Driving Buses and HGVs - Junctions and markings

[V8forweekends]

Quite a few times lately I've seen HGVs and buses seemingly unable to negotiate junctions (noticed it most at traffic lights) without crossing onto the other side of the road or across into other areas, sometimes legitimately occupied by standing traffic.

Are the Highways folk marking these things out in a crap way or is it poor driving (some of it looked like the latter - but I thought testing was quite rigorous)?

[s p a c e m a n]

I'm of the opinion that the people with the pencils and the people with the paint are morons who just make it up as they go along. Guaranteed that a couple of times a day I will find a junction that I have to steal more road than I should have to just because someone put no thought into how they painted the lanes or decided to design the curve of the pavement in a stupid way. I could probably point to dozens of places where I need two lanes to get around a corner just because the line or curb squeezes two inches the wrong way, causes unnecessary traffic and annoys car drivers who don't understand why I'm doing it.

[GTO Scott]

Bear in mind HGV's and PSV's require lots more room to maneuvour than a car - in many cases its better to use both lanes in order to stop cars cutting up the inside/outside into the rather large blindspots. It's not the nicest feeling blocking up traffic but if its the safest way to get around the roundabout/junction then that's what we do. It's actually taught in the driving tests for larger vehicles.

[V8forweekends]

I do remember from when I was a bin man (yes really) there was one place we visited where we had to a bizarre manoeuvre to swing in - but that wasn't at a junction.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts - the Highways wonks are to blame. I wonder if they ever get "feedback" about how they do these things.

[V8forweekends]

GTO Scott said:

Bear in mind HGV's and PSV's require lots more room to maneuvour than a car - in many cases its better to use both lanes in order to stop cars cutting up the inside/outside into the rather large blindspots. It's not the nicest feeling blocking up traffic but if its the safest way to get around the roundabout/junction then that's what we do. It's actually taught in the driving tests for larger vehicles.

I am aware of that aspect - I have an unproven theory that many cyclist deaths and injuries are from cyclists not understanding (or maybe caring) what an HGV or Bus is planning to do. I was just musing about running over the stop lines/lanes on the other side of a junction - loads of them at lights have been moved back, presumably to some sort of formula, to allow long vehicles room to swing round, but it seems it's still not enough a lot of the time.

[Carl-H]

I'm training for my cat C as we speak. Even in the relatively small class 2 13 ton lorry I was in today, using all of the road up to the centre line left less than 6 inches between the rear wheel and the kerb. An artic wouldn't stand a chance without using the other side of the road. It really is surprising just how much more road you need to use in a large vehicle though.

[gus607]

And also don't forget these lorries & buses are negotiating roads that were built over one hundred years ago.