A close shave on the A9

[M6L11]

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

That's why it's advisable (and doubly so when driving a LGV) to slow - or better yet stop - and double, then triple, check that the coast is clear to give oncoming vehicles time to show themselves. Especially so when you're joining a fast moving carriageway, turning right, in a massive vehicle.

To be fair, the vehicle was visible on the crossview from 0.25 as stated earlier. Unfortunately 99% of drivers don't have the training to even have this on their radar, and the other 1% are still human. Lucky escape for that chap, either way, and I hope they throw a very large book indeed at the lorry driver.

[JackP1]

st an actual brick.

Surprised there were no words come from the driver, you can hear the radio. If it was me there would have been atleast a whimper of an "oh fk"

[rich888]

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

I doubt it, you can see quite clearly that the lorry driver had no intention of stopping at the junction, and at approx 32 seconds into the video clip he did indeed have a clear view of oncoming traffic, yet chose not to slow down, what I assume he hadn't reckoned on was the use of a dash cam to capture his stupid and reckless driving by the approaching driver.

[ModernAndy]

We got hit by a van changing lanes without looking a couple years ago (their side hit our side) and my other half nearly got a concussion in a collision involving us in a Focus and the other driver in a medium sized transit both going at around 20-30mph. I can see how a fatality could occur with that lorry carrying a decent amount of speed through the turn and hitting a fast moving car's side although I would admit it's more likely to be a minor to serious injury. The driver was lucky there was a verge and not a wall or a house or something (well the A9 is mostly verge I suppose...)

[diddles]

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

This. I don’t see this incident being anything other than blind spot related either. I get the impression that a lot of people think that the lorry driver saw the car and still thought it's ok to pull out into its path. I can't believe any sane person is going to pull a move like that after seeing the car.

Unless anyone can prove the lorry driver saw the car ( which no one will be able to do ) then this is going down as careless rather than dangerous driving on the lorry drivers part.

That junction does have a bad rep however I don’t believe it’s the junction that at fault. It's the user.

[fttm]

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

No way is that blind spot related , the steering wheel attendant had ample time prior to the junction to cast a glance plus drivers with blind spots generally take slightly more caution than this utter bellend .

[diddles]

rich888 said:

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

I doubt it, you can see quite clearly that the lorry driver had no intention of stopping at the junction, and at approx 32 seconds into the video clip he did indeed have a clear view of oncoming traffic, yet chose not to slow down, what I assume he hadn't reckoned on was the use of a dash cam to capture his stupid and reckless driving by the approaching driver.

On the approach to that junction the lorry driver will have had good views of both the north and south bound section of the A9 from quite some distance away. These views however are not totally unbroken due to trees etc. It's quite possible the lorry driver has looked several times and not seen the car and come to the conclusion (wrongly) that the road was clear.

[dmitsi]

duckwhistle said:

Right lads ,stop the pissing about and getting distracted, lets try to ID this cockroach.The PH massive can do most things. Name and shame. This type of st is only too common from these vermin. Track him down and fk up his life NOW. This cowboy outfit must condone this type of driving otherwise their tosspots would not risk their jobs. Anyone else reckon he was watching porn on his lappy,possibly pissed as well? I wonder if his phone records might be worth a look. Note how the following lorry just shot on by despite witnessing this. It's time we had a place devoted to videos of this type of all to common behaviour.
This video has spurred me on to fit a dashcam ASAP.

Gordon A MacKenzie based in Kinbrace - Numbers on the trucks are for Kinbrace garage

[Z.B]

You are misunderstanding the situation (most of you). I guarantee when the police speak to the driver he will say he checked several times and believed it was safe to emerge, and he won't be lying.

I don't know the road, but if it has a rep I bet the same thing has happened before. The angle of approach and relative speeds, aggravated perhaps by the trees and presence of other traffic.....

The lorry didn't pull out without looking, or deliberately cut up the camera car, he took his obs early and fell into a trap. It probably looked perfectly safe from inside the cab, but of course it wasn't. The driver needs to learn from this, and so do the rest of us, or there but for the grace of God go I....

Fools learn from their mistakes, wise men learn from other people's.

[rich888]

diddles said:

rich888 said:

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

I doubt it, you can see quite clearly that the lorry driver had no intention of stopping at the junction, and at approx 32 seconds into the video clip he did indeed have a clear view of oncoming traffic, yet chose not to slow down, what I assume he hadn't reckoned on was the use of a dash cam to capture his stupid and reckless driving by the approaching driver.

On the approach to that junction the lorry driver will have had good views of both the north and south bound section of the A9 from quite some distance away. These views however are not totally unbroken due to trees etc. It's quite possible the lorry driver has looked several times and not seen the car and come to the conclusion (wrongly) that the road was clear.

Perhaps trees were obstructing his view onto the main road, and if this is the case then why wasn't the lorry driver slowing down when he approached the Give Way or Stop sign at the junction?

As you can see quite clearly from the video the lorry driver had ample time to slow down and he chose not to. The video evidence is there plain and simple, you can see the driver in the cabin. What more is required for a dangerous or reckless conviction?

[brian394]

Just a quick one, if you read the top comment on the video, the driver of the lorry did stop and spoke with the driver of the cam-car.

[diddles]

rich888 said:

diddles said:

rich888 said:

Z.B said:

It looks likely to be a blind spot related collision. Look at the angle of the lorry cab in relation to the camera car and where the screen pillar is.

So smidsy rather than driving like a cock. It happens so easily with a bit of bad luck, and we'd do well to remember that.

I doubt it, you can see quite clearly that the lorry driver had no intention of stopping at the junction, and at approx 32 seconds into the video clip he did indeed have a clear view of oncoming traffic, yet chose not to slow down, what I assume he hadn't reckoned on was the use of a dash cam to capture his stupid and reckless driving by the approaching driver.

On the approach to that junction the lorry driver will have had good views of both the north and south bound section of the A9 from quite some distance away. These views however are not totally unbroken due to trees etc. It's quite possible the lorry driver has looked several times and not seen the car and come to the conclusion (wrongly) that the road was clear.

Perhaps trees were obstructing his view onto the main road, and if this is the case then why wasn't the lorry driver slowing down when he approached the Give Way or Stop sign at the junction?

As you can see quite clearly from the video the lorry driver had ample time to slow down and he chose not to. The video evidence is there plain and simple, you can see the driver in the cabin. What more is required for a dangerous or reckless conviction?

The lorry driver will have slowed down. The ajoining road is a 60 limit and I would have expected the lorry to have been sitting at the NSL shortly before the junction. The video evidence is not plain and simple as you think. It doesn't show you the lorry drivers point of view as he/she is approaching the junction and what they saw or for this matter what they didnt see.

As quoted from the cam driver

"Thanks for all the concerned and positive comments, I have uploaded the vid with the speedo overlay for those interested in my speed, I have also tried to give a little explanation on why this video was uploaded.

It's not a witch hunt for the driver or his employer, the driver made a mistake for whatever reason, most of the major incidents on the A9 are caused by somebody making a mistake. I do not wish to pursue the driver, we have spoken and he apologised it's just impossible for him and his employer to remain anonymous with today's social media. This was not intended to be a name and shame, I am sure all who have viewed this video took a little more care exiting junctions today?"

[fttm]

NSL for trucks is 40mph on single carriageway at the moment .

[alexnessie]

People not bothering to look properly/stop at junctions seems to be a common thing up here in the highlands.

Here's one I got a few nights ago in Inverness, the day after getting my dashcam, luckily enough!

Apologies in advance for my taste in music!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoU0ArBnBX8

[MissChief]

It's clear the Driver took a look left, most likely at this point:


Which, as you can see, the car is completely hidden by the white van. The truck driver thought he was clear to move out.

Yes he's an asshat for not stopping and perhaps he wouldn't have died if he collided with the truck but you can be sure there would have been some very serious injuries as the truck behind him wasn't exactly hanging about either.

[iambeowulf]

I'd imagine that the majority of posters have never driven anything bigger than a van but are making assumptions and giving the impression that they are saints on the road.

The fact is if a driver of a large vehicle can pull out of a T-junction without stopping then it's better for everyone as they are not then putting themselves and other road users in danger for as long. It takes at least 5 seconds to clear the nearest lane (from the T junction) from a dead stop and another 15/20 seconds to get up to the 40mph speed limit.

It was a mistake pure and simple.

It's also impossible to be on your guard constantly whilst driving. It's just too tiring. Which is why we have mistakes, even the professionals have them.

[TooMany2cvs]

MissChief said:

It's clear the Driver took a look left, most likely at this point:


Which, as you can see, the car is completely hidden by the white van. The truck driver thought he was clear to move out.

Yes he's an asshat for not stopping and perhaps he wouldn't have died if he collided with the truck but you can be sure there would have been some very serious injuries as the truck behind him wasn't exactly hanging about either.

The truck is first visible from the car at 18sec. The road sign is also visible at that point, so it's clear that there's a junction the truck's heading to, with great visibility of what's approaching it. Why wouldn't you be looking there, and seeing a wagon moving at a fair lick, considering.

At 24sec, when the the junction is obscured by another logging wagon, he's still showing no sign of slowing. Once that's cleared, by 27sec, it's VERY clear that the wagon is not going to be stopping at the junction, even if he wanted to. By 29sec, surely every fibre of the driver's body is screaming "fkADOODLEDOO"?

Yet he shows no signs of reacting until about 31sec, when the wagon is actually crossing the line. That's when the nose dips and the snow comes off the roof totally obscuring vision - without that, he could probably have kept it on the tarmac. So the "near miss" was fourteen seconds after the truck was first visible, and at least four or five since it was first clear there might be a problem.

As for "Maybe the truck driver didn't see the car", there's a rigid wagon comes past within a few seconds of the car coming to a stop. It wasn't behind the logging wagon, so must've been behind the car.

I don't think the truck driver even saw the junction, and and was bloody lucky to get round rather than go straight on. Bu

[Sargeant Orange]

If that's a common occurrence on the A9 then a simple island on the junction would prevent vehicles joining in such a way as the truck did

[halo34]

It's ok - money was invested in the A9 for average speed cameras between Inverness and Perth....that will save lives.

However ignoring the fact that north of Inverness has a good few junctions like this.

I pass it almost everyday along with some other poor junctions. I have lost count of the number of accidents in the last year I have seen as a result of it being far too busy as a road for the junctions that join it.

That being said IMHO that lorry has no excuses. Even with the obscured view of the van there was no intent to slow down.

You quite often find lorries and bigger vehicles just swing out knowing you will be forced to slow, either through frustration or simply to get out. Usually a car or two will then follow, essentially throwing their lot in knowing you are having to slow for the bigger vehicle pulling out.

That particular junction is extremely poor with little room to slow to turn right or left in the middle lane.

It's been an accident black spot for years and interestingly one that is going to experience heavy goods vehicle increases in the future since the Scottish Government overturned the Councils decision to refuse planning permission for the incinerator planned in the industrial estate down the road from there.

That whole road is basically now not fit for purpose given the traffic volumes on it - but yeah, its better to invest in average speed cameras.

[The Wookie]

Hrimfaxi said:

I commend the driver for lack of swearing - I think I would of set a new record!

Agreed, I've watched back plenty of my racing shunts from the on board camera and it's amazing how many times you can yell st between the first 'Oh st' as it starts to go wrong and the final impact!