merging motorways and blindspot
Discussion
Interested to know thoughts on this one folks.
Scenario. Lane 1 from the merging motorway (mw1) becomes Lane 1 in the other (mw2). Both motorways were 2 lanes, so 'mw2' lanes 1 & 2 now become lanes 2 & 3.
Say there is a car in Lane 1 in 'mw1' and stays there as it becomes Lane 1 in 'mw2'. Lorry in Lane 2 alongside. As the car approaches they are going very similar speeds (its 50MPH average zone) but may have been a slight difference so by the time the roads have merged, the lorry may have dropped back slightly for the car to be in the lorries blind spot. Just after the roads merge (5 seconds), the lorry moves from Lane 2 into Lane 1, clips the back of the car and sends it into a spin.
Car skid marks start in Lane 1, showing the lorry crashed into the car and not the other way around.
Who is at fault?
Scenario. Lane 1 from the merging motorway (mw1) becomes Lane 1 in the other (mw2). Both motorways were 2 lanes, so 'mw2' lanes 1 & 2 now become lanes 2 & 3.
Say there is a car in Lane 1 in 'mw1' and stays there as it becomes Lane 1 in 'mw2'. Lorry in Lane 2 alongside. As the car approaches they are going very similar speeds (its 50MPH average zone) but may have been a slight difference so by the time the roads have merged, the lorry may have dropped back slightly for the car to be in the lorries blind spot. Just after the roads merge (5 seconds), the lorry moves from Lane 2 into Lane 1, clips the back of the car and sends it into a spin.
Car skid marks start in Lane 1, showing the lorry crashed into the car and not the other way around.
Who is at fault?
littleredrooster said:
The lorry may be technically in the wrong for changing lanes when unsafe, but who in their right minds sits alongside forty tons of potential destruction long enough for this to happen? Drop behind or get in front pronto.
Honestly - some eejits never cease to amaze me!
Like you say, idiots and sadly there's tonnes of them about. Honestly - some eejits never cease to amaze me!
That said, I would blame the lorry in the instance explained by the OP. The lorry is changing lanes and you'd think they would have made a mental note to be aware of what is in that lane as it merges with the motorway.
Also, there's not always a way to avoid being in a lorries blind spot. I was driving along the exit from the M25 to M4, there's one lane and you have no choice but to be in it. A lorry came up beside me, I'd been in that lane for 1/2 a mile easily and he'd come up beside me not me creeping up on him. I wasn't comfortable with him sat there but vehicles ahead and behind so no real option but to wait it out until the two lanes went their respective directions onto the M4.
Fortunately being mindful of where I was positioned, when the driver started indicating I noticed it as he pretty much indicated and started to move simultaneously. Edged my left wheels onto the hard shoulder and accelerated into the bit of space ahead, which made me visible and just out of reach of his front bumper.
I'm extremely mindful of being in that position but I wonder if other drivers like the morons out there who'd have just sat there and either been merged into or ended up shoved onto the hard shoulder completely.
It's the difference between being "in the right" and not being in an accident again.
I did some driver training years back and the instructor told me to always consider how I'd get out of trouble if the lorry to my left suddenly moved into my lane. Never sit in their blind spot, avoid sitting alongside them at all as far as possible, pass them quickly.
In real life it's not always that easy but it's proven to be good advice over the years.
I did some driver training years back and the instructor told me to always consider how I'd get out of trouble if the lorry to my left suddenly moved into my lane. Never sit in their blind spot, avoid sitting alongside them at all as far as possible, pass them quickly.
In real life it's not always that easy but it's proven to be good advice over the years.
The A14 roadworks north of Cambridge give me the willies for the same reason.
Two narrow lanes each way, lorries have to keep to the left lane, as the right hand lane is about 8 feet wide and is limited to vehicles 6 ft 6 or less wide.
40 limit.
So you end up running alongside, and two feet or less away from, 40 tonnes of destruction, for up to 9 miles. Driver only has to sneeze, have a blow out or just nod off slightly, and you are a statistic. to your right is a two foot high concrete barrier. The left hand lane is full of lorries, no gaps for 12 hours of the day, so even slowing down doesn't achieve anything, and the right hand lane is nose to tail as well.
Its been like this for a year now, only two more years to go.
I have taken to traveling it at 5.30 am for the sake of my sanity.
Two narrow lanes each way, lorries have to keep to the left lane, as the right hand lane is about 8 feet wide and is limited to vehicles 6 ft 6 or less wide.
40 limit.
So you end up running alongside, and two feet or less away from, 40 tonnes of destruction, for up to 9 miles. Driver only has to sneeze, have a blow out or just nod off slightly, and you are a statistic. to your right is a two foot high concrete barrier. The left hand lane is full of lorries, no gaps for 12 hours of the day, so even slowing down doesn't achieve anything, and the right hand lane is nose to tail as well.
Its been like this for a year now, only two more years to go.
I have taken to traveling it at 5.30 am for the sake of my sanity.
QBee said:
The A14 roadworks north of Cambridge give me the willies for the same reason.
Two narrow lanes each way, lorries have to keep to the left lane, as the right hand lane is about 8 feet wide and is limited to vehicles 6 ft 6 or less wide.
40 limit.
So you end up running alongside, and two feet or less away from, 40 tonnes of destruction, for up to 9 miles. Driver only has to sneeze, have a blow out or just nod off slightly, and you are a statistic. to your right is a two foot high concrete barrier. The left hand lane is full of lorries, no gaps for 12 hours of the day, so even slowing down doesn't achieve anything, and the right hand lane is nose to tail as well.
Its been like this for a year now, only two more years to go.
I have taken to traveling it at 5.30 am for the sake of my sanity.
No, the lorries have the A14 tactics sorted- their approach seems to be try to drive through you even though you are driving in the left hand lane at or slightly above the average speed limit. Foreign lorry last time ended up overtaking me by going into the narrow lane on the right to speed past only for me to overtake him when the roadworks limit ended.Two narrow lanes each way, lorries have to keep to the left lane, as the right hand lane is about 8 feet wide and is limited to vehicles 6 ft 6 or less wide.
40 limit.
So you end up running alongside, and two feet or less away from, 40 tonnes of destruction, for up to 9 miles. Driver only has to sneeze, have a blow out or just nod off slightly, and you are a statistic. to your right is a two foot high concrete barrier. The left hand lane is full of lorries, no gaps for 12 hours of the day, so even slowing down doesn't achieve anything, and the right hand lane is nose to tail as well.
Its been like this for a year now, only two more years to go.
I have taken to traveling it at 5.30 am for the sake of my sanity.
charltjr said:
I did some driver training years back and the instructor told me to always consider how I'd get out of trouble if the lorry to my left suddenly moved into my lane. Never sit in their blind spot, avoid sitting alongside them at all as far as possible, pass them quickly..
+1As someone that used to have an HGV licence the motto that "if you can't see his mirrors he can't see you either" is a good one to heed. & remember that they take longer to brake & turn wider (the rear wheels don't follow in the tracks of the front).
You don't want to argue with them - your car will be a wreck & they will have a teeny scratch on their bumper ...
Not just lorries, the blind spots on a car sized van will swallow a full car. One of our work vans is a cheapo citroen with no blind spot mirrors, cars regularly disappear in the blind spots. Don't sit on the 3/4 panel of a van either.
And agreed with everyone else, technically the lorries fault, but even on a 50 limit road the car sitting in the blind spot is an idiot. Slow down below 50 to get clear of it, or speed up for the couple of seconds required to also get out the danger zone.
And agreed with everyone else, technically the lorries fault, but even on a 50 limit road the car sitting in the blind spot is an idiot. Slow down below 50 to get clear of it, or speed up for the couple of seconds required to also get out the danger zone.
GTI16V said:
Here's my two penneth.
Anyone who sits in a lorry's blindspot, undertakes a lorry, or even lingers anywhere near them longer than is absolutely necessary is an absolutely monumental
and deserves everything they get. 
I'll happily sit in a lorry blind spot IF I have an escape route, e.g. an empty hard shoulder. If I don't, then I get out of the blind spot sharpish.Anyone who sits in a lorry's blindspot, undertakes a lorry, or even lingers anywhere near them longer than is absolutely necessary is an absolutely monumental
and deserves everything they get. Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff