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[bigboykarl]

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news--general-news/court-overturns-riders-crash-compensation/20647.html

hit on his side of the road and in the wrong...sometimes uk law is deplorable

[ozzycat]

  typical big bro attitude

[Tetleysmooth]

Well, I've been a lorry driver for 36 years now. I'm fully aware of the damage 44tonnes can do.
To say you shouldn't expect a high standard of driving is almost a criminal offence in itself.
The British public should expect nothing less from me when I'm at the wheel of my lorry.

[the alarming man]

'wrong to impose such a high level of driving standards on hgv driver'....what staying within the confines of the right side of the road??....ffs how bad are the standards in that country for hgv drivers if they cannot do that?

[Sir Tigger KC]

Hmmn so it's wrong to expect high standards of driving from a professional driver....    So what's next? It might be wrong to expect high standards from Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Social workers, Plumbers, Electricians, Gas Engineers, Drug Dealers etc etc 

When I was HGV driving a few years ago, I was told that in Poland you can take a test in an agricultural tractor & trailer, which licenses you to drive an arctic!!    Not sure if that's true though to be honest!!      But I remember seeing a Dutch driver going round the M25 with a newspaper spread over his steering wheel!!!    and several times seeing foriegn trucks going down the motorway with a laptop open on the dash playing a film!!!!   

[the alarming man]

thats nothing mate on the m 20 (direct route to rail and ferry) i see an artic driver (french) eating his breakfast... had his bowl of corn flakee in his hands and quite possibly steering with his knees....

[mantahatch]

Could I politely suggest some of you read the article fully and the comments. It would appear the rider was very close to the white line and travelling at a speed in which he could not stop or alter course in time for any obstacle. What if it had been a pedestrian or some rubbish in the road. It would appear from what we are told he would still have hit it.

All of this of course is based on what evidence is released to the public, and of course the riders own admission he was to far to the right of the road.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Quite right Manta!    The lorry driver could have swung out to avoid a cat or something, which I guess we've all done!   

But when our courts deem it unnecessary to expect high standards from professionals then I think that is worthy of comment! 

[Kevin Wood]

I'm sure there was blame that could be attributed to both parties in this incident but yes, the M20. If you see no problem with foreign lorry drivers take a trip up and down that road. 

Last time I was there (with a big trailer on the back of my car as it happened) a Latvian truck nearly flattened the Mini in front of me, quite deliberately.

Motorway was busy and the lorry was gaining on the one in front gradually. Indicated to move into the middle lane. Middle lane was not going any faster, meaning he had said mini to his offside, and it wasn't going anywhere. After a couple of flashes of the indicator he decided he'd just pull out leaving the Mini nowhere to go. Luckily I saw this unfold and anticipated the Mini's impending emergency stop.

Turn the tinkers back at the port and give the job to a local driver who know what he's doing (and, more importantly, isn't above the law when things go wrong).

[JesterRT]

I come across bikers almost daily around here riding with their wheels almost on the white line - which is fine until you think about where the top half of their bike, body and head are.  Rightly or wrongly, I kinda see everything from the kerb to the whiteline as 'my' space, so I can put my car where I like within those confines.  If I go over the line, it's my fault (including wing mirrors).  Providing I'm not driving excessively quickly, and I don't always , then that to me seems reasonable.  I choose the lines through corners for my comfort most the time, which means I'll be closer to the white line exiting when entering and exiting a corner.

[Turk]

I come across bikers almost daily around here riding with their wheels almost on the white line - which is fine until you think about where the top half of their bike, body and head are.  Rightly or wrongly, I kinda see everything from the kerb to the whiteline as 'my' space, so I can put my car where I like within those confines.  If I go over the line, it's my fault (including wing mirrors).  Providing I'm not driving excessively quickly, and I don't always , then that to me seems reasonable.  I choose the lines through corners for my comfort most the time, which means I'll be closer to the white line exiting when entering and exiting a corner.

Well, let's hope you don't meet an oncoming foreign lorry driver then !! 

[Rods2]

Riders (including the police), and car drivers are taught on advanced driving courses to use their side of the road to see as far as possible around a corner for maximum safety. This means towards the curb on right hand corners and towards the white line of left hand ones.

If you compare sentencing for similar offences between car and goods vehicles and motorcyclists, the motorcyclist sentences and fines are always much, much worse. This is because we are still viewed as rebel low lives, who place in society is seen as being much, much lower than of a pile of dogs poo by the establishment. 

It does also seem that the case was also badly handled by the rider and his solicitor.

[Varche]

I can't comment on the rights and wrongs of this case but I do observe European lorry driving standards on our local motorway which is a main link to the port at Gibraltar.

The number of times I have seen lorries drifting across the white line is legion. The roads are generally empty but you wouldn't want to be in a broken down vehicle on the hard shoulder. Also overtaking has to be judged more carefully. As often or not the drivers are on the phone or lighting up. maybe it is something to do with the vast distances they cover.

[Auto Addict]

Riders (including the police), and car drivers are taught on advanced driving courses to use their side of the road to see as far as possible around a corner for maximum safety. This means towards the curb on right hand corners and towards the white line of left hand ones.
If you compare sentencing for similar offences between car and goods vehicles and motorcyclists, the motorcyclist sentences and fines are always much, much worse. This is because we are still viewed as rebel low lives, who place in society is seen as being much, much lower than of a pile of dogs poo by the establishment. 

It does also seem that the case was also badly handled by the rider and his solicitor.

...and how many times on left hand corners do you come accross someone coming towards you with his wheels on or over the white line......

[Rods2]

Riders (including the police), and car drivers are taught on advanced driving courses to use their side of the road to see as far as possible around a corner for maximum safety. This means towards the curb on right hand corners and towards the white line of left hand ones.
If you compare sentencing for similar offences between car and goods vehicles and motorcyclists, the motorcyclist sentences and fines are always much, much worse. This is because we are still viewed as rebel low lives, who place in society is seen as being much, much lower than of a pile of dogs poo by the establishment. 

It does also seem that the case was also badly handled by the rider and his solicitor.

...and how many times on left hand corners do you come accross someone coming towards you with his wheels on or over the white line......

Often, which is why you are also taught to beware of this. But there is over the while line and over the white line. A few years ago, I was forced against the curb in my miggy, by a speeding petrol taker driver where he was so far on my side of the road.