Truckdrivers running red lights

[Clockmeister]

Nearly every morning on my way to work I see truckdrivers running red lights
on Roe highway. Just the other day a truck driver sped through a red light
that had been red for at least a second.

No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning lights
well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
impending light change.

Wonder what nonsensical excuses they will spew forth next time there is a
fatality.

[a9x5l]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 06:43:52 +0800, Clockmeister wrote:

> Nearly every morning on my way to work I see truckdrivers running red lights
> on Roe highway. Just the other day a truck driver sped through a red light
> that had been red for at least a second.
>
> No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning lights
> well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
> impending light change.
>
> Wonder what nonsensical excuses they will spew forth next time there is a
> fatality.

Just before Christmas I had a near death experience with a truck
going through a red light. It was early on a Sunday morning, not much
traffic about and I had stopped at an intersection behind a Ducatti
motor bike. The light went green but the bike didn't move and for a second
I thought, what's he up to? then I looked to the right and saw a b-double
coming towards the intersection at probably 100kmh+ (80 zone), it went
through without slowing, at least 3-5 seconds after the lights had
changed, I couldn't help but thinking that if that bike wasn't stopped in
front of me and it's rider so alert, my family and I would probably have
been wiped out. I really wanted to stop the rider and say thanks but I
couldn't catch him!

--
a9x5l

[Justin Thyme]

"Clockmeister" <no-one@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:42828a55$1@duster.adelaide.on.net...
> Nearly every morning on my way to work I see truckdrivers running red
> lights
> on Roe highway. Just the other day a truck driver sped through a red light
> that had been red for at least a second.
>
> No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning
> lights
> well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
> impending light change.
>
> Wonder what nonsensical excuses they will spew forth next time there is a
> fatality.
Duh, don't you know that they have to run red lights, because the car
drivers that pull in front of them make them do it.
Or... It's too much effort to make the truck slow all the way down, and then
have to accelerate back up again, it uses too much fuel and is bad for the
environment, so they are being environmentally friendly by charging through
the red lights.
On James St in Toowoomba, trucks are frequent red light runners. I've
observed they most frequently run the lights when going uphill, so they
can't use the excuse they couldn't stop for it - it's just pure laziness on
their part that they don't want to have to do a hill-start. At the distance
from the lights they are when it goes amber, due to the uphill they'd just
about stop in time even if they just coasted. I've even seen them change
lanes to get past another truck that is stopping. The local rag ran a piece
on them about 12 months ago, even published photos of trucks going through
red lights. Doesn't seem to have stopped the practice, and I haven't seen
any police around the intersections enforcing it.
>
>

[Michael C]

"a9x5l" <a9x5l@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.05.11.23.17.51.11572@hotmail.com...
> Just before Christmas I had a near death experience with a truck
> going through a red light. It was early on a Sunday morning, not much
> traffic about and I had stopped at an intersection behind a Ducatti
> motor bike. The light went green but the bike didn't move and for a second
> I thought, what's he up to? then I looked to the right and saw a b-double
> coming towards the intersection at probably 100kmh+ (80 zone), it went
> through without slowing, at least 3-5 seconds after the lights had
> changed, I couldn't help but thinking that if that bike wasn't stopped in
> front of me and it's rider so alert, my family and I would probably have
> been wiped out. I really wanted to stop the rider and say thanks but I
> couldn't catch him!

Good thing you didn't honk him.

Michael

[Michael C]

"Clockmeister" <no-one@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:42828a55$1@duster.adelaide.on.net...
> No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning
> lights
> well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
> impending light change.

I wonder if those orange lights have the effect of making drivers speed up
to get through the lights.

Michael

[atec]

Michael C wrote:
> "Clockmeister" <no-one@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:42828a55$1@duster.adelaide.on.net...
>
>>No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning
>>lights
>>well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
>>impending light change.
>
>
> I wonder if those orange lights have the effect of making drivers speed up
> to get through the lights.
>
> Michael
>
>
It does in Qld.

[veritas]

Justin Thyme wrote:

> On James St in Toowoomba, trucks are frequent red light runners. I've
> observed they most frequently run the lights when going uphill, so they
> can't use the excuse they couldn't stop for it - it's just pure laziness on
> their part that they don't want to have to do a hill-start. At the distance
> from the lights they are when it goes amber, due to the uphill they'd just
> about stop in time even if they just coasted. I've even seen them change
> lanes to get past another truck that is stopping. The local rag ran a piece
> on them about 12 months ago, even published photos of trucks going through
> red lights. Doesn't seem to have stopped the practice, and I haven't seen
> any police around the intersections enforcing it.

Of course you won't - But you will find a significant number of useless brain-dead arseholes hanging about non-existent
'black-spots' to catch speeding motorists or hiding behind a pole with a radar-gun, booking drivers on a stretch of road
that will have the speed limit *increased* the very next week.

All of the above is absolutely true - I jest not!

I have to say (re: the truck/red light bit) I may well have been deaded by a B Double just the other day. My traffic
lights had turned green and I always check to the right for such traffic before proceeding. Yep - you guessed it. Not
one, but two B Double cattle trucks were bearing down at high speed (speed limit 70 ~ truck estimated 85) - still about
50 metres from the intersection. It was clear that they couldn't have stopped even if they had a mind to. My light
turned green three seconds *after* the truck's turned red and it hadn't yet reached the intersection. That would have
had the truck's (opposing red) light illuminate some 120 metres up the road. And the amber? - don't know - but a bloody
long way off anyway!!!

I too become irate when I see police tending to piss-ant anal-like infractions (like, did a driver cause his vehicle's
wheels *actually* to come to a full stop at a stop sign) while avoiding many of the real safety issues.

OH - and Shane. The preceding stories related to another jurisdiction to your's entirely - so don't get all paranoid
again - please! It is not a personal attack on you good-self. Well, this sentence may have been a small prod! ;-)

Cheers.

[Toby Ponsenby]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 01:47:57 GMT, veritas wrote:

> Justin Thyme wrote:
>
>> On James St in Toowoomba, trucks are frequent red light runners. I've
>> observed they most frequently run the lights when going uphill, so they
>> can't use the excuse they couldn't stop for it - it's just pure laziness on
>> their part that they don't want to have to do a hill-start. At the distance
>> from the lights they are when it goes amber, due to the uphill they'd just
>> about stop in time even if they just coasted. I've even seen them change
>> lanes to get past another truck that is stopping. The local rag ran a piece
>> on them about 12 months ago, even published photos of trucks going through
>> red lights. Doesn't seem to have stopped the practice, and I haven't seen
>> any police around the intersections enforcing it.
>
> Of course you won't - But you will find a significant number of useless brain-dead arseholes hanging about non-existent
> 'black-spots' to catch speeding motorists or hiding behind a pole with a radar-gun, booking drivers on a stretch of road
> that will have the speed limit *increased* the very next week.
>
> All of the above is absolutely true - I jest not!
>
> I have to say (re: the truck/red light bit) I may well have been deaded by a B Double just the other day. My traffic
> lights had turned green and I always check to the right for such traffic before proceeding. Yep - you guessed it. Not
> one, but two B Double cattle trucks were bearing down at high speed (speed limit 70 ~ truck estimated 85) - still about
> 50 metres from the intersection. It was clear that they couldn't have stopped even if they had a mind to. My light
> turned green three seconds *after* the truck's turned red and it hadn't yet reached the intersection. That would have
> had the truck's (opposing red) light illuminate some 120 metres up the road. And the amber? - don't know - but a bloody
> long way off anyway!!!
>
> I too become irate when I see police tending to piss-ant anal-like infractions (like, did a driver cause his vehicle's
> wheels *actually* to come to a full stop at a stop sign) while avoiding many of the real safety issues.
>
> OH - and Shane. The preceding stories related to another jurisdiction to your's entirely - so don't get all paranoid
> again - please! It is not a personal attack on you good-self. Well, this sentence may have been a small prod! ;-)
>
> Cheers.

One of the local idiots sits on his bike off a stop sign in the burbs.
Whenever he's there, I make a point of also stopping right beside him,
and asking him if he needs assistance.
He always declines my gracious offer.
I drive off.
Game has been going on for YEARS.

I gain the distinct impression some anal retentive living near the
intersection complains about something or other every few months,
which prompts the police attention.
I figure eventually, they'll come out from behind the lace curtains to
get a better look, at which point I'll get to know prezactly the
correct point to drop the 0233Hrs wheelie.
I live in hope:-)

--
Toby.
quidquid latine dictum
sit, altum viditur

[ant]

Justin Thyme wrote:
> Doesn't seem to have stopped the practice, and I haven't seen any
> police around the intersections enforcing it.

No money in it.

[Bob Saccamano]

You only have to look at the high number of accidents involving trucks to
realise there is a major problem with truckies.

Only this morning, travelling southbound on the F3, I get overtaken by a b
double on the Hawkesbury Bridge doing no less than 125km/h with his load of
gravel spilling onto the roadway.

I have yet to see in my entire liftime, a truckie answering to Mr HWP. They
turn a blind eye to their dangerous driving.

[D Walford]

Clockmeister wrote:
>
> Nearly every morning on my way to work I see truckdrivers running red lights
> on Roe highway. Just the other day a truck driver sped through a red light
> that had been red for at least a second.
>
> No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning lights
> well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
> impending light change.
>
> Wonder what nonsensical excuses they will spew forth next time there is a
> fatality.

I often see cars and trucks running the red light on the corner of the
Western Hwy and Station Rd Deer Park in Melb's west when I'm stopped at
a red arrow in the rh turn lane. There has been at least one fatality at
that intersection caused by a truck going through the red light and
AFAIK the driver ended up in jail but that didn't change the behaviour.
The thing that amazes me is that for every truck that goes through the
red at least 3 cars follow him.



Daryl

[D Walford]

Bob Saccamano wrote:
>
> You only have to look at the high number of accidents involving trucks to
> realise there is a major problem with truckies.

Thats getting close to the biggest load of crap I've read on this ng in
a very long time.
On a per klm travelled basis trucks are by far the safest vehicles on
the road.
>
> Only this morning, travelling southbound on the F3, I get overtaken by a b
> double on the Hawkesbury Bridge doing no less than 125km/h with his load of
> gravel spilling onto the roadway.
>
> I have yet to see in my entire liftime, a truckie answering to Mr HWP. They
> turn a blind eye to their dangerous driving.

You must live in a odd place, I saw 3 trucks pulled over yesterday by
the police and 1 today.



Daryl

[Craig Hart]

"atec" <atec77@XXhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4282992f$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> Michael C wrote:
> > "Clockmeister" <no-one@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> > news:42828a55$1@duster.adelaide.on.net...
> >
> >>No excuse either since all those lights have flashing orange warning
> >>lights
> >>well before the traffic lights notifying truck drivers that there is an
> >>impending light change.
> >
> >
> > I wonder if those orange lights have the effect of making drivers speed
up
> > to get through the lights.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> >
> It does in Qld.

Melbourne, too..

[Michael C]

"Craig Hart" <no@spam.thanks> wrote in message
news:8uDge.454$E7.365@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>> It does in Qld.
>
> Melbourne, too..

I'm not sure state would be relevant. :-)

Michael

[Bob Saccamano]

"D Walford" <walford@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:42830079.9C76D929@iprimus.com.au...
> Thats getting close to the biggest load of crap I've read on this ng in
> a very long time.
> On a per klm travelled basis trucks are by far the safest vehicles on
> the road.

Given the ratio of truck:cars, they feature very highly. That's not to say
car drivers are saints, they are worse than truckies. However, with all the
bad press regarding the trucking business, things are not looking very good.
You only have to observe the driving of many large trucks (not lorries) to
realise that a fairly large portion of them are accidents waiting to happen.
Lets not start on the drugs. That's another story.

> You must live in a odd place, I saw 3 trucks pulled over yesterday by
> the police and 1 today.
>

On the roads that I frequent, I have never seen it. I do many many km's.
Been overtaken countless times by trucks doing in excess of 120km/h, only to
pass a HWP speed trap and Mr HWP not doing a thing about it.

[D Walford]

Bob Saccamano wrote:
>
> "D Walford" <walford@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
> news:42830079.9C76D929@iprimus.com.au...
> > Thats getting close to the biggest load of crap I've read on this ng in
> > a very long time.
> > On a per klm travelled basis trucks are by far the safest vehicles on
> > the road.
>
> Given the ratio of truck:cars, they feature very highly. That's not to say
> car drivers are saints, they are worse than truckies. However, with all the
> bad press regarding the trucking business, things are not looking very good.
> You only have to observe the driving of many large trucks (not lorries) to
> realise that a fairly large portion of them are accidents waiting to happen.

More crap, I observe large trucks very often, mostly from the drivers
seat of the semi I'm driving and I feel a lot safer driving on any road
surrounded by trucks, the actions of trucks drivers are usually very
predictable unlike the insane antics of most car drivers.

> Lets not start on the drugs. That's another story.

It is but its not something I know any thing about since I've never
done interstate, many of the interstate drivers I've spoken to on the
subject think that stay awake drugs make things safer because they know
that a lot of drivers will do long hours drugs or not and at least if
they take drugs they won't fall asleep.
IMO interstate truck drivers working conditions are disgusting but if
everyone complied 100% with the laws about drugs and driving hours
expect the cost of almost everything you buy to increase significantly
so I don't expect things to change in the near future.

>
> > You must live in a odd place, I saw 3 trucks pulled over yesterday by
> > the police and 1 today.
> >
>
> On the roads that I frequent, I have never seen it. I do many many km's.
> Been overtaken countless times by trucks doing in excess of 120km/h, only to
> pass a HWP speed trap and Mr HWP not doing a thing about it.

My truck is speed limited to 103kph (speedo checked with GPS and is
accurate) and its odd how its extremely rare for me to be overtaken by
other trucks yet I often hear comments about speeding trucks, suspect
that in most cases cars speedos are out by a long way making drivers
think trucks are speeding when they aren't.
I'm not suggesting that no trucks ever speed or none have fiddled
limiters but IMO they are not common.


Daryl

[kevcat]

I've not seen to many trucks running red lights, I have gone through
lights and have them turn red just after I cross the line but I don't
cross the line after they are red.

what I do see a lot of at night is car drivers who think because it's
dark and there is not much traffic about then it's ok to go through red
lights, the usual one is the red turn arrow, they even pull out from
behind me in the turn lane to come up and go around me to run the red
light


> More crap, I observe large trucks very often, mostly from the drivers
> seat of the semi I'm driving and I feel a lot safer driving on any road
> surrounded by trucks, the actions of trucks drivers are usually very
> predictable unlike the insane antics of most car drivers.


Most car drivers are predictable as well, you can predict they are going
to do something stupid then abuse the truck driver for not killing them



> > Lets not start on the drugs. That's another story.
>
> It is but its not something I know any thing about since I've never
> done interstate, many of the interstate drivers I've spoken to on the
> subject think that stay awake drugs make things safer because they know
> that a lot of drivers will do long hours drugs or not and at least if
> they take drugs they won't fall asleep.
> IMO interstate truck drivers working conditions are disgusting but if
> everyone complied 100% with the laws about drugs and driving hours
> expect the cost of almost everything you buy to increase significantly
> so I don't expect things to change in the near future.

I don't believe the hype about it being safer to take drugs, my problem
is with the drivers who havn't got the guts to say "stuff it" and take a
rest, they keep doing the hours they are told to do, and then sit about
complaining to anyone who will listen how bad they have it, so nothing
will ever change until these idiots get out of the industry.

there are plenty of employee drivers doing it as well as the owner
operator(I'm my own boss, yet they still bend over and take it from the
freight forwarders)




> >
> > > You must live in a odd place, I saw 3 trucks pulled over yesterday by
> > > the police and 1 today.
> > >
> >
> > On the roads that I frequent, I have never seen it. I do many many km's.
> > Been overtaken countless times by trucks doing in excess of 120km/h, only to
> > pass a HWP speed trap and Mr HWP not doing a thing about it.

probably because they know the cops are there and slow down at that
point, UHF CB has saved many drivers many hundreds in fines



> My truck is speed limited to 103kph (speedo checked with GPS and is
> accurate) and its odd how its extremely rare for me to be overtaken by
> other trucks yet I often hear comments about speeding trucks,

I have plenty of trucks pass me on the Bruce Highway and Pacific
Highway, and they are doing in excess of 115kph
and if you say something about it on the UHF all you get is a mouthfull
from the driver and any other driver within ear shot, a lot of truck
drivers really are dumb fucks

I was passed by a Western Star near Anzac Av on the Bruce Hwy one night
while in my old ZH Fairlane, this truck blew my car onto the shoulder as
it went past at well over 160kph, that bit of road has a bit of a curve
there and this truck was leaning over as it went round that curve


> suspect
> that in most cases cars speedos are out by a long way making drivers
> think trucks are speeding when they aren't.
> I'm not suggesting that no trucks ever speed or none have fiddled
> limiters but IMO they are not common.

This is common and was shown in a Courier Mail story about speeding
trucks, they ahd one of their cars driving along at an indicated 100kph
and said they were passed time and time again by trucks who were
obviously speeding because they passed this Falcon wagon, of course
there was no mention if the Courier Mail's car had the speedo calibrated

my truck will do 104kph on the speed limiter(legal Max is 105kph), as
most car speedos read a couple of klms fast they are probably only doing
97-98kph, thats a difference of 6-7kph so of course the trucks will go
past and appear to be speeding

Kev