I'd question what motivated the decision to drive that type of vehicle, fully loaded, down what has been described as a residential rat-run at that time of day? Was that the driver's decision, or an instruction by management?

In the past, it would be obvious, the driver. Unfortunately, today, I would say Management.

I wonder if I would get away with wearing "slippers & chatting on a mobile" while driving a HGV?

Not guilty

What is it about fog that seems to turn people's brains to mush? Got into Abingdon this morning at 07:03. The M40 is a bloody mess, however, with the tailbacks & diversions I managed to get onto the A421 following that all the way to the A1 & home.

M1

M40

The language coming from some of those in the tailbacks & the moans about being delayed really are laughable!

Regardless of how much safety built into roads & vehicles, they'll always have the same fatal flaw.

When these big accidents happen on the motorways they should do what they when an accident happens on the railway - close the road for two weeks whilst they investigate.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.

Asides from the major arterial roads, the rest really are not suitable for that kind of heavy traffic.

@Chris , please note this is NOT a dig. I just want to have any driver better than the two of us to confirm or deny the following...

1st, well done for that amount of years on the road without an accident of any sort, it really is a pleasure to hear about from ANY driver. Here's the question...

Over that 50 years, just what has your annual mileage been?

Again over that 50 years, what would be the likelihood that 2 drivers passing their tests the same day of one having no accidents, the other several?

The difference between the two drivers is that one uses buses & trains in their normal everyday lifestyles & the other drives for a living.

Who is more likely to have an accident over the course of those years?

My 1st one came after 23 years of driving, my standards had not changed, so what did?

Apparently it is all about economics these days and lazy driving, not about proper driving.

Personally, I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head.

For the last 20 years I have averaged 10-12000 miles a year and most of that is motorway driving. Before that when I lived in London I averaged 4-5000 miles a year and the majority of that was rush hour urban driving. In that time I had six accidents, thankfully all minor, no injuries, only damage to car. Three accidents I was stationary when I was hit, of remainder, two I was side swipped. The last one, the most embarassing and completely my fault did not happen on a road but in a car park. I had parked next to a small post in the ground and when I went to move off I forgot the post was there and turned the car too early and did £2000 worth of damage to drivers door.

Like alot of people of my era I started driving on a scooter/motorcycle and I feel this taught you to anticipate trouble, because if you didnot, you were not likely to survive your first year of driving.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.

My son in law drives the 18 wheelers. He's gone over 1 million miles accident free.
Me I drive about 12,000 miles a year. I got my licsense back in 1970 and have had 4 accidents. One was my fault. Out of those 4 accidents, 3 of the cars I drove were totaled, But no one was hurt.
The scariest thing I have seen was when a truck a few cars ahead of me lost some rubber from his tire. I saw the car ahead swerve. Then I saw this piece of rubber about 4" square flying at my windshield. It hit the post on the drivers side and left a big dent. The windshield dindt break. But if I hadnt seen it and took evasive action. It would have hit right where I sit behind the wheel.

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[/quote]

Old James

In my youth, I wrecked about a dozen of Detroit's finest.

All my fault.

The first was a rollover of my '64 Olds F85. Down to the pillars, avoiding a couple of kids on bikes.

The second was something over 145 mph outracing the cops. In my '69 GS400.
I hit a cornfield at full speed, and corn cobs ain't pretty at 145.

The third was just a silly arse boner...big old Electra 455 and some dickhead dropped a log off of some firewood he was hauling. Hit it dead on and went off into the broady.

Number 4 was a near miss....drunk as a skunk, and took off five mailboxen....I'll take full admission for that one...not pretty. Another nice 455.

Number 5 was my Pontiac Firebird...oh, yeah. Side pipes and black trim. Fine gurly in the side tray and a bottle of booze in the wax. Telephone poled it.
Not pretty. She was OK. After the fact, she took one more look at me and said something to the effect that I was........ evil.

Years later... got a street racer of a '69 Pontiac.
It was a strip car and never was quite street legal.
Ran down a few Corvettes in that one.

And then my pretty one.
My RX7 GSLSE....
I flew down to Atlanta Georgia to get it. Drove it back home.
Wonderful car.
I had some bucks then, and had Mazdatrix build me a new motor from scratch.
I have in my garage the few remaining transmissions for this car.
I asked Mazdatrix what I could do if I lost the trans in the car, and they said simply....buddy, you are doing far better than most of us.

And now I drive a 1990 Olds Cutlass Ciera. Go figure. She is a beauty. I luv old cars.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

This was me back in the 70s. I literally owned my piece of ground. I had miles of people waiting to take me on. This again, is in the no BS department.

I have a heads-off '72 GS in my garage.
Sad to say, it is a 350 motor. Not the grandest thing.
If I ever get offa my arse and rebuild it, might be a fine car, though.
I am afraid that the parts.... cams and rods and thingys, might be hard to find now. Especially for a Buick. Chevs are a dime a dozen. Buicks, not so. Even though some things are the same. This car has the interior from an Electra. Full guage set. Tilt steering column. Power seats...LOL. I did such things as a kid. Custom rods and lifters...I think I paid about 5 grand for the rods in that motor back in the day. Pistons are non stock too. Raised the compression ratio from stock. Cam is kinda lumpy. Lifters, stock hydraulic. You don't need anything more, even with a lumpy cam. Unless you got the sticks way out in the woods, which is only done for stripping.

I long ago lost my sources for strip parts...I pissed a few of them off when I beat them, and then asked what their freaking sources were. I told them all where I got my parts, and then they called bullshit on me...like I was lying to them...never understood. They were just pissed off that I beat them with their own sources, I guess. Nothing like getting fried with your own bacon.

F'd 'em all, I did.
I know wherove I speak.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

This was a stock piece back then....
I owned one. This was Detroit's finest day...

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Nice total, but let's round it up to 500,000.

1972 - 1987 unknown as too busy to log the mileage, mainly done on motorcycles & FFR's (Fitted for Radio) Land Rovers, no truck driving in Germany.

1988 - 2007 100,000
2008 - 2011 40,000
2013 - Date 80,000 (that will eventually drop to 30,000 - 50,000, as why have a dog & bark yourself)

The problem with professional driving today is that too many car/van drivers travel at too high a speed & too close to HGV's. The slightest error & as seen on the M40, quite a bit of carnage.

Personally I think the more miles done, the lower the odds of having an accident...

...& then there are the ones caused by drivers with little knowledge, no license tax or insurance...

...& my favourite - mobile phones. Oh to be a motorbike cop :-) who'll need speed cameras!

The trouble is, no matter how good a driver you are if there is someone around who is, how shall we say it, one tyre turn short of a full set, who is paying more attention to their [insert object] than the road then it is all too easy to be involved in an accident.

The worst case I saw of that was the one that shot down a motorway slip road, crossing two lanes of busy traffic straight into the side of the vehicle in the third lane. The only bit of justice in the accident was that the HGV in the middle lane had no chance of missing the lane jumper, even with smoke pouring from his tyres - I only just missed joining the "fun" thanks to having left a reasonable gap between me and the victim and having very good brakes (I think the guy behind me needed a new driver's seat...). This "party" delayed me several hours as I had to wait until the wreckage had been cleared (there was another bump behind the first one), and this involved cutting people from destroyed cars. I have to say Plod were very polite to me and the car behind and spent a lot of time trying to work out how come we were undamaged among all the destruction - the lack of damage was only by a matter of a few inches in total and a few hard working guardian angels....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Hate to say this Sirius, I seen too many times on the motorway HGV's nose to tail with other. If truck in front was to brake quickly the ones behind would definitely plough into back.

Then you have the sport of Elephant Racing where one truck is overtaking another at 1mph faster.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.

Hate to say this Sirius, I seen too many times on the motorway HGV's nose to tail with other. If truck in front was to brake quickly the ones behind would definitely plough into back.

Then you have the sport of Elephant Racing where one truck is overtaking another at 1mph faster.

So much fun on rolling hills, where one, then the other, will be just a bit faster because of the different grade.

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Hate to say this Sirius, I seen too many times on the motorway HGV's nose to tail with other. If truck in front was to brake quickly the ones behind would definitely plough into back.

Then you have the sport of Elephant Racing where one truck is overtaking another at 1mph faster.

So much fun on rolling hills, where one, then the other, will be just a bit faster because of the different grade.

I drove the big rigs for a short while. I can say that I learned not what to do When in my car when near the big boys.
Dont hug their bumper. A lot of trucks have a sticker saying that If you cant see my mirrors I cant se you, And that is so true.
I do this with my car also. I move to the center or far lane if its a two lane highway when I come to an onramp.( Lets the slowpoke idiots merge 2 miles down the highyway better.) But I alwways move back in the right lane when I can.
The thing I hated the most when I was driving a truck was people passing me on the right after I did the above action. Id see a car enter the highyway im my mirror. Then It would disapper. They would either be at my same speed or just a wee bit faster. Usally turning on a right turn signal light and they would scoot right out. But one time It ddint work. I knew he was there so I did just a little movent to seem like i was going to change lanes and He did scoot the.
To this day when I pass a truck I dont lollygag.

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[/quote]

Old James

Hate to say this Sirius, I seen too many times on the motorway HGV's nose to tail with other. If truck in front was to brake quickly the ones behind would definitely plough into back.

Then you have the sport of Elephant Racing where one truck is overtaking another at 1mph faster.

So much fun on rolling hills, where one, then the other, will be just a bit faster because of the different grade.

I drove the big rigs for a short while. I can say that I learned not what to do When in my car when near the big boys.
Don't hug their bumper. A lot of trucks have a sticker saying that If you cant see my mirrors I cant se you, And that is so true.
I do this with my car also. I move to the center or far lane if its a two lane highway when I come to an on ramp.( Lets the slowpoke idiots merge 2 miles down the highway better.) But I always move back in the right lane when I can.
The thing I hated the most when I was driving a truck was people passing me on the right after I did the above action. Id see a car enter the highway im my mirror. Then It would disappear. They would either be at my same speed or just a wee bit faster. Usually turning on a right turn signal light and they would scoot right out. But one time It didn't work. I knew he was there so I did just a little movement to seem like i was going to change lanes and He did scoot the.
To this day when I pass a truck I dont lollygag.

Yep, Semi trucks have a blind spot, I tend to pass them as quickly as I can or I give them a wide berth.

My brother drove a Semi and so does My nephew, My nephew once took Me on a ride to Las Vegas NV and back, of course then He had a fully loaded flatbed(trees and bushes), and going home He had a load of drywall.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/16/csx-oil-train-derails-in-west-virginia-14-cars-on-fire-towns-evacuated.html

A CSX train hauling crude oil has derailed in West Virginia with at least 14 cars bursting into flames and two nearby towns evacuated in the second significant oil-train incident in three days, local media reported on Monday.

At least one of the tank cars has entered the Kanawha River, and one car ran into a house before bursting into flames, the Charleston Gazette newspaper reported, citing Lawrence Messina, communications director for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

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http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/16/csx-oil-train-derails-in-west-virginia-14-cars-on-fire-towns-evacuated.html

A CSX train hauling crude oil has derailed in West Virginia with at least 14 cars bursting into flames and two nearby towns evacuated in the second significant oil-train incident in three days, local media reported on Monday.

At least one of the tank cars has entered the Kanawha River, and one car ran into a house before bursting into flames, the Charleston Gazette newspaper reported, citing Lawrence Messina, communications director for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Another reason to build the damn Keystone pipeline - reduce the number of oil trains.....

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/16/csx-oil-train-derails-in-west-virginia-14-cars-on-fire-towns-evacuated.html

A CSX train hauling crude oil has derailed in West Virginia with at least 14 cars bursting into flames and two nearby towns evacuated in the second significant oil-train incident in three days, local media reported on Monday.

At least one of the tank cars has entered the Kanawha River, and one car ran into a house before bursting into flames, the Charleston Gazette newspaper reported, citing Lawrence Messina, communications director for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Another reason to build the damn Keystone pipeline - reduce the number of oil trains.....

One problem is that a pipeline spill can go undetected for a while, where as the train needs class 1 track, which is the problem, not all track is maintained at class 1 standards, some is so poorly maintained(on shortlines mainly) that speed limits as low as 5mph are imposed or a derailment will happen.

Does this show you why the MAW was known as the world’s worst maintained railroad?

https://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/hope-for-ohios-worst-maintained-railroad/


A train on the MAW.

Other railroads...

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Other railroads...

Holy cow! That can't be an in-service train track.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place