Aggressive Artic Drivers

glic71rods46t0

Just want to rant....
This morning I noticed the roads were icey so I decided to take it handy on the M1 and stuck to 100kph - it was 6am in the morning. I normally travel at or slightly above the speed limit of 120kph.
Travelling at between 95-100kph an artic caught up with me and ended up driving really close to my back bumper. He then proceeded to flash me a couple of times - I started to get the message that he wanted me to speed up. I stayed at the same speed and a few artics overtook me in the overtaking lane - no problem with that but artic behind me eventually pulls into the overtaking lane and then pulls back into my lane behind me and starts flashing his lights again - I did not change my speed during his manoeuvre (I would understand his frustration if I had sped up to stop him from overtaking).
My only choice was to come off the motorway as slowing down would only make matters worse and I was not prepared to speed up due to my fear of possible ice. The guy flashed his lights at me again as I exited the motorway.
I am unlikely to encounter this behaviour again as I normally travel much faster than artics but older and more vulnerable drivers must experience this kind of behaviour a lot and in my mind its totally unacceptable. I would like to have reported his behaviour but I didnt get a reg!
Anyone have any similar experience?

ironclaw

He (Or she) is the problem. Not you. You were doing 100km/h which is my eyes is acceptable and you weren't dawdling along. If he doesn't want to overtake, thats his issue and he would most certainly have had the opportunity do so. The M1 is a fast, wide road so theres no reason you'd be trapped sitting behind someone.

Its always best not to engage with this type of thuggery. But if it had been me, I would have gone slowly down through the gears, the onus is on him to keep his distance and make his decision to overtake. Front / Rear DVR's are very handy here. No one has the right to intimate you to speed up.

dgt

ironclaw wrote: »

He (Or she) is the problem. Not you. You were doing 100km/h which is my eyes is acceptable and you weren't dawdling along. If he doesn't want to overtake, thats his issue and he would most certainly have had the opportunity do so. The M1 is a fast, wide road so theres no reason you'd be trapped sitting behind someone.

Its always best not to engage with this type of thuggery. But if it had been me, I would have gone slowly down through the gears, the onus is on him to keep his distance and make his decision to overtake. Front / Rear DVR's are very handy here. No one has the right to intimate you to speed up.

Love me slowly perhaps?

creedp

ironclaw wrote: »

He (Or she) is the problem. Not you. You were doing 100km/h which is my eyes is acceptable and you weren't dawdling along. If he doesn't want to overtake, thats his issue and he would most certainly have had the opportunity do so. The M1 is a fast, wide road so theres no reason you'd be trapped sitting behind someone.

Its always best not to engage with this type of thuggery. But if it had been me, I would have gone slowly down through the gears, the onus is on him to keep his distance and make his decision to overtake. Front / Rear DVR's are very handy here. No one has the right to intimate you to speed up.

I thought artics were supposed to be limited to 100 kmph at most .. speed limt being 90kmph. How come so many of them can drive at speeds in excess of 100kmph?

alo1587

creedp wrote: »

I thought artics were supposed to be limited to 100 kmph at most .. speed limt being 90kmph. How come so many of them can drive at speeds in excess of 100kmph?

Fuse/relay pull..

dr.fuzzenstein

No idea, I have never in 20 years been in a situation where I travelled so slowly on a motorway that trucks where overtaking me.
You must have been going at around 80-90 for this situation to arise.
It's not just older people, but anyone traveling at that slow speed would get hassled.

glic71rods46t0

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

No idea, I have never in 20 years been in a situation where I travelled so slowly on a motorway that trucks where overtaking me.
You must have been going at around 80-90 for this situation to arise.
It's not just older people, but anyone traveling at that slow speed would get hassled.

Read my initial post again Einstein Fuzzenstein I said I was doing approx 95-100kph. It sounds like you are condoning the artic drivers behaviour.
Are you an artic/truck driver?

working fool

I've never driven a truck that could legally do 100k
They are set at 90 but some have a bit of leeway and can do 95k
Maybe your speedo is out a little op ?
One or two trucks messing with their limiter is possible but not a few of them .

mitosis

c2bskz0iypm1t6 wrote: »

Just want to rant....
T. I stayed at the same speed and a few artics overtook me in the overtaking lane - no problem with that but artic behind me eventually pulls into the overtaking lane and then pulls back into my lane behind me and starts flashing his lights again - I did not change my speed during his manoeuvre (I would understand his frustration if I had sped up to stop him from overtaking).

Anyone have any similar experience?

Sorry, OP, but most trucks are limited to 90. If several were overtaking you you were going under that. You might need to get your speedo checked - it seems you think you were doing 100, but were likely doing 85 at most.

Stereomaniac

It's hilarious to me the amount of people who flash their lights at me and beep in this country because I am doing square things like following the rules of the road and driving safely.

Xcellor

Some speedos overstate the actual speed. So if you were doing 100KPH you were most likely doing 90.

My GPS tells me what speed I'm traveling at and the speed it reports versus what my analogue speedo says is always different.

I don't find ice a problem when driving on a motor way providing there its a clear road and plenty of stopping distance.

Truck driver out of line. There is an overtaking lane for a reason.

Sprattrans

It sounds like the truck in question had a lower limited speed than every one else so he hadnt the speed up to pass the op.

Del2005

Xcellor wrote: »

Some speedos overstate the actual speed. So if you were doing 100KPH you were most likely doing 90.

My GPS tells me what speed I'm traveling at and the speed it reports versus what my analogue speedo says is always different.

I don't find ice a problem when driving on a motor way providing there its a clear road and plenty of stopping distance.

Truck driver out of line. There is an overtaking lane for a reason.

Except for the fact it's illegal for the truck to enter it you'd be correct . Not saying what the artic driver wasn't illegal, but if several trucks overtook the OP they had to be doing less than they thought they were.

MrDerp

I fail to see the benefit of 100km/h over 120km/h because of a bit of cold air. The motorway is gritted, otherwise you'd know about it. Once I felt confident there was grip I'd go at my normal speed, but observing a larger than normal distance between me and the car in front. Extra stopping distance is enough of a precaution for me, as it avoids the unlucky scenario of heavy braking on an icy patch.

The truck in this situation is completely out of line, but the biggest pain in my behind when motorway driving is slow drivers that force trucks to overtake them and as a result they clog up the road, between them, for a few km while the traffic works its way around.

ballooba

Was there actually ice? I don't know anything about conditions on the M1 in the mornings, I did notice the temperature go up a degree or more as I reached the city yesterday evening. I do notice a lot of people around Dublin driving like complete 'tards in the last couple of weeks because it's cold and they assume it's icy. The whole country can't grind to a halt because they perceive that there might be ice.

corktina

id read this as a timid driver over reacting to cold weather causing problems for other traffic. If several artics passed you, it's unlikely they all had the fuses pulled, more likely you were travelling too slowly.

djimi

ballooba wrote: »

I do notice a lot of people around Dublin driving like complete 'tards in the last couple of weeks because it's cold and they assume it's icy. The whole country can't grind to a halt because they perceive that there might be ice.

Better to assume that its icy when its not, than to assume that it is not icy when it is...

Blazer

djimi wrote: »

Better to assume that its icy when its not, than to assume that it is not icy when it is...

exactly...the funny thing is people would be criticizing the driver for his lack of awareness etc and he should have been expecting ice etc due to the conditions if he did have a crash etc.

MrDerp

djimi wrote: »

Better to assume that its icy when its not, than to assume that it is not icy when it is...

I drove on ice plenty in the two cold winters of 09-10 and 10-11. The car was needed careful slow maneuvers.
- I can tell the difference between clear roads, patchy ice and icy roads.
- I don't automatically slow down because the little star lights up on the dash
- I assess the conditions based on that evidence, listen to traffic reports etc.
- I observe other cars on the road

Some people seem to hear on the radio about black ice on an R road in Monaghan and then trundle along the best roads in the country at a low speed because of it.

urajoke

Standard fair really for a truck driver to intimidate something smaller I see it regularly, a good number of people have slowed down obviously in an effort to save fuel(money) and now hover around the limiter speed of trucks said trucks then proceed to sit up the rear end of the car in the hope it will speed up.

Others are right OP your speedo is wrong its over reading your speed and that's normal so you thought you were doing 100 when in fact you were doing 90.

Either slow to 80 so everyone can pass or increase to 105-110 so you don't annoy the truckers.

glic71rods46t0

mitosis wrote: »

Sorry, OP, but most trucks are limited to 90. If several were overtaking you you were going under that. You might need to get your speedo checked - it seems you think you were doing 100, but were likely doing 85 at most.

Just to clarify, 2 artics overtook in the overtaking lane, both had foreign plates, Dutch I think

ballooba

djimi wrote: »

Better to assume that its icy when its not, than to assume that it is not icy when it is...

Or just do neither. Drive to the conditions and don't impede the flow of traffic. There is a cost to increased journey times and resulting lost productivity.

EDIT: In case I need to be explicit, there needs to be a balance struck between road safety and facilitating the efficient flow of traffic. Too much of the rhetoric in Ireland focuses on speed as the source of all evil.

djimi

ballooba wrote: »

Or just do neither. Drive to the conditions and don't impede the flow of traffic. There is a cost to increased journey times and resulting lost productivity.

Never hit an unexpected patch of ice, no?

There is also a cost to getting caught out by bad conditions, and it is an awful lot more serious than someone being mildly inconvenienced by driving a few km/h slower...

djimi

MrDerp wrote: »

I drove on ice plenty in the two cold winters of 09-10 and 10-11. The car was needed careful slow maneuvers.
- I can tell the difference between clear roads, patchy ice and icy roads.
- I don't automatically slow down because the little star lights up on the dash
- I assess the conditions based on that evidence, listen to traffic reports etc.
- I observe other cars on the road

Some people seem to hear on the radio about black ice on an R road in Monaghan and then trundle along the best roads in the country at a low speed because of it.

It must be wonderful to be the best driver in Ireland. If only we were all like you. Alas we are not, so us mere mortals tend to take it easy when the weather is bad and conditions are cold. Best to expect the unexpected and all that.

glic71rods46t0

MrDerp wrote: »

I drove on ice plenty in the two cold winters of 09-10 and 10-11. The car was needed careful slow maneuvers.
- I can tell the difference between clear roads, patchy ice and icy roads.
- I don't automatically slow down because the little star lights up on the dash
- I assess the conditions based on that evidence, listen to traffic reports etc.
- I observe other cars on the road

Some people seem to hear on the radio about black ice on an R road in Monaghan and then trundle along the best roads in the country at a low speed because of it.

For the record
- I can tell the difference between clear roads and icy roads too. There were icy roads before I got onto the motorway, so I am certain there was ice about. What I didnt know was if I would encounter some on the motorway so I decided to drive slower for 2 reasons:
1. To give myself a better chance if I hit ice
2. to lessen the need for me to overtake on the motorway - changing lanes is where you can get caught out badly on ice!

- I don't have the little stars on my dash I dont have an outside temp gauge in the car
- I assessed the evidence and took the view that there was a danger of encountering ice
- Observing other traffic is very low down on the list for me. I made the assumption that these other drivers didnt experience the icy roads I travelled on prior to entering the motorway

I didnt hear any traffic reports at 6am so I dont know whether some r road in Monaghan had ice on it and I certainly didnt base my driving on any such report

glic71rods46t0

corktina wrote: »

id read this as a timid driver over reacting to cold weather causing problems for other traffic. If several artics passed you, it's unlikely they all had the fuses pulled, more likely you were travelling too slowly.

There is no "travellling too slowly" offence on the motorway and even if there was I seriously doubt I would have been guilty of breaking such a rule.
The issue was the behaviour of the artic driver.
Your description of me as a "timid driver" is wrong - I am an assertive driver who decided to slow down and expect the unexpected in icy conditions

MrDerp

djimi wrote: »

It must be wonderful to be the best driver in Ireland. If only we were all like you. Alas we are not, so us mere mortals tend to take it easy when the weather is bad and conditions are cold. Best to expect the unexpected and all that.

There's no need for that. Address my points instead of attacking the poster.

I prepare for the unexpected in cold conditions, as I do for wet conditions, by allowing for increased stopping distance and by slowing down where necessary. My increased stopping distance will mean that I have time to recover and/or avoid a skid on a small icy patch. I wouldn't plough into a bad bend on a regional route at 80 in the dry because of some mistaken belief in my ability; neither would I drive at 120 on a snowpacked motorway.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't take ice in my estate to mean that there's ice on the M1. There was nothing else to my point. I spoke only in terms of gritted national primary motorways, and that I would assess conditions based on everything around me, rather than dawdling because of a thermometer

MrDerp

c2bskz0iypm1t6 wrote: »

For the record
- I can tell the difference between clear roads and icy roads too. There were icy roads before I got onto the motorway, so I am certain there was ice about. What I didnt know was if I would encounter some on the motorway so I decided to drive slower for 2 reasons:
1. To give myself a better chance if I hit ice
2. to lessen the need for me to overtake on the motorway - changing lanes is where you can get caught out badly on ice!

- I don't have the little stars on my dash I dont have an outside temp gauge in the car
- I assessed the evidence and took the view that there was a danger of encountering ice
- Observing other traffic is very low down on the list for me. I made the assumption that these other drivers didnt experience the icy roads I travelled on prior to entering the motorway

I didnt hear any traffic reports at 6am so I dont know whether some r road in Monaghan had ice on it and I certainly didnt base my driving on any such report

I didn't attribute the monaghan comment to you, I was speaking in general terms.

Fair enough on the rest, but I still think it's a stretch to assume ice on the motorway based on ice on approach roads.

Either way, I completely agree with your point on the artic driver being unreasonable, and I'm guilty of having taken the thread on a tangent.

CreepingDeath

I believe it's illegal for an Artic driver to use the overtaking lane of a motorway ?
So by not going to posted speed limit, you force them out into the overtaking lane.

In general, I would say anyone who goes 20kph less than the stated speed limit is not driving properly, especially on a motorway.
If everyone drives the same speed then the speed difference between vehicles is negligible.

In saying that, I've seen and recorded dangerous Artic drivers on my dashcam on the M50 here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LpY1s50_4

djimi

MrDerp wrote: »

There's no need for that. Address my points instead of attacking the poster.

I prepare for the unexpected in cold conditions, as I do for wet conditions, by allowing for increased stopping distance and by slowing down where necessary. My increased stopping distance will mean that I have time to recover and/or avoid a skid on a small icy patch. I wouldn't plough into a bad bend on a regional route at 80 in the dry because of some mistaken belief in my ability; neither would I drive at 120 on a snowpacked motorway.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't take ice in my estate to mean that there's ice on the M1. There was nothing else to my point. I spoke only in terms of gritted national primary motorways, and that I would assess conditions based on everything around me, rather than dawdling because of a thermometer

Apologies for the tone; perhaps I didnt take you up correctly but it seemed to me that you were downplaying the idea of people exercising caution when conditions are less than ideal.

To be honest if the roads in the estate are icy then it means that there are icy conditions about. Main roads might be gritted and therefore perfectly safe to drive, but why take a chance? Im not saying that people should necessarily drive at 40mph on a motorway to compensate, but the OP stated that they were driving at around 100kmph on a motorway, which is a perfectly safe speed in any conditions, and if that is what they most comfortable driving at given the conditions then noone has the right to say anything against them for it.

djimi

CreepingDeath wrote: »

In general, I would say anyone who goes 20kph less than the stated speed limit is not driving properly, especially on a motorway.

Nonsense. There is absolutely nothing wrong with driving at 100kmph on a motorway under any conditions. There is an overtaking lane for those who wish to use it, and from what has been said in this thread those vehicles who are not allowed in the overtaking lane are not supposed to be going over 100 anyway.