Nice HGV driver - doesn't see car.

[totallyfixed]

Mmm, doubt the video is real would have been on every news station within hours, also whoever was filming it just happened to be in the right place for an extended period of time.
I saw a scary one about 3 years ago on the A14, I was driving about 100m behind a truck and saw it hit a car door which had just been opened in a layby. The door just exploded and disintegrated, 2 or 3 seconds later that would have been a dead person.
I memorised the truck number plate and company and reported what I had seen to the local cop shop. This was the interesting bit, in spite of it happening on a very busy road [near Bar Hill] nobody else had taken note of the truck. The police were extremely thankful as the car owner was in shock and would also otherwise be facing a large bill.

 

[CopperBrompton]

It is real: it's on the BBC news site

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I saw a scary one about 3 years ago on the A14, I was driving about 100m behind a truck and saw it hit a car door which had just been opened in a layby. The door just exploded and disintegrated, 2 or 3 seconds later that would have been a dead person.
I memorised the truck number plate and company and reported what I had seen to the local cop shop. This was the interesting bit, in spite of it happening on a very busy road [near Bar Hill] nobody else had taken note of the truck. The police were extremely thankful as the car owner was in shock and would also otherwise be facing a large bill.

First rule of opening your car door into the inside lane of a dual carriageway is: don't. Second rule is look in your mirror first.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

It's genuine, but it now seems clear the driver was perfectly well aware the car was there - it's being pursued now as a road-rage incident.

In that case - and I still maintain a similar scenario would be possible without the driver knowing about it immediately - I hope they nail the silly bastard. Having an HGV licence comes with certain responsibilities which include not doing something like that when you're having a bad day.

 

[BentMikey]

I saw a scary one about 3 years ago on the A14, I was driving about 100m behind a truck and saw it hit a car door which had just been opened in a layby. The door just exploded and disintegrated, 2 or 3 seconds later that would have been a dead person.
I memorised the truck number plate and company and reported what I had seen to the local cop shop. This was the interesting bit, in spite of it happening on a very busy road [near Bar Hill] nobody else had taken note of the truck. The police were extremely thankful as the car owner was in shock and would also otherwise be facing a large bill.

I think that's the fault of the car driver surely, or were there extenuating circumstances?

"Highway code rule 239:
you MUST ensure you do not hit anyone when you open your door. Check for cyclists or other traffic"

Who remembers that driver being pulled over by the cops on one of the TV cops programmes, and getting his door taken off by a tank transporter?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I worked with another driver once who told me that he'd been driving past a police car on the hard shoulder of the motorway when the policeman decided to open the door. He stopped as quickly as he could and ran back to find the copper sitting ashen faced with one of his driving gloves missing where it had gone with the car door . And a terrible smell, because he'd, er, soiled himself, for which one can hardly blame him.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ivers-to-get-wedged-under-lorry-201003192575/

 

[magnatom]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ivers-to-get-wedged-under-lorry-201003192575/

Excellent!

 

[totallyfixed]

I think that's the fault of the car driver surely, or were there extenuating circumstances?

"Highway code rule 239:
you MUST ensure you do not hit anyone when you open your door. Check for cyclists or other traffic"

Who remembers that driver being pulled over by the cops on one of the TV cops programmes, and getting his door taken off by a tank transporter?

On this occasion it was the truck drivers fault as he had veered out of his lane, however as RT says unlikely he would have felt anything.
I admit I didn't witness this one but in the Army a tank driver in his Chieftain pancaked a German car [and I do mean pancaked in the literal sense of the word], Knew nothing about it until he was hauled up in front of the C.O. The story goes that the German guy had left his car in an Army exercise area to walk his dog, the look on his face when he got back to what was left of his car must have been priceless.

 

[Origamist]

A lorry driver who was shown on YouTube driving along a motorway with a car trapped in front of his cab has been told he can keep his licence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/10162158.stm

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Good. As I said earlier in the thread, having driven that very model of truck I can easily understand how a car could get into that position without the driver knowing anything about it. It's an argument for modifying truck design - which has already been done as more modern trucks have a mirror over the windscreen.

 

[dondare]

On this occasion it was the truck drivers fault as he had veered out of his lane, however as RT says unlikely he would have felt anything.
I admit I didn't witness this one but in the Army a tank driver in his Chieftain pancaked a German car [and I do mean pancaked in the literal sense of the word], Knew nothing about it until he was hauled up in front of the C.O. The story goes that the German guy had left his car in an Army exercise area to walk his dog, the look on his face when he got back to what was left of his car must have been priceless.

Tossed it?

 

[dondare]

I worked with another driver once who told me that he'd been driving past a police car on the hard shoulder of the motorway when the policeman decided to open the door. He stopped as quickly as he could and ran back to find the copper sitting ashen faced with one of his driving gloves missing where it had gone with the car door . And a terrible smell, because he'd, er, soiled himself, for which one can hardly blame him.

A mate of mine told me that he saw a policeman open the door of his car into the path of a fully loaded up delivery bike. The impact took the door off.

 

[dondare]

Common sense has prevailed.

It's like I say, these things can't be used safely anywhere, however competent the driver. Too big, too heavy, too many blind spots.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

It's like I say, these things can't be used safely anywhere, however competent the driver. Too big, too heavy, too many blind spots.

Too many dozy car drivers, more like.
One incident doesn't make every lorry ever unsafe: while I acknowledge that the blind spots on a DAF 95 are not ideal, I drove one all over the UK for eight months and had only one near miss, on a roundabout in Aberdeen, when a car pulled onto the roundabout next to my cab and nearly got taken out when I went to pull off the roundabout at the next exit.