to pull out in front of it, hoping that no-one would crash into me

I thought 'this can't be right - I have more mirrors than I can shake a stick at, and still I cannot see what I need to see'

The guys back at the yard said 'yep, that's the way it is, get over it', but I thought on...

The next time I had to do the same emerge, I had set my mirrors differently, and I could see all around me with no gaps at all

BB

 

[gaz]

And yet your colleagues in the yard couldn't give a monkeys?

 

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And yet your colleagues in the yard couldn't give a monkeys?

Correct!

Have you read this thread from the beginning?

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ps - I just saw your edit - I am based near Luton

 

[BentMikey]

I'm not sure I completely understand why so many HGV drivers and experts alike talk about the blind spots of lorries, based on what you say. Are they just talking bullsh1t, and are they all incompetent at setting mirrors?

I thought this video from the Met Exchanging Places programme was pretty decent at showing the visibility when passing a lorry in a number of different ways:


View: http://youtu.be/uPkbNFt5NuY

 

[gaz]

I've read it from the start. But I fail to see your point. You state your self that other lorry drivers basically couldn't care, how does that solve te situation that a disproportionate amount of cycle deaths involve vehicles that make up a small percentage of overall vehicle usuage?
Or the fact that there is no way to confirm that a lorries mirrors are set up correctly.

I've sat in a tipper truck and with only 2 mirrors there are blind spots!

 

[gaz]

Correct!

Have you read this thread from the beginning?

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ps - I just saw your edit - I am based near Luton

I removed what I said but there is a chance. I will have to dig out some contacts and see what I can manage.

 

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I'm not sure I completely understand why so many HGV drivers and experts alike talk about the blind spots of lorries, based on what you say. Are they just talking bullsh1t, and are they all incompetent at setting mirrors?

I thought this video from the Met Exchanging Places programme was pretty decent at showing the visibility when passing a lorry in a number of different ways:


View: http://youtu.be/uPkbNFt5NuY

It has always surprised me that no clever barrister has challenged the widely-held acceptance of the fact that LGVs (previously known as HGVs!) have unavoidable blindspots in their nearside vision

BB