if you are were of those wanabbe farmers driving down the A19 this afternoon in lashing rain and fields and roads flooded everywhere just consider even that there are idiots in cars doing 70mph,you people doing 20mph with no sidelights and only a flashing beacon 15 foot in the air are an accident waiting to happen.
Ive seen the mangled wreckages of two tractors on the roads of north yorkshire now where cars have run into the backs of you,my theory is as i saw it today in poor conditions is that your tyres all 10 feet tall of them are like battleship grey ships on the high seas ie they blend in with the terra firma
for all and sundry please turn your little side light switches to on
im sure global warming wont be affected by 4 watts of power used
i thank you...........
signed
a concerned motorist who doesnt want to come upon an idiot car driver and another young farmer who knows bestist
|
|
Well belle bouy - the amount of motorcyclists that are 'taken out' by these agro-cultural vehicles is very sad indeed and you are making a very good point but - Farmers are a law unto themselves and beyond danger 10ft above ground level - and they know it!
|
|
It's these long, spikey, ground rakers that they tow along too - usually no lights on the back either - motorcyclist hits that and ends up going through the farmer's equivalent of a cheese grater
|
|
|
Why "wannabe" farmers? Surely these are actual farmers or agricultural labourers? But obviously agree they should be flashing those orange lights very prominently.
HJ
|
I used the word wannabe because the first thing you learn on a farm is health and safety on farm equipment,next you realise that self preservation is of the utmost sense and therefore only a young fool would think that he is indeed safe up there with only his flashing light on,this road is the backbone of the north east and is constantly closed by accidents.
Its so busy we have highways men constantly driving up and down it and the highest concentration of vosa vans ive seen anywhere in the country
this should tell these people something.
It even got a mention on top gear on sunday as a different country......
Im very pleased all all respondants agree with me by the way
preview.tinyurl.com/ycn4mbj
i hadnt even considered drink driving car drivers :-(
|
Completely the wrong word, then. You needed "inexperienced" or "foolhardy".
HJ
|
www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/11/.../
Lights wouldn't have made a difference for this one. Unless taking notice of the large red flashing ones.
|
Whilst I agree with bellboy about the lack of lights on tractors, it's also surely common sense on rural roads to expect and anticipate their presence.
|
|
I had a rant about this some months ago and was almost universally panned for daring to suggest that tractors shouldn't be on dual carriageways at all. Fortunately, I don't have to take ours on particularly busy roads but when I do it's lit up like a Christmas tree.
|
|
|
Hmmmm
Perhaps indeed the fast driving car drivers are as much at fault as the slow driving tractor men
Where do cyclists fit into this equation btw?
I do suppose one would cause less damage to ones car colliding with a cyclist though.
Whatever happened to driving at such a speed as to be able to stop?
Wannabe farmer ( really)
|
Hmmmm Perhaps indeed the fast driving car drivers are as much at fault as the slow driving tractor men
Agreed, its speed differential and lack of anticipation that is the problem. In other words, poor driving skills.
|
|
|
|
|
|
There was an accident quite recently on N.Wales A55 involving a tractor - and still they drive with (at best) their vehicle 'lights' almost totally obscured by mud & pathetic little semi-flashing orange light on top that can so easily get lost in the other ambient orangey coloured street/road lights.
The A55 is a major 2-lane trunk road carrying lots of foreign lorry drivers & half-asleep drivers from the Holyhead ferry - what a 'perfect storm' waiting to happen. The daft thing is that there's a perfectly good parallel road (the 'old' A5) they could use, with no inconvenience to themselves - it's got more turn-offs in fact, so less doubling back for most of them.
There'll be a major RTA soon enough & then we'll see/hear the usual numpty MPs/councillors & police spokespersons saying we'll do something about it now it's become apparent & obviously needs reviewing blah blah blah... well, too ruddy late then mateys.
Edited by woodbines on 01/12/2009 at 12:16
|
I'd suggest that the foreign lorry drivers are probably less at risk than anyone else, since they'll be well used to seeing unlit tractors on the roads of their own country.... been to Ireland or France recently?
|
|
|
Sniff
Here I go again
On my recent travels here in Ni this past weekend, I was driving in heavy fog, Mid Ulster area,
yet MANY, perhaps 25% of the cars I met or came up behing had only side lights illuminated
& a significent %age did NOT have any light on at ALL. Plus the usual assortment of "wan eyed monsters"
So were these vehicles ALL being driven by wannaebe farmers?
Conversely I now notice that I would say virtually ALL the tractors have good clean working lights, the trailers too. Probaly driven by points & UFU insurance issues
PS
wannabefarmers also dislike being involved in accidents
Edited by dieseldogg on 01/12/2009 at 12:37
|
Good point, dieseldogg. Unlit, or poorly lit, cars can cause just as much of an accident.
VOSA ar currently putting heavy pressure on HGV operators to conform 100% with the law, and that includes having no faulty lights. Whilst I don't have a particular problem with lorry drivers and operators doing things right, it does irk me considerably that other road users seem to get away with less surveillance and enforcement when they them,selves are likely to be the cause of an accident. A more even-handed approach is needed; I can't for example imagine a haulier offering the excuse of "I didn't get the bulb changed because I have to go to a main dealer" and getting away with it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
People should be more careful on the road - both drivers of such vehicles without adequate lights (although you do mention "a flashing beacon 15 foot in the air", so the vehicles you mention should be quite OK) - and drivers of other vehicles.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for people who bash into debris on the road, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, or any other thing on the road and then claim "I didn't see it", or "The road conditions were less than perfect", or "It wasn't my fault". It was their fault.
|
There are two differing principles used to try to avoid collisions between moving objects in poor visibility.
1) Low power lights are carried so as to make the object visible
or
2) High power lights are used to illuminate other objects and vehicles.
The first principle is used at sea, in the air, and on railways, the second is used on roads. Under the first principle, the onus is to show lights of sufficient visibility to avoid being run into.
Under the second, the onus is to proceed only at a speed within the range of illumination.
So logically, there is no need for any tractor, pedestrian, cow, horse, or car to show any lights at all, other than forward-pointing headlights for use if the driver wishes to proceed at more than walking pace.
But as usual, the requirements and arguments are muddled, so accidents occur in the grey areas.
|
I live in agricultural areas.
Rule 1: never drive fast round blind corners.
Rule 2: there is always a tractor/combine/digger on the road.
Rule 3: Rule 2 means mud and shorter stopping distances.
Rule 4: farms = animals. Animals stray onto roads. Animals get scared and do silly things.
Most people ignore Rule 1 in farm areas and are pig ignorant (!!) or stupid about 2,3 and 4.
Modern driving is self preservation..
Edited by madf on 01/12/2009 at 13:44
|
>>>Rule 1:
>>>Rule 2:
>>>Rule 3:
>>>Rule 4:
I think you're probably right fella ... probably.
I've lived in Cornwall for 13 years now and Farmer Giles has to get from A 2 B or field to field in his very slow vehicle.
I have known a few Farmers and they have mostly set an excellent example, but these days a lot of Agro-cultural work is carried out by contractors and I have seen many of their BIG trailers with rear lights completely covered by mud + no number plate at all + turning right without indicating.
I believe it sez somewhere in the Highway code about driving to what the road conditions dictate - nuf sed!
|
|
|
|
|
There is a VOSA checkpoint near me, they use motorcycle police to direct the trucks in for checks, I don't see why they can't check cars as well while they are on site, I have never seen a car being checked there.
|
I don't see why they can't check cars as well while they are on site I have never seen a car being checked there.
Not enough profit in it. Their employer (ie HMG) might be both morally and financially bankrupt, but realises that hauliers are a far easier target, and they are wary of antagonising voters (ie motorists) any further.
|
|
|
|
|
