Did something quite out of character today.

I live in a small village that has a 30 mph road running through it, its a popular route for oversized articulated trucks to come thundering through often way in excess of the speed limit.

There have been several deaths recently caused by vehicles going too fast.

Now I am normally a very level headed chap, with nothing to prove and with no anger issues. BUT this morning I was turning on to the road when a large truck doing at least…60 mph thundered through the 30 mph area.

I was heading the same way and when he had been stopped at a traffic light and had just entered a 60 mph area I overtook and wound the window down showing him 3 yes 3 fingers ( 30 mph) he came right up on to the back of my car in an attempt to intimidate me. I wasn’t flustered and slowed down.

I could see he was doing the banker sign and stupidly ! I did the same back – I really regret doing that, its just not my style.

The driver of the truck was fuming and looked like he was having an angry fit behind the wheel.

He caught me up as I entered a 30 mph zone and yet again I pointed to the sign and held up 3 fingers.

We then took a different route.

My problem now is that I really hate any anger and feel that my actions antagonised the situation and whilst I am glad to have made an idiot realise that he was going too fast – did it actually need to come from me.

Furthermore and this is my real worry, its my other halfs car – she is 15 weeks pregnant and I am nervous that she will cop for flack from this ‘angry man’ at some point in the future as the company is local.

I reported it to the police but what would anyone else do ? I am very worried about this.

Change your registration plates? Can’t offer any more than that.

Have you seen the film duel ?

Sell the car quick!!

Let Mrs Brack use your car for a while?

If he gets angry at your behaviour prior to your returning of the ‘grinding your own beans’ gesture then I am sure you are only one of many other drivers who have annoyed him. As such maybe he can’t remember all those cars and won’t remember your wife’s?

unless it’s a bright pink ferrari or something I wouldn’t worry – guy prob gets wound up about ten times a day and he’s already forgotten you

Nahhh … not to worry … try it few more times and you should be fine.

You are overreacting to a normal situation really.

Next time just wait for him near your village with a Benelli M4 or bobby-trap the area.

Or if you want to be civilised why not deploy those fake cut out of police man holding a speed gun? Coz the will scare the shite out of them drivers. But do make sure you have real police there sometimes … I can image the look on their face.

You were restrained. I’d have gotten out and asked him to explain his big attitude without the multi ton vehicle.

if the company is local then report the incident to them.

Jesus wept, what a non issue.
Don’t worry about it.

More usefully, ask the police to do some speed checks in the area. Our local police do this every so often, whenever they’ve been asked.

When they started they used to get loads, but now they seem to get only a few.

Report him to his company. When you are talking to them mention that you’ve also reported it to the police and mention your concerns about comeback from him. If its a UK haulier they will take action.

Most HGV’s are limited to 56mph by law, so you may want to check your speeds, but this is depends to your perception of what constitutes a ‘large truck’.

If there have been deaths on the road due to speed, why aren’t the council doing anything to reduce speeds there? Have you raised concerns with them?

Have you approached the operator of the trucks to see if you can ask them to reduce speeds? Not many businesses want to cause problems on their door step.

On the flip side as an operator of an HGV fleet I have had nothing but grief about our vehicles travelling through a particular area. I’ve had complaints about 7 tonne vehicles going through 7.5 tonne vehicle restrictions because the public aren’t always as clued up as they like to think and I’ve also had many, many speeding complaints – all proven to be rubbish via GPS and digital tachograph records.

Jesus wept, what a non issue.
Don’t worry about it.

Agreed , Is the O.P Ned Flanders. ?

I reported bad driving to my local police they rang back to say there was nothing they could do to prosecute on my word but they were going to go round anyway to let the guy know they were keeping an eye on him in future.

I tried to express my anger at another bloke who shot out from a side road to cut in on me . I had no issue with him getting in ahead per se but in doing so he nearly totalled the cyclist in the bus lane undertaking me. He never realised why I had hut the horn and gestured then drove like a Dick infront of me to the point where he did a sudden stop to let a car right turn across our lane again the same cyclist was nearly hit. Moral of the story is don’t interact with idiots unless you need to .

Jesus wept, what a non issue.

A professional driver incharge of a very large vehicle sucumming to rage?

Non issue, random self oppointed police man interfering with local truck driver going about is normal day of work. The Op states he wound his window down first and started the gestures!!

What does 3 fingers mean in the Highway Code and how would the trucker know what you meant by showing 3 fingers out of a car window?

Not condoning speeding in the slightest, but how do you know he was going 60 when all trucks in UK are restricted to 56mph, yes it’s possible to get a fully loaded truck up to 60 but you need a very long downhill on a motorway.

Very much doubt any truck would be on the limiter going through a 30.

Non issue made into a confrontation by Op. it’s not your job to police the roads, better leaving it up to those who get paid and know what their doing.

Haha Ned Flanders 😆

The lorry driver should just be thankful that hora didn’t get out!

Non issue, random self oppointed police man interfering with local truck driver going about is normal day of work.

It’s not a non-issue. I suspect that you would be the first to be screaming like a little bee-atch if it happened to you.

Not condoning speeding in the slightest, but how do you know he was going 60 when all trucks in UK are restricted to 56mph, yes it’s possible to get a fully loaded truck up to 60 but you need a very long downhill on a motorway.

Just because they’re supposed to be restricted to 56 doesn’t mean that they are. Spend a few days travelling up and down the M6 or M1 and soon becomes apparent that many 40 tonners are travelling way in excess of 56mph. Governors/restrictors can be disabled and over ridden, it’s not rocket science. Add into that the number of Polish/Romanian/Turkish/Slovakian trucks on the road who know that they can flout the law and then try telling us its a non-issue.

Very much doubt any truck would be on the limiter going through a 30

.

Again, that’s your opinion. Just because you’ve never seen it or experienced it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen.

More usefully, ask the police to do some speed checks in the area.

Sounds like the best thing to do in this instance.

And yes – unless your car is a pink Bentley, I really wouldn’t worry. How often do you try to memorise number plates when angry, and how often can you remember them 30 mins later?

Failing that, rent Hora by the hour to be your copilot. 🙂

What a brilliant idea! It had never occurred to me to drive about in my wife’s car upsetting people safe in the knowledge that the following day I would be completely unrecognisable to them.

Thanks!

Failing that, rent Hora by the hour to be your copilot.

You know it doesn’t have to resort in a ‘punch up’ but its a very quick way to refocus a coach/truck etc drivers thinking. Bus drivers don’t like it either if you stop and ask them what they are doing. No I’m not talking about ‘come on then lets ave it’ stuff. Talk to them like a Primary school teacher would to a 6yr old.

They’ll ‘oh this ones trouble’.

Its all it takes. If someone did that to me I’d shit myself that my employer would find out later on. If it was an indie haulier though – POLICE. They aren’t constrained by worrying about an employer.

They also give the vast majority of professional truck/hauliers a bad name who pride themselves on road safety etc so if one is agitated/angry etc- hes flipping going one way, an accident.

Anecdotal support for Hora (God forgive me….).

I was in the tyre place on Friday. Pretty busy, all parking slots full except the disabled. Man from the Audi garage came in, Audi dealer jacket and car all stickered up with dealer name etc. He parked in the disabled space….

I couldn’t help myself when he joined the queue behind me. ‘Feeling poorly?’ Says I….

There followed an exchange about old injuries, blue stickers and representing the local dealer when all stickered up. All very civilised and no Anglo Saxon was exchanged.

He obviously thought better of it and moved when another space became free.

1-0 to Victor Meldrew 🙂

BTW not anti Audi as I was in there getting mine sorted.

😆 miserable git 😆

whilst I am glad to have made an idiot realise that he was going too fast

You think? What you did was make an idiot in a very big vehicle drive even worse for the next 20 mins till he calmed down again. Fortunately nothing seems to have happened in that time to test his ability to stop, concentrate on the road etc.

Speeding is not clever – but neither is winding up other motorists…

What kind of information does a tacho hold? Presumably not location still, but if he was driving he should be on tacho, and the company should have a log of his route. If that’s the case couldn’t the fuzz take a look at his tacho and see that he was (presumably) speeding if he got from a to b far quicker than he should have if he’d been obeying the speed limits? Might be enough to get him told off.

I took a trip to Morrisons on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago with my eldest, when we got there the car park was busy and all the parent/toddler bays were full. One of them was occupied by a flat bed truck with two builders sat in the cab eating pasties. We parked up elsewhere and walked past them on the way to the store so we stopped in front of them, I pointed to the parent/toddler sign and asked which was the toddler. Fortunately they took it well and drove off.

Its funny- the sign is the symbol of a pram yet you’ll often see 7yrs+ jumping out of the back of a large lifestyle 4×4 at the Trafford centre in those spots!…

So I always park…