I had a ride out today up to Boxhill along the A29 which is mostly fast country roads, numerous times i ended up behind big lorries with difficulty viewing past them far enough ahead to overtake safely, suprisingly every lorry at some point put their left indicator on briefly to signal to me it was clear to overtake, i was cautious when moving out to overtake but was genuinely chuffed to find each time it was clear roads ahead, allowing for safe passings. I thanked them with a waving hand once infront, but i never experienced that before. This happened on 3 occasions. I'm so used to car drivers that never see you or do stupid things once they do , its just nice that sometimes there are drivers who are looking out for you and your safety. So many thanks to those lorry drivers on the A29 who did this for me.
Oh yeah, no way I believe what anyone does for me when I'm on a motorbike, just this instance they were 100% spot on.
As an X long distance HGV driver myself its nice to see, they are not all bad, with the traffic as buisy as it is these days HGV drivers particularly artic drivers have to be a bit pushy otherwise they would never get out of a junction. Steve
This is a pleasant change to the standard arrogant, selfish and downright dangerous behavior I witness on the M1 every single day. The truly sad thing is that British registered trucks are the worst. About 50% of hgv drivers I see every day shouldn't have a driving license at all, let alone C+E
My theory is that there are a good number of HGV drivers who are, or have been, bikers. This is more pronounced in Europe where a high percentage of car & HGV drivers started off on very small bikes so always have an added affinity and understanding of bikers. While driving just now, I had a VFR1200 come up behind me an then overtake on a gentle bend without a clear view (mine was better). An oncoming car appeared and I instinctively braked for him as it would have been very tight!. No wave or gesture from the biker! Honda plonker!
Really?only 50%? tell you what,why don't they all stay off the road so you can have the motorway to yourself....you'll have sweet FA to put in the tank after a fortnight,and the supermarket shelves will be empty...oh yeah,and those Duke bits that you're waiting for won't be coming either.. I hate generalisations,so I'll just point out a few facts for you: All British truck drivers have a car licence VOSA surveys will tell you that British reg trucks are the most numerous on UK roads British trucks are involved in the least number of accidents that involve trucks,according to distance travelled If a British truck driver commits an offence,it's possible he could lose his livelihood. It's bloody hard to pass an LGV driving test And just because it's a UK truck doesn't mean it's a British driver,buddy,plenty of easty Beasties driving for the supermarkets and agencies and every other UK/European transport company. Do you drive for a living? If you do,and your view is five feet above every car or motorcycle that passes,you'll have seen plenty of appalling driving. Committed by people who scraped by in a single driving test sometime in the past with the minimum of training,who've got no thought for anyone else on the roads but themselves.In cars and on bikes.Frigging useless most of them.At best a bloody nuisance,at worst a danger to themselves and everyone else on the road. Theres a saying in road transport that someone with your view will find useful: "If a truck is behind me it's going too fast,if a trucks is in front it's going too slow" Needless to say,I am involved in road haulage. If you're not a truck driver,or have never ridden in one,come and spend the afternoon with me,and you'll see what it's like from the cab.I promise you,you'll be stunned at some of the things you'll see.
fair play to biker freindly truckers, like said probly bikers themselves, have to admit, would hate to be a lorry driver, used to do trunk work for TNT in the late 80s , was awful , stressful, hated it, must be 10 times as bad now on the roads,,,,,, anyway good and bad truck drivers, same as car drivers and agree with birdie, you got to be a bit pushy driving a lorry, else you wouldnt get out of the yard, who flashes a lorry in?, who wants to get stuck behind one? , lorrys are a neccessary evil, cant live with them or cant live without them, credit to the guys and gals who drive them safely and put up with us lot with no patience
I sometimes think that as bikers we are all a little too keen to slag off other road users. For my part I believe that most road users are becoming more aware and more understanding of bikes, for instance I often have cars pull over to make more room for bikes to pass in two lane queues. Also, car drivers rarely seem to object when I nip past them in slow moving traffic, in fact they usually pull back to make room once I've edged into the traffic queue. Yes there are still plenty of plonkers out there who are a dangerous nuisance but on the whole car drivers are not too bad. And let’s be honest, there are a few bikers out there who are an embarrassment to us all. As for lorry drivers, I don't see them as any worse or better than car drivers. That’s probably pushed my luck to the limit and I’ll be run off the road tomorrow by someone who is texting while they drive!!!!
