OW...Don't drink and ride.

[4 french hens]

Nothing wrong with white vans. But some of the drivers, and not only white van ones at that.
Oh by the way, I've got a 3.5 ton white van......... and 30 years experience of driving abnormal loads, artics etc, and 10 of bus driving, so please don't tar and feather me with that old CRAP!

[Meanqueen]

Who did you do your heavy haulage with, Mike, I worked for Leicester Heavy Haulage for 3 years, abnormal loads police escorts, low loaders, plant and machinery etc. Biggest load I did was 20 feet high and 17 feet wide, longest - intercity railway carriages, maybe our paths crossed?

Ilona

[4 french hens]

Abnormals were with a Wickford, essex company, their own products mainly roofing trusses. The motor was a commer 2 stroke, supercharged diesel artic grossing 32 ton, pulling a swan neck 40' lowloader skeleton on tandem mini wheels. This tromboned to 70' on the base, total pig to get round corners, but I had it loaded to 130' overall many times. It was not a problem on motorways but going to sites in cities and towns required a large police escort and I've had as many as 20 motorcycles assisting my progress.
Another one was an oil platform accomadation block, that was 18' wide, 80' long, Inverness to Poole, 2 weeks!
On more specialised trailers, (with Scammel land train, thisty bag of nails and unreliable), some with two engines on, one for the steering and one for the hover skirt, earth movers, combines, diesel train engines to and from power stations, transformers fermentation vessels for brewerys and even some large tree trunks!
Loads of hanging around waiting for the escorts and spending all day asleep in laybys to drive on quiet roads during the night.
I look back and think I'm well out of that.
Mike

[battychick_kike]

I'm a white van driver..........I also drove 7.5t lorries too but I'm not a nutter behind the wheel.
I give the same amount of room to a cyclist as I would a car when passing them!
There are some courteous van drivers out there still but I do see a LOT of car drivers doing the silliest of things that now I have to laugh about!!!! (again.....there are a lot of responsible car drivers too) but considering I am in my mobile "office" for almost 10 hours a day I do see a lot!
My mobile office is also a mobile oven on really hot days! fan assisted too!

[4 french hens]

I don't think so :- try a single decker bus, cab surrounded by glass to roof height on 3 sides, and only a small side window to open because of the now fitted bandit screens.
Mike

[Sunny B]

I only got a car once I had my boys, before that I managed for years with a motorbike or bicycle.
I've always maintained that a requirement of learning to drive a car should be passing a test on both a bike and motorbike first, you get a much better understanding of what's going on around you from these two modes of transport. Hopefully if people did that they'd have much more respect for two wheeled road users once inside a car.

[wendy]

How true that is.
should be mandatory.

[saint-spoon]

I totally agree with that, it’s consideration for other road users that is oft lacking on our highways and byways.
Additional thoughts, as the mornings draw ever darker I am dismayed to find that there is a high number of cyclists in our area consider it unimportant to carry lights on their bicycles; they seem to further distain safety by wearing fashionable camouflaged clothing as opposed to easily visible reflective garments. There also seems to be a fad of riding without regard for the movements of any other road users. I might sound like a fuddy-duddy but I really don’t fancy of the idea of knocking anyone off their bike, and this nearly happened this morning when a youth appeared from the shadow on the side of the road and nearly ended in on my front grill; as it was I lost several thousand miles worth of tread avoiding him.

[wendy]

Try driving around the centre of London they are the worlds worse ! No lights, just going straight across red lights. I think, they think they have charmed lives.
Wendy

[p.penn]

Well, SS, it's your own fault for drinking beer and cycling.

Gin is the answer

[saint-spoon]

Well, SS, it's your own fault for drinking beer and cycling.

Gin is the answer

I didn't say that I didn't drink Gin did I?

[battychick_kike]

I've always maintained that a requirement of learning to drive a car should be passing a test on both a bike and motorbike first, you get a much better understanding of what's going on around you from these two modes of transport. Hopefully if people did that they'd have much more respect for two wheeled road users once inside a car.

I quite agree, I should have mentioned in my previous post that I still have my bike, and I also used to ride Mopeds. It is quite scary out there when there are so many nutters on 4 (or more) wheels hardly giving you room to breathe let alone share the same section of tarmac!

Taz

xxxx

[4 french hens]

Wendy, the centre of London is nothing compared to Oxford or Cambridge.

Two cities full of the most highly educated and clever people in existance, but not a teaspoon of common sense between them especially when they get on a bike.

Mike