Lorries Pulling Out at Roundabouts.

[Peter Mugridge]

The greenery near the roundabout and bus stop appears overgrown and could use some trimming.

Many councils are deliberately planting on and near roundabouts with the specific intention of reducing lines of sight as a means of traffic calming; that's been going on for years now.

Whether it's wise or not is a separate debate...

 

[Ediswan]

Many councils are deliberately planting on and near roundabouts with the specific intention of reducing lines of sight as a means of traffic calming; that's been going on for years now.

I can sympathise with that on the approach. But not tall vegetation right at the roundabout. I know of one roundabout entrance where if you stop behind the give way line, the fast growing grass can completely block the view. You can either wait for the council to cut the grass, or nose out into potential traffic.

 

[heathrowrail]

I'm sure others have experienced this too.
You are on the roundabout and wanting to go straight ahead (second exit) but just as you get to the first exit a lorry pulls out causing you to stop rather than be crushed!
What is even more annoying is that the lorry driver gesticulates as those you're the one at fault.

I've had it, it's annoying but as others said Lorries are slow to move, they can hardly see anything most of the time anyway.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I can sympathise with that on the approach. But not tall vegetation right at the roundabout. I know of one roundabout entrance where if you stop behind the give way line, the fast growing grass can completely block the view. You can either wait for the council to cut the grass, or nose out into potential traffic.

Here's one with tall vegetation completely covering the whole roundabout...




Round here also some of the roundabouts are raised and being planted on... notice the young tree in the middle. Notice also the inevitable and fatal consequence of building a brick wall which is completely infilled behind it directly in front of a long straight road.

 

[sytransport]

Only just come across this thread but thought I’d give my input.

As others have said, it’s unlikely the lorry has pulled out with the expectation you would stop. While I agree it’s out of order for the driver to gesticulate at you, I’m sure we can all agree that we all have a responsibility on the road to drive safely and accommodate others where we can.

We’re all human and whether it’s an error of judgement from the lorry driver or not, the best thing to do is simply ease off and allow them to just get out of your way.

As a bus driver myself, there’s been many times where I’ve been in similar situations, whether that’s an error of judgement or other road users driving in an unsafe manner, the best thing to do is to just ease off the gas and let them pass. Getting irate only ruins your own day and puts you in a bad mood, so why bother?

 

[route101]

Related to topic. What do people think of lorries overtaking other lorries on dual carriageways and 2 lane motorways?

 

[MotCO]

Related to topic. What do people think of lorries overtaking other lorries on dual carriageways and 2 lane motorways?

When one is travelling at 51.5 mph, being overtaken by a lorry doing 52 mph? The overtaken lorry should ease off to let the other lorry overtake.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Related to topic. What do people think of lorries overtaking other lorries on dual carriageways and 2 lane motorways?

And being in the third lane on a four lane motorway, probably easier to ban?

 

[ChrisC]

Many councils are deliberately planting on and near roundabouts with the specific intention of reducing lines of sight as a means of traffic calming; that's been going on for years now.

Whether it's wise or not is a separate debate...

There’s a roundabout at the entrance to the village where I live where the vegetation on the actual roundabout has been allowed to grow. You can no longer see across to the other side of the roundabout. It doesn’t cause me any visibility problems when driving as I can still see far enough around the roundabout to know when the road is clear. Where it doesn’t work is visibility for pedestrians. It’s now quite dangerous trying to cross the road at busy times because you cannot see over the top of the roundabout and cars turning right can quickly be upon you when you are halfway across the road. This is a busy roundabout for both pedestrians and cyclists as it’s on a footpath trail and one of the national cycle ways.

 

[route101]

When one is travelling at 51.5 mph, being overtaken by a lorry doing 52 mph? The overtaken lorry should ease off to let the other lorry overtake.

Holds up traffic on the outside lane. Some lorries seem cruise at 56mph or nothing.

 

[Flying Snail]

Holds up traffic on the outside lane. Some lorries seem cruise at 56mph or nothing.

Lets fit a countdown timer to your car that has a fixed time you must stop moving by that you are obliged by law to abide or face fines and we'll see how happy you are to travel slower than you can.

 

[MotCO]

Holds up traffic on the outside lane. Some lorries seem cruise at 56mph or nothing.

I'm happy with 56mph for the overtaking lorry, and nothing for the overtaken lorry - that should sort the problem

 

[AlterEgo]

And being in the third lane on a four lane motorway, probably easier to ban?

I'd probably ban this, yes. They can be in the first two but three-abreast HGVs is taking the mickey and contributing to slower journeys.

 

[TPO]

Lets fit a countdown timer to your car that has a fixed time you must stop moving by that you are obliged by law to abide or face fines and we'll see how happy you are to travel slower than you can.

Is that why the trucks elephant race in the outside lane during the day on the M42/A42 northbound in the stretch where they are banned from the outside lane between 7am and 7pm then?

Don't think anyone objects to a truck pulling out to overtake and passing in a sensible time. It's the ones who take 3 miles (yes seriously) to pass one vehicle at a smidge faster. Maybe saved a minute at most on his daily timer?

Then there's the tailgating. Truckie may be willing to risk doing 55mph (actual satnav value) in the average speed cameras 50mph zone in roadworks but the tailgating of the ickle car doing 50mph actual in front is not acceptable.

Most truck drivers ok, but in my travels around the UK motorway and A road network I have observed a significant minority drive with a level of aggression that is not appropriate in a PROFESSIONAL driver. Rare to non existent with Dangerous Goods drivers so the level of training and safety culture clearly makes a difference.

There needs to be more onus on the employer to manage competence and workload/timings of routes methinks. HSW Act approach of major duties on the employer rather than the Road Traffic Act philosophy of "blame the driver."

Railway safety takes effort. Road haulage still has catching up to do.

TPO

 

[Geoff DC]

I stopped at the entrance, the lorry didn't

That's probably due to lorries needing a completely different driving style to maintain momentum.
Lorry drivers will be timing their actions long before a car driver and with a much higher driving position can see much further ahead and to the sides than car drivers.
So whilst it may not have stopped, it may very well have timed its deceleration to allow for acceleration once entry to the roundabout is clear, your speed onto the roundabout may very well have upset his calculations at the last second leaving him/her with no option but to continue rather than cause issues for other road users.