Shunt driver to keep license
Discussion
Lost soul said:
I can not beleive that you guys are sticking up for the trucker
The trucker was in his lane and the car driver drove up the slip road on his inside, misjudged it and entered the lane in front of the lorry - in affect she was undertaking. I am sure that if there was any case against the driver the CPS would have charged him. I can't believe you are sticking up for the motorist but can you say what you believe the trucker did wrong.
This kind of accident could happen at any slip road. Drivers on the slip road do not have an automatic right to join the carriageway. You can see dodgy examples of this on any day of the week especially where slip roads are short. If you are ever on a slip road which joins the centre lane of a motorway then extra care is required.
Lost soul said:
I can not beleive that you guys are sticking up for the trucker
Beeb said:
Sean Joyce, Mr Tomlinson's solicitor, told the hearing how Clio driver Rhona Jane Williams was joining the southbound carriageway of the A1 (M) at junction 44 when the incident happened at around 0830 BST on 13 January.
The slip road joins the middle lane of the motorway, so she was effectively undertaking the 44-tonne tanker, Mr Joyce said.
Ms Williams, a vet from York, told police she felt a "bump" as the vehicles came together and her car pivoted 90 degrees.
Unaware of the incident, Mr Tomlinson continued driving until a motorist began flashing his hazard lights.
Mr Tomlinson, from Clitheroe, brought his lorry to a stop on the hard shoulder and only became aware of Ms Williams in the Clio when he got out of his vehicle.
He tried to free her but the door was jammed so he reversed his tanker about 3ft (91cm) to release the car.
Why does 'about 3ft' have to be translated as 91cm? Wouldnt 'about a metre' have been similar?The slip road joins the middle lane of the motorway, so she was effectively undertaking the 44-tonne tanker, Mr Joyce said.
Ms Williams, a vet from York, told police she felt a "bump" as the vehicles came together and her car pivoted 90 degrees.
Unaware of the incident, Mr Tomlinson continued driving until a motorist began flashing his hazard lights.
Mr Tomlinson, from Clitheroe, brought his lorry to a stop on the hard shoulder and only became aware of Ms Williams in the Clio when he got out of his vehicle.
He tried to free her but the door was jammed so he reversed his tanker about 3ft (91cm) to release the car.
Lost soul said:
I can not beleive that you guys are sticking up for the trucker
It's a first for PH. 
Lost soul said:
Not sticking up for the woman at all , but i just do not beleive that the trucker could not see hear or feel that she was stuck on the front of his truck like a bonnet mascot
I do concede that it is difficult to comprehend, and during the PH debates when the film was first aired i pretty much stayed out of 'em, 'cos i really wasn't sure what i was seeing.But the case has been looked into properly and the experts have had a good look at the case, i imagine they've even put a Clio together with the same lorry at Arclid's yard tbh, and everyone has had the chance to see what the driver could see from his seat.
A good day for justice too i would say, but tbh i am a bit surprised about it, because lorry drivers don't normally get a fair say.
I do think more info should be given out to the public about the issue of lorries and blind spots though, particularly where lhd vehicles are concerned.
Lost soul said:
Not sticking up for the woman at all , but i just do not beleive that the trucker could not see hear or feel that she was stuck on the front of his truck like a bonnet mascot
As mentioned before in several reports the water would act like a lubricant so the rubber smell would be at a minimum and there is a blind spot right where the car was meaning you would not see it unless you had your face up aginst the windscreen.That car is about 1/44 of the trucks weight and its moving at quite a high speed, it will have felt like a sticking brake and thats about it.
heebeegeetee said:
I do think more info should be given out to the public about the issue of lorries and blind spots though, particularly where lhd vehicles are concerned.
youtube turned up some rhd ones in the previous thread. In this case was the truck in the car's mirror blind spot as it joined the motorway?
I think they call that a 'mental blind spot'saaby93 said:
heebeegeetee said:
I do think more info should be given out to the public about the issue of lorries and blind spots though, particularly where lhd vehicles are concerned.
youtube turned up some rhd ones in the previous thread. In this case was the truck in the car's mirror blind spot as it joined the motorway?Tbh if you find her version of events from when the film was first posted, you can read into her comments what happened.
problem is, she did nothing different from some 80% of the rest of the driving population does anyway.
heebeegeetee said:
Tbh if you find her version of events from when the film was first posted, you can read into her comments what happened.
From the beeb quote above she drove up the sliproad and her rear end clipped the front of the truck and spun the car around - usually it's the truck moving over that clips the back of an invisible car and punts it around.Better mirrors on both would allow to see whats happening
heebeegeetee said:
problem is, she did nothing different from some 80% of the rest of the driving population does anyway.
80% 
Lost soul said:
Not sticking up for the woman at all , but i just do not beleive that the trucker could not see hear or feel that she was stuck on the front of his truck like a bonnet mascot
Maybe this?
Truck driver would of course be watching the road ahead through his wet screen, with wipers flicking back and forth - and the Clio's lights are not going to be in his field of vision either!
The Clio on the other hand MUST have seen the truck before she tried to slip in front, and got spun around... or DID she???
She stated that she joined the motorway, "while thinking about her day ahead at the Vets where she worked"!
heebeegeetee said:
I do think more info should be given out to the public about the issue of lorries and blind spots though, particularly where lhd vehicles are concerned.
It should be simple - if you cannot see the driver in HIS mirror, then it's unlikely he can see you!You are right - there should be a public information film on TV about it!
Like heebee I kept out of this because we just didn't have the facts apart from a rather alarmist and selective youtube video.
Now with the benefit of the decision I can adopt a vonhosen like mode and say "the 'court' decided having examined all the evidence."
Anyone who knows blind spots on heavies can understand why the driver could not see or feel her in that position. Number of people have been run over because they have walked out in front of a stationary heavy and they have been below the sightline. Explains why so many mirrors now mounted around the place.
One nameless force used to run an artic on driver training so traffic officers (proper ones not plastic version btw) could drive one and thus have some understanding of the difficulties drivers faced in real life.
Anyway instead of whinging shouldn't we applaud the system we have where premature conclusions are not jumped to but things examined in a proper way and the correct decision reached. That is what a justice system should be about.
Now with the benefit of the decision I can adopt a vonhosen like mode and say "the 'court' decided having examined all the evidence."
Anyone who knows blind spots on heavies can understand why the driver could not see or feel her in that position. Number of people have been run over because they have walked out in front of a stationary heavy and they have been below the sightline. Explains why so many mirrors now mounted around the place.
One nameless force used to run an artic on driver training so traffic officers (proper ones not plastic version btw) could drive one and thus have some understanding of the difficulties drivers faced in real life.
Anyway instead of whinging shouldn't we applaud the system we have where premature conclusions are not jumped to but things examined in a proper way and the correct decision reached. That is what a justice system should be about.
doogz said:
Lost soul said:
Not sticking up for the woman at all , but i just do not beleive that the trucker could not see hear or feel that she was stuck on the front of his truck like a bonnet mascot
Obviously you've never driven a truck then.
Lost soul said:
doogz said:
Lost soul said:
Not sticking up for the woman at all , but i just do not beleive that the trucker could not see hear or feel that she was stuck on the front of his truck like a bonnet mascot
Obviously you've never driven a truck then.
The truck driver did nothing wrong, but the car driver should be in trouble for driving without sufficient attention.
speedchick said:
it did suprise me just how much of the immediate road ahead you just cannot see,
Which is one of the reasons that it concerns me so much when a lorry drives about 50cm behind me in traffic jams, as quite a few kn*bheads do.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff