brake Checked!

  • Thread starter Thread starter dsb
  • Start date Start date
I'd suggest they'll side with the car who braked - the fact the lorry driver veered toward the centre of the road as the second car turned off indicates he was driving far too close and fast, and them combined with the flash has probably startled the driver of the car who braked, even if the ultimate aim was a brake check.

The lorry driver should have backed off a lot earlier, plus the conditions were terrible as well.

I've also found as well that dashcam videos distort the perspective due to the wide angle of the lens, so the reality is that the lorry driver was probably a lot closer to the car in front than is apparent on the video.
 
Best case you get a 50:50 claim.

It was clearly a brake check, but you will be able to argue partial liability at most I suspect.
 
muon said:
Is it just me but did the lorry drive also react very late?
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Exactly my point, almost like he saw the brake lights and thought "I'll show you and get really close" and didn't realise the car had slowed down so much.
I see it most mornings on the M60, I have my cruise on at 60mph, in the lane I need for my turn off, truck will want to join the motorway and expect me to move out of their way instead of just joining behind me, then when they join they flash like a mad man.

But like all things it's not necessarily a bad truck driver just a bad driver, but they really should know better.
 
None of them appear to be good drivers. The car accelerated then slammed on brakes, unless it was for a mechanical failure surely they have to be held responsible to some degree? Even if the lorry had been twice the distance it would have still hit from what I can see.
 
robj20 said:
Exactly my point, almost like he saw the brake lights and thought "I'll show you and get really close" and didn't realise the car had slowed down so much.
I see it most mornings on the M60, I have my cruise on at 60mph, in the lane I need for my turn off, truck will want to join the motorway and expect me to move out of their way instead of just joining behind me, then when they join they flash like a mad man.

But like all things it's not necessarily a bad truck driver just a bad driver, but they really should know better.
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In this situation I’d accelerate to 70 if possible. Sure, it’s a minor inconvenience but it’s reducing the chance of an accident.
 
Wet roads, raining, night time, and 44 tonne truck should result in the driver giving other traffic plenty of space. They got a bit of a fright when the car ahead made a left. They got angry, flashed the lights pushed on. No idea why the car hit the breaks, maybe they were genuinely disorientated by the lights (is it possible your driver was also using the horn ???). Either way, they should have put themselves in a better position to react to other drivers doing stupid things.

Hopefully nobody was injured.
 
sigma said:
None of them appear to be good drivers. The car accelerated then slammed on brakes, unless it was for a mechanical failure surely they have to be held responsible to some degree? Even if the lorry had been twice the distance it would have still hit from what I can see.
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Something ran into the road in the dark, driver slammed on brakes, not their fault the lorry behind them wanted to cosy up to them.

This may or may not have happened but the point is it very well could have and a lorry driver should drive expecting it.
 
tom_e said:
Something ran into the road in the dark, driver slammed on brakes, not their fault the lorry behind them wanted to cosy up to them.

This may or may not have happened but the point is it very well could have and a lorry driver should drive expecting it.
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Sure, but that's not what happened: you can't just drive around trying to cause an accident whenever someone flashes their lights at you or drives too close. I personally am surprised that with a video like that, the car driver isn't held at least partly responsible. In terms of what's more dangerous, slamming your brakes on in front of a 44 ton truck for no reason is clearly more dangerous than driving too close behind somebody. If I went out every day and constantly brake checked people like that, I'd have multiple accidents per day. If I went out every day and drove too close behind people, I probably wouldn't have an accident for quite a while: millions of people drive like that and they don't spend their entire lives crashing. That's not to say it isn't bad driving, obviously.
 
What reaction where you hoping to get from that video??

The car at the front of the train is clearly slowing looking for a turning. Not ideal, but its a dark unlit road in the rain, the camera shows clearly how dazzling the oncoming lights are. At 2:05 your driver closes in and starts giving it the bully boy headlight flashing, using his size to intimidate the cars in front of him. As the car at the front finds their turn they signal in good time, and slow to make the turn. Given the turning box and double white lines, the car in following chooses not to overtake and instead slows down for the turning car. Your guy is late on the brakes as he is to close, gets aggresive on the lights again and then when the car (obviously wrongly) brake checks your guy doesn't even react until its to late.

This entire situation was avoidable if your driver had acted as the professional he is meant to be. He was to close, to aggressive and and its cost you. Either get some better drivers or get some better training. Regardless of car drivers actions, if this was my company, I would be looking at a final written warning, if not a P45. Its exactly the kind of behaviour that gives the rest of us a bad name.
 
Glad some others echo my opinion that the driver should get a formal warning/disciplinary.
 
I can understand the frustrations of the driver, the car in front was not driving well, and brake checking full stop is a stupid move to make. However as a professional driver of a lorry, they should have known better, kept their distance and not let the frustration get the better of them. Ultimately is was your driver at fault.
 
It's bad driving from the HGV driver to begin with, the car turning left indicated in good time and was braking a fair bit so it was to be expected the car behind would do the same. There was absolutely no need to flash them.

Most likely HGV driver wasn't giving their full attention, thought the car in front braked unnecessarily, got knarky, flashed them unduly, car driver felt miffed at doing nothing wrong, decided to escalate things by braking hard, HGV driver didn't really attempt to react.

All in all a complete balls up by both, and insurance premiums go up for us all.
 
Something I've yet to hear is what the driver thinks of it. "Sorry boss but I really ****** up." would go a long way in my book.
 
Typical, lorry driver impatient as per usual.

Guy in front takes offence and decides teach the lorry driver a lesson by slowing him even more, over eggs it and the lorry driver barely reacts.

Both at some fault but as the professional the lorry driver should have handled this situation better and no doubt has seen this type of thing before but just not hit the car infront!
 
geekman said:
Sure, but that's not what happened
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Isn't it?
The video isn't evidence either way.

We're assuming the car brake checked them, we know the lorry was too close for the given speed and conditions as the outcome shows.
 
tom_e said:
Isn't it?
The video isn't evidence either way.

We're assuming the car brake checked them, we know the lorry was too close for the given speed and conditions as the outcome shows.
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What else could it have been? Seems pretty clear that there wasn't anything in the road for the car to brake for.
 
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