The Highways Of Death In Australia...those who looked away.

Originally posted by Dr Expired
reply to post by Chadwickus

 

Correct me if Iam wrong , but you are ian a 65 or so tonne B double( your words) and for aprox 50% of the time you are driving in the right lane on your posted videos.

Think about it , shouldn;t you driving a deadly 65 tonne vehicle drive in the slow left lane as often as possible?

In Europe this is law....aren't you glad the life is cheap in Australia?

You broke my gibberish translation machine. You owe me $3,000.

reply to post by Dr Expired


Firstly, not my videos.

Secondly, I just watched the video again and tabled what lane the truck was in in each scene.

I got...

19 left lane
10 centre lane
3 right lane.

And of those 3 right lanes, 2 were merging into 1 lane and BOTH times the driver backed off to let left lane vehicles through. The third right lane was when he turned right.

Don't need to calculate percentages to see that you aren't looking at things with a clear impartial mind.

Your last response to me is the same and makes no sense.

The facts don't lie.

Truck related deaths don't even account for a quarter of all road deaths and then only 35% of them are the truck drivers fault.

That's 18 out of 288 or 6.25% in Victoria in 2010

reply to post by Chadwickus


Here is a pathway to a little publicised if not little known seccret ...to find the truth , you need to disable search safe on google, doubt it?
Try it amazing what is hidden . Try the following llinkwww.infrastructure.gov.au...

This is offical data, not accounting for the unprovable cars collided with trucks on straight stretches of hghways o or dead people found in mangled cars with " no other vehicle on the scene"...strange that ...oh no not if you understand physics and how far a truck tailgating a car can proplel the victim, and lo and behold keep on keeping on.

reply to post by Dr Expired


Ok, well let's look at national figures now.

Using official department of infrastructure and transport statistics...

Fatal heavy vehicle crashes

During the 12 months to the end of June 2011, 228 people died from 201 crashes involving heavy trucks or buse

And Road deaths Australia

During the 12 months ended June 2011 there were 1,304 deaths

So we had 1304 deaths on the road in the 12 months ending June 2011, 228 of those involved heavy vehicles.

That is only 17% of all road deaths in Australia

reply to post by Dr Expired


Yep it's true, I moved to Australia from the UK and ended up frequently on the pacific highway between Ballina an Taree for a while. I soon got rid of the ford lazer 1.8 and traded up to a holden VS Commodore 3.8ltr just so that I have the power to escape the trucks if I need to! Really terrifying. In the UK they are strictly limited to 56mph which is around 80kph.

reply to post by Dr Expired


Understand that tail-gating is a form of bullying, intimidation.
You need not submit. Turn on your four-way flashes as a sign that you know they are back there and continue at the posted speed. Whether you pull over to allow them to pass depends upon several factors of rights and privileges on both sides, yours and his.

In Texas where many two-lane roads have wide shoulders, it was expected in the old days that slower traffic such as farm vehicles would pull over to the shoulder to allow the over-taking vehicle to pass. Eventually, that escalated to where even if you were driving the posted limit or somewhat above, the over-taking driver of car or truck felt they had the right to tail-gate you sufficiently to either pull over or speed up.

That is not their right or the law. My own position as one that habitually travels two or three miles over the posted limit as is typical accepted by law in this here parts, is to set the speed control. --This keeps the emotions out of the foot--and continue with my way down the road. His right to speed does not over-ride my right to travel the road in a decent manner.

Personally, I feel that you have over-dramatized your experiences. After all, most drivers that want to pass you are not going to run you off the road. Either show some guts, or pull over. Entirely your choice.

I understand fast, reckless driving. I've had one of the hottest 327 Chevelle Malibu' around in the old days and frequently risked life and limb of myself, family and others. Then I matured (somewhat). And yes, it would be safe to say that early recklessness is still found in the way I handle speeding tailgaters these days rather than submit to their cravings of being first down the road.

As much as I would like to respect your right to slow down traffic in the fast lane like some self appointed speed cop I cannot. As a volunteer fireman and crash expert I need to get to the hall and gear up. I am allowed to travel as fast as safe to do so by the law of the land and have been trained by police defensive training to attain this privilege. I am not allowed to tailgate or swerve in traffic . I flash my passing lights and pray the car in front will move over. Most times they don't . In the back of my mind I find my self thinking what a selfish and self important society we have become. Think people, is your pride more important then the well being of others? There are more things going on in the world then what is going on in your vehicle. Move over . It is not being weak to do the right thing.
Thanks , Mike.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
And Road deaths Australia

During the 12 months ended June 2011 there were 1,304 deaths

That's a hell of a lot of deaths. If driving was a party drug it would be banned after 3.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Dr Expired

 

Oh and let's not forget, a truck driver has a lot more skill than the average car driver, and with this skill comes the attitude of "I'm bigger and heavier than you" and really, any car driver that doesn't realise (too many IMO) that mass ALWAYS wins are just asking for trouble.

edit on 9/3/12 by Chadwickus because: (no reason given)

You obviously do not have a clue what you are talking about!

We all saw on 9/11/2001, on our trusty 'eyes and ears around the world' box, how a relatively
small mass, in the form of an aluminium plane, overcame devastatingly and completely a
relatively enormous mass, in the form of a huge steel and concrete building, in the short
space of one measly hour!

Get Real

reply to post by Dr Expired

Maybe Australia should do like Norway and put speed caps into these trucks. Here they are afaik capped at 100km/h or 95km/h, which stops them from going faster than that.

While your post shows you have a real issue with this problem, and I will assume it is a problem because you claim it is since I don't live there nor have ever visited so I do not know first hand.

Upon researching I found this website that offers a PDF file on all Australian vehicular accidents and deaths.

According to the statistics there were 4,632 deaths due to large articulated trucks between 1985 - 2008.

So, in 23 years there were 4632 deaths....... Not "Tens of thousands" as you say.

Maybe it isn't as big a problem as you think?

I think the OP exaggerated a tad but 4632 deaths in 23 years sounds pretty huge to me.

reply to post by mwood


If we count the unproven acidents eg people tailgated and run off the road the stats would soar, also for every death there are those maimed and life changingly injured due to truck collisions.

There have been instances of some of the cowboy truckies been caught later but not always.

I have been forced into evasive action twice as already stated on both of those occassions if I wasn'tan experienced driver I may have ended up literally dead in a tree.

In any sane persons opinion Australia has a killing field that stretches thousands of miles made of dirt made of tar, if over 4,ooo poeple had been killed by terrrorists in such a time well a war would have ensued....but what is the consequence in Australia, the announcement of even more and even bigger trucks will be on our roads in the near future.

And it has also been revealed the Trucking industry has been infiltrated heavily by Bikie gangs and other organised criminals, explains why life is so cheap perhaps.

My advice to anyone being tailgated pull over at the first safe location, and thank God you are alive.

The truck driver probably didn't even know you were there as he ,is held awake by other things

I can't speak for where you come from, but here in America the greatest threat on the roads are semi trucks and old people, generally. I'm from a pretty rural area so you have to include deer, raccoons, drunken teenagers, cows, and the occasional ghost riding tractor into that list.
But my suggestion, the next time a semi is riding your ass, floor it a little and get some distance (30-40 feet) and slam on your brakes. Don't stop completely, you dont want to risk truly getting demolished, but give him a good heart attack. They might get 'special tolerance', but following too close is following too close. Put a truck drivers heart into his throat and make him tip the damn thing, and it will be the last time he ever does it.

It sounds to me that the OP is a menace on the roads. If you are really being constantly tailgated by trucks then you are one of those people that sit below the posted speed limit and get in everyone's way. You then cause trucks to try and overtake you, slowing up the right lane for the rest of us.

That or you sit in the right lane on purpose to make sure nobody speeds. How often do you get people undertaking you in the left lane?

There are some truck drivers that are very poor, and they intimidate other drivers. They are in the minority. And yes i have almost been run off the road by them. However i do a lot of highway driving, and on average car drivers are much worse than truck drivers...much, much worse!

Honestly i think you should dial down the rhetoric, stop thinking you are a "victim" and learn how to drive.

Originally posted by zvezdar
It sounds to me that the OP is a menace on the roads. If you are really being constantly tailgated by trucks then you are one of those people that sit below the posted speed limit and get in everyone's way. You then cause trucks to try and overtake you, slowing up the right lane for the rest of us.

That or you sit in the right lane on purpose to make sure nobody speeds. How often do you get people undertaking you in the left lane?

There are some truck drivers that are very poor, and they intimidate other drivers. They are in the minority. And yes i have almost been run off the road by them. However i do a lot of highway driving, and on average car drivers are much worse than truck drivers...much, much worse!

Honestly i think you should dial down the rhetoric, stop thinking you are a "victim" and learn how to drive.

Mate ...you make many assumptions and state very few facts .

Intimidating truck drivers are not in the minority they sadly are the majority representing the profession on the roads of Australia, I personally do not sit in the right hand lane, I have seen the consequences of tailgaters.

The facts are as any motorist travelling the Brisbane to Gold Coast and in reverse stretch will kmow is that heavy vehicles speed eevn through 80km/h stretches of the Pacific Highway in this locality , through road work stretches their connected trailers swinging wildly at times behind them.
Not one law enforcement vehicle to be seen, whilst they put lives a t risk tailgating people in the fast lane through roadworks.
It is so commonplace I guess some people get used to having a deranged truck driver within one to three metres of their bumper, not having the experiences to realise what will happen if they are hit from the rear by a mass up to 50 times the mass of their own vehicle.
The issue is why are there not dedicated Police vehicles deterring these cowboy sociopaths?

Why is human life treat with so much disdain?

A terrorist attack such as S11 prompts outrage as it righly should , yet hundreds of dead and maimed , caused by speeding heavy vehicles is hushed up, or excused as "collateral damage "...why?

Perhaps because we simply do not care....until it is us or our own involved.

Those on this thread who have defended those who tailgate whilst driving heavy vehicles, should really stop and examine what the hell they are saying.
There are no excuses, the fact that there is ....is a blight on our supposed civilised nations.

IS this a law in europe?????

Don't have no idea about truckers in australia. In the US and canada, the smart drivers look for the truckers when traveling the highway long distances, especially at night. Following a truck you can't go wrong, they are usually going at least 80MPH, and they warn each other of cops with radar. They generally know how fast is safe for their truck. In my 10 years on the road as a driver, I rarely had any trouble with truckers, unless I was forced into their blind spot. I have seen a total of three wrecked trucks, and hundreds of cars. I think it's pretty safe to say, at least here, truckers are better drivers than most of the other morons on the road. And they should be! Driving around with huge rigs and heavy loads, they better be good drivers

Highways would be a much safer place if people would obey the signs that say keep right unless passing. The left lane is for passing.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Looks like the driver in this video is going slower than everyone else to try to get better filming. Poeple are passing from both sides. None of it is even close to Chicago at 5:00PM.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Wow, idiots there sure like to use the shoulders as their own personal lane it seems....