Horsebox drivers

BrianD3

Anyone else think that as a group horsebox drivers are poor and inconsiderate drivers. I am talking about rigid truck based horseboxes here. The main gripe I have is that their driving style seems to be to give their precious horses a smooth ride by turning the steering wheel as little as possible. The result is straightlining of bends, straddling of continuous white lines, staying several feet out from the verge, cutting across junctions all forcing oncoming traffic to take evasive action. In general it is poor positioning, it's as if they either don't know or don't care where their offside wheels are in relation to the centre line of the road and oncoming traffic.

It concerns me to see this especially when someone is driving a 7.5 tonne or possibly heavier truck which would demolish a car if there was a collision. I'd also wonder how many horsebox drivers have ever done a driving test for a truck as AFAIK the C1 category used to be awarded automatically when you did your car test. Combine this with the fact that unlike most other truck drivers, horsebox driver are not professional drivers and I think it's worrying.

Rowley Birkin QC

Horsie people, in my experience, are generally oblivious to everyone else both on the road and in life generally.

Also it annoys me no end to see those stupid CAUTION HORSES stickers on the trucks. Baby on board stickers are understandable but those things just annoy me.

fricatus

I followed a horsebox one Sunday from Gowran to Carlow on the N9 on a journey from Waterford to Dublin. I must have been about 25 cars back. This guy drove at 60 km/h the whole way. One by one, cars flashed the guy (acres of hard shoulder were available) and overtook when they could.

I eventually caught up with him just north of the IT in Carlow and pulled up alongside him to say something. I beeped the horn and gesticulated, but he was in a little world of his own. Not that he was ignoring me - it just looked as if he couldn't see or hear anything. I never tried to communicate like that with another driver before or since, but on this occasion I just felt I should tell the guy that there were other drivers about and he had mirrors that he could use.

I had been driving a Spanish friend back to Dublin after spending the weekend at home and he was incredulous at what he had seen. He said that the guy would have been taken out of his jeep and beaten to within an inch of his life for holding up the traffic like that in Espana. But his final comment as the lights changed and we drove off cracked me up: "maybe they shood poot the hhorse een front. Eet would be a better driver!"

Rovi

In the dearly departed RANT thread long ago, I told of how I console myself when trapped behind these mobile chicanes by telling myself that they are on their way to the glue factory and that there will shortly be no more need of that particular horsebox.
I find it helps (a little).

edited to add-
PS. I am aware of the irony of the combination of the content of this post and my current signature

ninty9er

I was stuck behind one of the trailer types yesterday on the R474 between Kilmaley and Connolly, before I got a straight downhill stretch, at which point he had passed NUMEROUS layby type areas!!

a steady 30mph in a 50mph zone!!! PULL THE FU<K IN

BrianD3

Slow driving in a horse box I can understand even if it is highly frustrating to get stuck behind. And yeah they should pull into the hard shoulder if there is one and it's safe to do so.

What did drive me bananas one day was I got stuck behind a convoy of about 6 horseboxes (trailer type) crawling along and leaving no gaps between them to overtake into. Morons.

The original post was about truck based horseboxes but i'd have gripes about the trailer type too but the same gripes woud apply to trailer towing in general (unsuitable towing vehicles, defective lights and no number plates on trailers, has the driver an EB licence etc.)

_Kaiser_

I'm gonna extend this to truck drivers in general if I may.

All too often am i stuck in a convoy of cars on the N3, at the head of which is a truck doing 75/80 in the 100. Now fair enough, the road isn't the best in places but there ARE straight/wide stretches where they can pull in to let following cars pass.

Although slow clap to the idiot in the 04 D Peugeot 407 that was given this opportunity by not one, but two trucks ahead of him, but who still stayed where he was, holding everyone else up. :mad:

golden

For starters trucks and trailers including horsebox upper speed limit is 80km even on a 100km. All vehicles should leave a gap to enable cars or other vehicles to overtake if they wish.

I have seen the aftermath of a fatal crash between two HGV lorries in Limerick. One lorry was parked and the other was driving on the hardshoulder so it really is not the safest place to do it.

Myself personally was nearly clipped by a trailer. The person was overtaking me he forgot that he had a trailer and I had to do evasive driving

dingding

AFAIK you can get penalty points for driving in the hard shoulder.

There needs to be more dual carrigeway and 2+1 roads.

The worst of the whole lot has to be caravans, with names alke swift and rapide what were they thinking.

ninty9er

dingding wrote:

AFAIK you can get penalty points for driving in the hard shoulder.

There needs to be more dual carrigeway and 2+1 roads.

The worst of the whole lot has to be caravans, with names alke swift and
rapide what were they thinking.

Pullin in to let someone pass does not constitute driving in the hard shoulder though. it's just a short manouver

Idleater

golden wrote:

For starters trucks and trailers including horsebox upper speed limit is 80km even on a 100km. All vehicles should leave a gap to enable cars or other vehicles to overtake if they wish.

Bingo!!!

And I would extend this to learner drivers, tractors, and any other "slow" vehicles "holding up" the general traffic flow.

The one thing on the motorbike that I really enjoy is watching some car tailgating something like a tractor doing eg 30kmph. And every now and again they stick the car across the white line to get a view of the road ahead (because obviously they are too close to the vehicle in front to see around them).

anyway, what I like to do is pass the cars one by one and create a gap between me and the offending vehicle so that I can now see the road ahead. Then when the road is clear, a simple quick acceleration and then off down the road.

Think they get the idea? No of course not. back to tailgaiting the tractor so they can begin their overtake blind and at 30kmpk:rolleyes:

L.

dingding

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=ACC20060202.xml&Ex=All&Page=11


The link above refers to the text below.

Chairman: A penalty point offence will be introduced for driving on the hard shoulder. Does this mean that the ubiquitous tractor driver and the man in the JCB can no longer move in on the hard shoulder and hold the rest of us up for a week, rather than for half a day?


Ms O’Neill: I will need to clarify that matter for the Chairman and get back to him. I must examine the precise nature of the penalty involved. It is designed to discourage people from consistently driving on the hard shoulder who are not availing of it for emergency purposes.


Chairman: As announced, driving on the hard shoulder garners one penalty point.


Ms O’Neill: Yes.


Chairman: One would not realise it in Dublin but this is a major point of discussion down the country. Will we be behind the tractor or the JCB all day long and will they incur a penalty point if they move in?


Ms O’Neill: I will clarify that for the Chairman with pleasure and get back to him.


Chairman: On the road from Limerick to Rathkeale, a tractor driver would lose his licence in one day if he needed to move in every time he held up traffic.

skibum

bigkev49 wrote:

Horsie people, in my experience, are generally oblivious to everyone else both on the road and in life generally.

Too true, too true...

tuxy

Inbreeding is to blame.

Wishbone Ash

Kaiser2000 wrote:

All too often am i stuck in a convoy of cars on the N3, at the head of which is a truck doing 75/80 in the 100

The maximum permitted speed for a truck in a 100kph zone is 80kph.

ninty9er wrote:

Pullin in to let someone pass does not constitute driving in the hard shoulder though

An advanced driver tester would take a dim view of one utilising the hard shoulder to allow someone else to pass.

fricatus wrote:

I beeped the horn and gesticulated, but he was in a little world of his own

If someone drove up alongside me and "beeped the horn and gesticulated" I would also pretend to be in a world of my own. What a dangerous thing to do on a public road!

crosstownk

I do think that drivers of larger, slower moving vehicles should pull over, provided that it is safe and there is room to do so. I've often witnessed truck drivers in Germany pulling into a lay by and coming to a complete stop to let cars pass.

Wishbone Ash

crosstownk wrote:

I've often witnessed truck drivers in Germany pulling into a lay by and coming to a complete stop to let cars pass.

I do it myself crosstownk (although I don't come to a complete stop) but I'm always aware that it is generally frowned upon by the experts.

My driving was assessed recently by an expert from the UK and he advised against it. He said that the hard shoulder is my "safety zone" and if I utilise it I am effectively cancelling my safety area.

dingding

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I do it myself crosstownk (although I don't come to a complete stop) but I'm always aware that it is generally frowned upon by the experts.

My driving was assessed recently by an expert from the UK and he advised against it. He said that the hard shoulder is my "safety zone" and if I utilise it I am effectively cancelling my safety area.

And you are cancelling it for other road users also.

Stephen

Page 60 of the 2007 edition of the rules of the road states:

RotR wrote:

This road contains a hard shoulder,
which is normally only for
pedestrians and cyclists.
If a driver wants to allow a vehicle
behind them to overtake, they may
pull in to the hard shoulder briefly as
long as no pedestrians or cyclists are
already using it and no junctions or
entrances are nearby.
Different rules exist for hard
shoulders on motorways. See
Section 11 for details.

i.e. its ok to pull in to the hard shoulder to let people pass UNLESS you are on a motorway. (driving on a motorway hard shoulder under any circumstances besides a breakdown/emergency is a penalty points offence)

http://www.rsa.ie/Home/upload/File/ROTR_2007.pdf

Wishbone Ash

Stephen wrote:

Page 60 of the 2007 edition of the rules of the road states:


i.e. its ok to pull in to the hard shoulder to let people pass UNLESS you are on a motorway

We are aware of that Stephen but it is still frowned upon by "advanced drivers".

EDIT: We are not disputing the legality of the manoeuvre.

Anan1

Wishbone Ash wrote:

We are aware of that Stephen but it is still frowned upon by "advanced drivers".

EDIT: We are not disputing the legality of the manoeuvre.

I think it's important to see the big picture here. IMO, the danger involved in a truck using the hard shoulder is more than compensated for by the fact that cars are thus allowed to pass more safely. By the way, I find Irish truck drivers to be pretty good in this regard.

peasant

When driving the motorhome (well capable of 100 km/h) I often notice a clumping up of cars behind even though I am drivin at 100.

In those situations I used to move over where possible, but i don't any more.

It's not safe.

What happens is ...I move over and all of a sudden everybody (even cars that were half a mile behind), sees the need to speed up and move out beside me to overtake.

Fine so far ...but the next thing that happens is that the cars that have just finished overtaking realise that I've been doing 100 (or near enough) all along and so they don't move away into the distance, but instead stay in a clump right ahead of me, meanwhile the traffic builds up to my right, hemming me in.

If I now come up to an obstacle/ driveway/junction on the hard shoulder I have no way back into the driving lane ...no manner of indicating or even gentle pushing will make them let me move in again.

Having had to come to a full stop several times to avoid an accident, I don't move over any more ...feck 'em ..let them clump behind me, I'm going as fast as they are.

fricatus

Wishbone Ash wrote:

If someone drove up alongside me and "beeped the horn and gesticulated" I would also pretend to be in a world of my own. What a dangerous thing to do on a public road!

We were stopped at traffic lights, in separate lanes next to one another.

el tel

Horsey people are one a totally different plane to 'normal' people. I've bagged a few horsie girls in the past and they really are spaced out on different planets. I can only imagine how they drive. Yesterday I was going round a busy roundabout only to be cut up by a hearse (with coffin and full cortege behind) who came across me as I was about to make my exit. Bloody dead people.

lightening

peasant wrote:

What happens is ...I move over and all of a sudden everybody (even cars that were half a mile behind), sees the need to speed up and move out beside me to overtake.

Guilty!:o I have to watch that...

maidhc

I agree with all the nasty things said about horsey people.

I got roared at one day by a local because I didn't slow to a crawl when overtaking his stationary horsebox...

... apparently I frightened the horse and he (the owner that is) found it necessary to almost kill himself by jumping in front of my car. Idiot.

Idleater

maidhc wrote:

I got roared at one day by a local because I didn't slow to a crawl when overtaking his stationary horsebox...

You clearly should have sounded the horn on approach, to warn the driver and Horse to remain calm as you drive past

Actually, one thing is horses in horse boxes, another is horses + rider on the road.

I would hope that people at least show some consideration to them as to startle a horse + rider could injure both quite badly I'd imagine.

L.