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.

glic71rods46t0

I just googled the sped limit for artics on Irish motorways is 90kph since 1st April 2012.
My speedo was reading approx 95kph though I ended up with a reading of 100kph eventually (I guess that the intimidation must have worked to a certain extent). With regard to the accuracy of my speedometer it seems to be fairly accurate if those "Your speed is" signs are anything to go by

Furious_George

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

What would you say to the likes of me, an unexperienced driver, in such conditions. I have my full licence only for the last two months and although have driven a few times on the motorway, at 120kph, I do not have experience driving in icy conditions.

I would probably slow down to around the 100kph mark too on motorway in the morning on a day like today, just in case. You might say stay off the road if you cant use it properly, but I am entitled to be on the motorway and also entitled to travel at that speed as long as I don't sit in the overtaking lane. My safety and that of my passengers is a hell of a lot more important to me than anything else. Perhaps when I am more experienced this will change but for the moment I will be sticking to a better safe than sorry approach.

Del2005

Furious_George wrote: »

What would you say to the likes of me, an unexperienced driver, in such conditions. I have my full licence only for the last two months and although have driven a few times on the motorway, at 120kph, I do not have experience driving in icy conditions.

I would probably slow down to around the 100kph mark too on motorway in the morning on a day like today, just in case. You might say stay off the road if you cant use it properly, but I am entitled to be on the motorway and also entitled to travel at that speed as long as I don't sit in the overtaking lane. My safety and that of my passengers is a hell of a lot more important to me than anything else. Perhaps when I am more experienced this will change but for the moment I will be sticking to a better safe than sorry approach.

An artic at full speed up your rear end isn't very safe for you or your passengers, just because your in the right doesn't mean you can't get hit. You have to weigh up the benefits of driving slowly against the risk of driving too slow.

If you leave enough distance to the vehicles in front ice on motorway isn't a big issue. It's only if you need to make a sudden manoeuvre that the ice will affect you, so keep well back and be extra aware of other vehicles.

ballooba

djimi wrote: »

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...

20km/h in a 50 km/h zone with traffic lights every couple of hundred metres because the air temp is under 10 degrees? It makes life very difficult for getting around the city.

EDIT: Also, the cost of any possible fender benders (potentially more serious if pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists involved)* is lower because it has a lower probability of occurring, whereas the cost of lost productivity due to these numpties is massive because it only takes a small number of of them to bring the city to a near standstill and everyone is affected.

*Obviously more care needs to be taken in the presence of vulnerable road users. Most of these poor drivers probably never see them anyway.

CiniO

OP.

1. I can't really see a point of driving at 100 instead of 120 because of ice. If ice was really there, you'd be more likely doing 30 - 40 max.
2. Trucks couldn't do speeds you were saying. They are legally obliged to be limited to 90, and in 99.9% cases they are. You were probably doing around 90.
3. What I can imagine is that truck was flashing you, because you were doing around 85-90. He wanted to do 90 on cruse control and it's really irritating when he has to permanently slow down and speed up because car in front of him is changing speed all the time. I'm not saying he was right to flash or bully you. I'm just saying where did his agressive behaviour came from.
4. When he started overtaking you, you porbably unknowingly accelerated from say 85 to 90, so he couldn't continue overtaking and eventually had to pull back to the left.

djimi

ballooba wrote: »

20km/h in a 50 km/h zone with traffic lights every couple of hundred metres because the air temp is under 10 degrees? It makes life very difficult for getting around the city.

EDIT: Also, the cost of any possible fender benders (potentially more serious if pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists involved) is lower because it has a lower probability of occurring, whereas the cost of lost productivity due to these numpties is massive because it only takes a small number of of them to bring the city to a near standstill and everyone is affected.

Who said anything about doing 20 in a 50 zone? Of course thats excessively low speed.

The OP was talking about doing 90-100 on a motorway.

Slig

Afraid OP your first mistake is that you posted a whinge on an internet forum expecting people to sympathize with you, that's not going to happen on the motors forum.
You are correct that the truck driver is at fault, there is no excuse for a professional driver to carry on in such an irresponsible manner but I'd like to add a few bits of information to try help you see their frustration in cases like this.
It is a points offence and a fine for a truck to use the right lane on a motorway but as they are limited to 85 - 90Kmh (slightly higher when going downhill) there is absolutely no reason for this to be an issue as motorway traffic should be travelling much faster than this.
While the extra time you add to your daily commute by slowing down might mean you arrive at work 30 mins late it could be the difference between the truck driver getting home that night or having to spend the night sleeping on the side of the road in the truck, missing their appointed delivery time and having the order refused, missing the ferry etc. HGV drivers are limited to the amount of time they can drive per day, all their driving time and speed is recorded electronically and must be held legally for 28 days.
At the end of the day if there had been a crash the truck driver would have been at fault but you would probably be dead. If in doubt or you feel intimidated drive defensively, let the asshole past as soon as possible, get out of his way, get his reg and report him to the Guardai.

ballooba

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.

Of course we have to allow for some drivers not being up to the conditions. Some drivers will never feel comfortable keeping up with normal traffic regardless of conditions. We also have to understand that some drivers will experience road rage as an inappropriate response to that. Unfortunately there seems to be no appropriate response other than be held to ransom by these drivers.

ballooba

djimi wrote: »

Who said anything about doing 20 in a 50 zone? Of course thats excessively low speed.

The OP was talking about doing 90-100 on a motorway.

If you read back, I was referring to city driving. It's somewhat related as it also relates to "cold conditions".

glic71rods46t0

Slig wrote: »

Afraid OP your first mistake is that you posted a whinge on an internet forum expecting people to sympathize with you, that's not going to happen on the motors forum.
You are correct that the truck driver is at fault, there is no excuse for a professional driver to carry on in such an irresponsible manner but I'd like to add a few bits of information to try help you see their frustration in cases like this.
It is a points offence and a fine for a truck to use the right lane on a motorway but as they are limited to 85 - 90Kmh (slightly higher when going downhill) there is absolutely no reason for this to be an issue as motorway traffic should be travelling much faster than this.
While the extra time you add to your daily commute by slowing down might mean you arrive at work 30 mins late it could be the difference between the truck driver getting home that night or having to spend the night sleeping on the side of the road in the truck, missing their appointed delivery time and having the order refused, missing the ferry etc. HGV drivers are limited to the amount of time they can drive per day, all their driving time and speed is recorded electronically and must be held legally for 28 days.
At the end of the day if there had been a crash the truck driver would have been at fault but you would probably be dead. If in doubt or you feel intimidated drive defensively, let the asshole past as soon as possible, get out of his way, get his reg and report him to the Guardai.

As I explained in my first post, I was just having a rant and asking people if they had any similar experience to the one I had. That people start judging my behaviour and the reasons why I drove slowly this morning was neither asked for nor wanted - I am not looking for sympathy either!
The point I was getting across is that slower drivers (I'm not usually one of them) must experience this kind of bullyboy tactics a lot and I find it disgraceful that more vulnerable drivers than I would be subjected to such menacing behaviour!
With regard to letting him past me, the only way was to lower my speed which could have made the situation worse - the only option I had was to exit the motorway, which I did!

AugustusMinimus

Never in my life had an artic feel the need to overtake me, nor mind 3 of them in a small space of time.

Hope this never happens to me either.

osheen

Just to defend the op
As a truck driver the maximum speed limit by law is 80kph . limiters are set up to 90kph to allow them to overtake safely but the speed limit for hgv's is 80kph.
If that driver was pulled by a gaurd or rsa officer and his digi card or tachos checked he would have a lot of explaing to do.

djimi

ballooba wrote: »

If you read back, I was referring to city driving. It's somewhat related as it also relates to "cold conditions".

Nowhere in the first post that I replied to did you mention city driving, but even if it is what you meant its hardly all that relevant as driving at 20kmph through a city is very different to doing 90-100 on a motorway.

H3llR4iser

CiniO wrote: »

OP.

1. I can't really see a point of driving at 100 instead of 120 because of ice. If ice was really there, you'd be more likely doing 30 - 40 max.
2. Trucks couldn't do speeds you were saying. They are legally obliged to be limited to 90, and in 99.9% cases they are. You were probably doing around 90.
3. What I can imagine is that truck was flashing you, because you were doing around 85-90. He wanted to do 90 on cruse control and it's really irritating when he has to permanently slow down and speed up because car in front of him is changing speed all the time. I'm not saying he was right to flash or bully you. I'm just saying where did his agressive behaviour came from.
4. When he started overtaking you, you porbably unknowingly accelerated from say 85 to 90, so he couldn't continue overtaking and eventually had to pull back to the left.

Couldn't have said it better.

Fencer, I would get a GPS (even a smartphone app will do) and check the accuracy of your speedometer - they are required by law to over read and readings in excess of 10 km/h higher than the real speed are not uncommon; The "your speed is" signs are also often over-reading.

There's another thing: unless you were using cruise control, your speed is very likely to drop a little bit over time; When trying to drive at a set speed limit (either the legal one or a speed you decide to keep), you're likely to unconsciously lift off a little bit every now and then, afraid of going above said limit - unless you drive with your eyes absolutely locked on the speedometer needle (and I hope that not to be the case).

Therefore you think you were doing 100; It was probably 88-90 due to the speedometer over reading, and it's very likely that you've been temporarily dropping to 80ish every now and then.

Deliverance XXV

Some crazy stuff here. Plenty of road warnings this morning with icy conditions.

If I felt that the roads may be somewhat dangerous or may still be slippy I will drive at the speed I feel to be a safe speed for me to get to my destination, regardless of time. I will not put myself (or others) in *possible* danger because of somebody else. I WILL not speed up just because somebody behind me wants me to go faster.

If anyone is worried about times or work targets, then be responsible; listen/read about the road conditions beforehand and then leave earlier if needed.

I would rarely venture under (or over) the speed limits but if the conditions were bad I am not taking any chances regardless of anyone's opinions of how fast/slow I should drive.

The truck driver is an idiot.

guil

osheen wrote: »

Just to defend the op
As a truck driver the maximum speed limit by law is 80kph . limiters are set up to 90kph to allow them to overtake safely but the speed limit for hgv's is 80kph.
If that driver was pulled by a gaurd or rsa officer and his digi card or tachos checked he would have a lot of explaing to do.

The speed limits was changed to 90 kph on a motorway in April but we are still not allowed to use the right most lane on a road with 2 or more lanes

ballooba

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

The truck driver is an idiot.

This is the most important point to make, the guys behaviour is inappropriate and inexcusable.

ballooba

djimi wrote: »

Nowhere in the first post that I replied to did you mention city driving, but even if it is what you meant its hardly all that relevant as driving at 20kmph through a city is very different to doing 90-100 on a motorway.

This was the post that you replied to:

ballooba wrote: »

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.

I intended to refer specifically to city driving rather than "around" the M50 or something like that. Apologies if that was unclear.

"Slow drivers" will drive in the city at between 30 and 40 km/h. Maybe they are confused about where the 30 km/h zone starts and ends, but in fairness if they can't see the big signs then they shouldn't be driving. These people then take another 10 km/h off when it's below 10 degrees and cause near gridlock in the city.

guil

Slig wrote: »

HGV drivers are limited to the amount of time they can drive per day, all their driving time and speed is recorded electronically and must be held legally for 28 days.

The records can be analogue discs or else a digi card depending on how old the truck is. You have to carry 28 days discs if you use them but the card will hold upto a years driving

Caliden

It's a speed limit not a target.
Doing an excessively slow speed can be dangerous but I'm talking about < 70km/h.

OP, if I were you in that situation I would've slowed down further and so the driver got the message.