If I did as you suggest and did nothing I'd end up being woven into the mass of twisted metal that once was my luxobarge. If a truck is about to drive into me I get out of the way! I'm already going faster than the truck so it is easier (and thus safer) to push my foot into my luxurious carpet and sail off into the distance, leaving the smoking wreckage of the poor souls who didn't get out of the way in my wake.
As a 7 series owner, you ought to appreciate this!
Those 2 seconds are 2 seconds for the lorry to swipe you off the road.
In my experience, you have barely any time at all between a truck indicating they are about to try and kill you and them actually trying to kill you. I've been skilled/lucky/whatever enough to avoid this so far but one of my friends ended up hospitalised after being punted off the road by a trucker that changed lanes at the same time as flicking the indicator on.
Ok, put it this way,Speed up or back off - most cars,even I'd imagine your V8, will brake much faster than they will accelerate. Its certainly the perception I get from my seat when I have indicated with vehicles along side me. Am I wrong there? will your S430 brake faster than it'll accelerate? I know my 528i does!
That difference in braking time as opposed to accelerating time could make all the difference to the trucker. - regardless of the rights or wrongs of how he's found himself in that situation, it could be his fault, possibly not. I would agree though that properly driven, this situation should not arise, alas, in the real world, it does - all the time....
Generally, especially on a motorway, I would wait for a gap - as in before I even indicate - on a busy dual carriageway for example, often not.
I have to indicate, its because its indicating my intentions I'm not saying its my green light to pull out on you because thats clearly wrong. I do agree many truckers don't do this - and this is where I think we are suffering from a lack of motorway policing - but don't start me on that one.
Unfortunately, I am experienced enough around trucks & truckers to know that a worrying percentage of them - especially foreign ones - will do exactly the opposite,a briefest of flick on the signal & out they come. Its bloody dangerous, bad driving and completely unprofessional.
But, rightly or wrongly, car drivers still need to take this into consideration where many don't it seems to me.
I pride myself in being a professional driver, believe me, I'd have been long kicked off Eddie Stobart Ltd ( ESL ) were I anything but & quite rightly imo, they have extremely high standards and expect us to maintain & display them, we are literally the company representatives out on the roads!
That said though,I could be in a situation where I have no option but to change lane suddenly, for whatever reason (I am speaking purely from a safety point of view not convenience I hasten to add) a 44ton HGV will not stop from relatively low speeds no matter how good the disc brakes/ ABS/ ASR or indeed the steering wheel attendant is and I just wish other drivers were more aware of it and acted accordingly.
Unfortunately, the bad minority - and I strongly believe minority to be the case - of HGV drivers don't drive with such a professional attitude which rightly annoys joe public and this "Me or him" attitude that I percieve often on the road becomes established.
Generally I have to agree that Stobart drivers are amongst the best out there.
Again, as an ESL driver, I acknowledge this and your sentiment is appreciated - speaking collectively I hasten to add!
One thing I don't understand about your comments, R420LA6X2/4MNA, is this:
Setting aside the fact that the roads that day were reduced visibility so EVERYONE should have been driving at lower speeds with larger gaps, and less lane changes (one of the most dangerous manouvers on the road) and more than the usual high level of concentration in case of sudden thick spots as may be the case for the M5.
I don't understand how it is dangerous to not let a truck out - yes it might be rude and unsporstmanlike but I see so many lorries sat on the tailgate of someone who has decided to do under 56mph that I have to think the dangerous part is the lorry not leaving enough braking distance. Say a car suddenly wants to leave the nearside lane because it's got itself to close to someone, the car driver would be blamed, how is it different for a lorry?
Putting back in the weather conditions so back into context, if a lorry driver has to suddenly change lanes, he or she is still presumably driving too fast and/or too close for the conditions. Again, no doubt most of the car drivers are driving *far* too fast for the conditions as well. You *have* to expect the unexpected in poor conditions even more than good.
What I'm saying is swerving into another lane shouldn't be the get out clause.
I quite agree, leaving too close a gap is asking for trouble, especially in poor conditions. Its easy to imagine how most of the drivers were bunched up on the M5 that night, we all see it all the time.
Swerving into another lane is not a get out clause, with an HGV it can in some situations be your only option.
To my thinking, its potentially dangerous to not let an HGV out as you don't know if he's about to flatten some obstacle in his path which could be a stranded car, with no lights for example - I have had that very experience,this was thankfully on a relatively quiet motorway which was unlit, at night.....
The situation I describe is the exception, not the norm, the norm is the trucker just being a dangerous ******, I quite agree and again, don't condone it.
I admit I am struggling to put into words what my mind is thinking here, its been a long week....
I hope you guys get the gist of where I'm coming from.
I'm not saying I'm a saint, none of us are, we all make mistakes, some, pay with their lives.
)
) and talking on his mobile - he was twice the legal limit on the evidential breathtest. Scary stuff. Respect to the Stobart drivers though 
Lots of people died in a truly horrific way because of this accident which may have been caused by a thick bank of smoke from the fireworks display. If this guy didn't do his job properly causing the smoke to drift across the motorway they yeah he probably is guilty of manslaughter. Whatever, lets see what the actual evidence is in court.