Bloody truckie wouldn't let him in between the trailers
Good observation Bob. We truckies are always in the spit, with the only variable being the depth.
This same situation as that depicted has also happened to me, with a young female driver ducking in behind my second trailer as I passed, and getting wedged under ,the last trailer.
Fortunately the friendly policeman who attended was smart enough to understand, and issued an infringement notice to the car driver.
Not sure what the charge was, but perhaps "driving while brain dead" would have been appropriate?
How big does a truck need to be to be seen by motorists? Cheers
40/50 ago, when I was travelling Adel to Darwin. I knew a few truckies (Drove Transport on that route.) We used to convoy/slipstream
. Changing lead at smoko/Time Clock intervals.
I used to slip in behind rear one, Halved the Fairlane's fuel bill over 4000+ clicks.) Talking on radio. He'dd tell me when slowing etc. Did it for years.
The accident posted by Dogbox happened in Western Australia on the Great Eastern Highway between Coolgardie and Southern Cross.
Over the years I have travelled on that highway some dozen times. For background, the distance between the two towns is about 180kms and it is mostly flat and straight. A feature of that section of road is that there is only one building in all the length, a servo that used to be called Yellowdine but I think it has been renamed with an Indigenous name now. (It was closed when I last went past in 2019 but Yobarr has mentioned that it has since been reopened.)
Everyone can analyise the video. Was the Ranger driver hypnotised by the straight virtually open road? Did he have the cruise control activated? Did the two motor cyclists have their headlights on? And so on.
I understand that the Ranger driver was fined - a cost of $400 was mentioned. To which would be added the cost of the caravan as I suspect that there would be problems with insurance!
Murray
PS: Nothing to do with the accident but friends of mine were driving to Perth from the east and stopped at Yellodine during the night to refuel. But when leaving the driver turned right and drove back the whole 75-miles right to the Welcome to Coogardie sign! That is how featureless that particular stretch of road is.
40/50 ago, when I was travelling Adel to Darwin. I knew a few truckies (Drove Transport on that route.) We used to convoy/slipstream
. Changing lead at smoko/Time Clock intervals.
I used to slip in behind rear one, Halved the Fairlane's fuel bill over 4000+ clicks.) Talking on radio. He'dd tell me when slowing etc. Did it for years.
did the front of the car look like it had been sandblasted? the windscreens were usually terrible when driving into sun after tailgating.
The centreline changed from broken to continuous on the left about the time the front of the ute drew level with the front of the truck. So he was already on the wrong side of the road.
However, this is another accident where the truck driver was also in the wrong, thus contributed to the accident. He was travelling too close to the one in front... maybe 25 metres. So maybe not much more than one tenth of the required distance. You can see the ute brake lights are on as he has to squeeze into the gap between them. Had the truck driver left an acceptable distance between, the ute would not have needed to brake, so could have got in front in time.
The following is for Queensland, but I am sure other states have similar rules.
Safe following distances
When driving a vehicle that is 7.5m or longer and following another long vehicle, you must leave a gap of at least 60m between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.
If you are driving a road train, you must leave a gap of at least 200m.
you have conveniently left out the bit that says unless overtaking!
what about the first truck when he seen the ute overtaking he should have slowed down an pulled over, so the ute could have safely overtaken both trucks
you have conveniently left out the bit that says unless overtaking!
what about the first truck when he seen the ute overtaking he should have slowed down an pulled over, so the ute could have safely overtaken both trucks
I don't see any indication that the truck (road train) was overtaking. In fact, definitely not because he would have seen the unbroken centre line coming up, not to mention the stream of multiple oncoming vehicles. I suppose it's possible he was up close because he was waiting for an opportunity, but with the amount of traffic on the road that seems pretty unlikely for two road trains.
No chance of the ute/overtaking both road trains in one go. The legal and safe option to do so ran out well before he got in front of the first truck.
-- Edited by Are We Lost on Friday 19th of May 2023 05:53:42 PM
as with another thread that was recently closed what a driver could/should do (advisory, not mandatory) have done and what a driver must/shall (compulsory, mandatory) do seem to be the difference in opinions as to who is right/wrong
i am not aware of what the road conditions/ situation at that location are but the two trucks could have been on the two-way planning an overtaking move hence the gap closing ?
you have conveniently left out the bit that says unless overtaking!
what about the first truck when he seen the ute overtaking he should have slowed down an pulled over, so the ute could have safely overtaken both trucks
You would have to be joking, or you are so far from the real world that you're lost. You obviously have NO idea how Roadtrains operatel. It takes more than a kilometre to get 120 tons of machinery up to road speed, and if we "slowed down and pulled over" for every clown on the roads we would never get anywhere, not to mention wear and tear on mechanicals through more braking and accelerating, as well as increased fuel consumption. Momentum is our friend.
Why should we have to compensate for some idiot's impatience or incompetence?
There are other posts in this thread that I will try to reply to later today, but the comment above was one that stood out.
I don't read much of your carry on Yobbo but you refer the road users as "idiots". All I can say is, you must come across a lot of road train drivers then.
Anyways, you said to someone the other day you were too busy driving to reply. So you must have finished playing with your Tonka Truck in the back yard sand pit I gather.
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Some examples of an attitude of heavy vehicle operators towards other road users?
Wow - a couple of close calls there!
Murray
Yes, the Shaw's driver certainly cut the corner a bit fine. Shaw's drivers generally are known to be highly experienced and conscientious so I can't offer an explanation.
The chap (chappess?) towing the red trailer that hit the pole is obviously inexperienced, as that corner simply was too tight for that vehicle. Perhaps GPS gave bad directions, as they are wont to do.
The fellas running red lights are to be chastised, as such behaviour is not acceptable, but in my travels, each day I see at least 3 car drivers do exactly the same thing. And that's only in my local area! Multiply that by localities and you'll have thousands of them!
The Followmont driver probably became frustrated by the low speed of the ute, as evidenced by the speed at which the truckie raced ahead once he'd completed the overtaking manouevre. Many don't realise how much more vision a truck driver has, compared with a car driver, because of the height of the truck. My seat of driver's seat is 2300mm above the road, which allows better views of the road ahead, allowing me to help motorists overtake with the flash of the right indicator when the road ahead is clear. Most understand what the right indicator means but if not there is no harm done.
Now, before all the do-gooders gleefully grab their computers to berate me, let me say that while I'm not condoning this driver's actions, and I've never done the same (not often anyway,) the truckie would have been able to see any oncoming traffic, and the ute driver, and the road divider, and evaluate the risk to himself and others. Nil. Cheers
P.S Truckie's dream job. Who cares if you break down?
Sadly, the issue is that some posters want to turn this forum into a truckies v caravaners forum without looking at their own industry first.
Yes, there are issues with caravaners and there are issues with truckies, and in fact there are issues with all type of motorists.
I drove the same main road that led to a popular holiday destination for 29 years and never had one issue with anyone towing caravans but that doesnt mean every caravaner is a good driver. I did however, and so did other motorists, have issues with trucks using that same road but again that doesnt mean every truck driver is a cowboy. In fact the vast majority are courteous and good drivers.
If you want to have your say about truckies v caravaners then go make your own forum or your own web page but don't set out to destroy a great forum.
Hopefully the administrator will remove this thread.
Sadly, the issue is that some posters want to turn this forum into a truckies v caravaners forum without looking at their own industry first.
Yes, there are issues with caravaners and there are issues with truckies, and in fact there are issues with all type of motorists.
I drove the same main road that led to a popular holiday destination for 29 years and never had one issue with anyone towing caravans but that doesnt mean every caravaner is a good driver. I did however, and so did other motorists, have issues with trucks using that same road but again that doesnt mean every truck driver is a cowboy. In fact the vast majority are courteous and good drivers.
If you want to have your say about truckies v caravaners then go make your own forum or your own web page but don't set out to destroy a great forum.
Hopefully the administrator will remove this thread.
TimTim well said x2
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Certainly was a close call for the car driver, Bob. For whatever reason, the driver of the truck appears to turn sharply to the right just as the prime mover gets back into the left lane, setting up a chain reaction which ultimately upended the Dog trailer.Perhaps he was on the wrong side of the road after being "called through" by the driver with video on his vehicle? Truckies, present or retired, will know what Im talking about here, as this is common practice at night in the outback. In case any members are not familiar with statistics for car v truck accidents, now might be an opportune time to iterate that over 80% (83%?) of FATAL accidents involving both cars and trucks are caused by the car driver. Not bad figures, considering that many trucks travel 1000km/day, while many motorists wouldn"t drive that far in two weeks. Enough for now. Cheers.
-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 23rd of May 2023 07:54:35 AM
