Motoring Discussion > Question for Pat.
Thread Author: Dutchie	Replies: 19

Thu 31 Dec 15 11:18   Question for Pat. - Dutchie

Hello Pat you are the truck expert on here may a obvious question. Driving on the M180 yesterday in Linconshire towards the M18. Very windy conditions wind gusting I reckon 50 to 60 mph winds maybe more.Iam always very wary overtaking trucks in hose conditions.If there is room I give them a wide berth.I just mentioned to my wife that it surprised me how many wagons there where on the M/Way in those conditions.Just ahead of us cars with hazard lights flashing lorry on its side. Lucky the driver was ok he looked shocked leaking against the front window he couldn't get out. Emergency services where a minute behind me.Is it speed, empty truck or not paying attention to the conditions on the road.What if a car was next to the truck overtaking and crushed.Maybe all this has been brought up before. Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 31 Dec 15 at 16:57 Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 11:54   Question for Pat. - R.P.

Much the same here...we have a high bridge crossing the Menai Straits. Trucks regularly ignore the speed and high sided restrictions - a truck toppled over in the St Valentine's storm of 2014 - closing the bridge for 17 hours. I was crossing just after 7.00am yesterday there were four big Council trucks and attendant Police and Wombles diverting everything off the road, allowing cars to re-join but trucks sent to the historical Menai Bridge to cross. My guess is that the heavies are mixture of arrogance, stupidity and lack of English language skills amongst the hoards of Irish trucks driven by Eastern Europeans. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 12:07   Question for Pat. - Old Navy

Similar problems on the Forth Road Bridge under normal circumstances. It is closed to HGVs at the moment and the overhead gantries and additional illuminated signs for miles around declare this. I read recently that the police had stopped five HGVs from crossing and I saw a UK liveried and registered HGV stopped by the police at the bridge approach (past an easy turn around). I can only assume that the driver could not read, or at least read English. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 6 Jan 16 17:36   Question for Pat. - Old Navy

>> I can only assume that the driver could not read, or at least read English. >> Another one. www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/man-charged-after-bid-to-cross-forth-road-bridge-in-hgv-1-3992481 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 6 Jan 16 18:28   Question for Pat. - Pat

Quite right too....well deserved. Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 13:19   Question for Pat. - sherlock47

>>he looked shocked leaking against the front window<< was that leaking as in "Involuntary voiding with incomplete bladder emptying" or just the red stuff? :) Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 13:28   Question for Pat. - Pat

>> was that leaking as in "Involuntary voiding with incomplete bladder emptying" or just the red >> stuff? :) >> I can answer that too......Yes it was:) Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 13:27   Question for Pat. - Pat

I'll answer your questions Dutchie as it seems others have already made up their mind *tut* The answer is an empty truck, some of which are 15' 9'' high and 45' long. which means in a cross wind there is a huge space for the wind to catch when it's gusting. It certainly isn't speed as most lorry drivers answer to the question we always get asked from newly qualified drivers 'What speed do I go in high winds' is to ask them how fast they want to slide down the road on their side? Remember during holiday periods there are an awful lot of agency drivers and newly qualified drivers on the road too, who may never have experienced high winds before and don't know when to have the balls to ring the office and tell them they are parking up until it drops. There is a problem with foreign drivers not understanding written English and it isn't being addressed at all. I come across this a lot in my training sessions and when queried the usefulness of compulsory training if the driver couldn't understand English, I was told to 'read out the questions to them' by the government body who oversees this. No driver wants to be blown over, as a female lorry driver gales scare me to death and I'll admit it. Most male lorry drivers will tell you they're not bothered and they have seen worse than that.....as their sliding down the road on their side! Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 13:36   Question for Pat. - R.P.

Most male lorry drivers will tell you they're not bothered and they have seen worse than that.....as their sliding down the road on their side! Funnily enough Pat a male truck driver said just that on a A55 site the other day....added that without people like him crossing Britannia that the shelves in Tesco in Holyhead would be empty.... Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 31 Dec 15 13:42   Question for Pat. - Pat

It's a big man talking and inside he's too scared to stand up to his Boss and tell to come and drive it if he thinks it's not too windy:) No........backbone (to spare the mod pen!) Pat Reply to this message | Report message       1

Sun 3 Jan 16 18:52   Question for Pat. - Cliff Pope

Is it the wind speed as such, or the combination of gusting wind plus excessive road speed leading to problem of veering off course followed by erratic over-correction? In other words is there a safe speed, or do even stationary lorries get blown over sometimes? Reply to this message | Report message

Sun 3 Jan 16 20:16   Question for Pat. - Old Navy

Anything can be blown over if the wind speed is high enough. Reply to this message | Report message

Sun 3 Jan 16 20:28   Question for Pat. - CGNorwich

>> Anything can be blown over if the wind speed is high enough. >> Not a submarine surely! :-) Reply to this message | Report message       1

Sun 3 Jan 16 23:14   Question for Pat. - bathtub tom

> Not a submarine surely! :-) Don't call him Shirley, he gets upset! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 12:29   Question for Pat. - Old Navy

>> Not a submarine surely! :-) >> A few hundred feet down in a winter Atlantic storm would surely change your opinion. :-) Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 12:34   Question for Pat. - CGNorwich

So submarines are s affected by sea turbulence that they roll 90 degrees on to their side. I never knew that. Must be acary Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 13:00   Question for Pat. - Zero

>> So submarines are s affected by sea turbulence that they roll 90 degrees on to >> their side. I never knew that. Must be acary >> But at least they dont fall over per say. Unless the skipper hits something, which they are prone to do. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 02:48   Question for Pat. - Pat

A gusting wind is far harder to cope with than a steady high wind all the time, but speed has nothing to do with it at all. There are a few drivers who seem to subscribe to the theory that the faster you go forward the less time the wind has to blow you sideways but it's entirely wrong and much like the drive faster to the garage before I run out of petrol theory! Yes, lorries do get blown over when standing still and I remember one night parked on Hartshead Moor getting dressed again and going and winding my trailer legs down to add a bit of extra stability before getting in the bunk. I'd watched a few others do it and realised why when the lorry pulled away next door to me! Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 13:17   Question for Pat. - Mapmaker

>> going and winding my trailer legs down to add a bit of extra stability before getting in the bunk. I think I'd be inclined to uncouple the trailer. The tractor wouldn't blow over. I related a story some years back on HJ of going over the A66 when the signs were illuminated and lo and behold I'd passed an HGV on its side. Some months later a solicitor contacted me through the forum as his client - the lorry owner - was being sued by the driver and they'd no way of finding out whether the Highways Authorities had put the signs on. My evidence on HJ - time stamped - seemed to silence the driver. Cunning bit of detective work by the solicitor I thought. Driver was in the cab for an hour before anybody stopped to see if he was OK... Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 4 Jan 16 13:54   Question for Pat. - Pat

There is a lot of sense in that Mapmaker but the problem is the trailer isn't insured uncoupled from the unit in a public place like a motorway service area without a pin lock (which few drivers ever carry and are not supplied with)....or at least the goods inside aren't. It's also the drivers responsibility so there is an element of trying to find the fine line between safety and keeping to the rules we're expected to follow. Pat Reply to this message | Report message