Crashing Dumplings - 13/09/2025

It has happened again for the second time this year. 

The first time, June 12th 2025 at around 2pm give or take, the other driver cut a red light.

I exited the M42 J10 at the Tamworth Interchange heading northbound and positioned my vehicle to take the 4th exit to A5. Once on the slip exiting the motorway I had to stop at the traffic lights which had changed to red so I couldn't enter the roundabout right away. When I got a green light I was then stopped by the next set of traffic lights on the roundabout. Traffic flowed into the round about from my left. When my traffic signal changed I began to advance forward and before I knew it I had ploughed into a vehicle and I T-boned him on the roundabout. He didn't have right of way and in that instance and he was at fault. The truck camera proves that he took a chance and went through a red light.

Poor lad. Looked like a brand new car. But crying wasn't going to have his insurer take pity on him. By the time I got to his car to ensure he was okay, he was already on the phone. In a short window he had managed to call his employer, his parents and video chat with a female acquaintance. Only god knows if he was distracted while driving because he was on his phone the whole time. I called the lad an ambulance and requested police, and it took well over an hour for them to attend. The traffic became horrendous, but it normally is on that roundabout and this incident made it worse.

The second time, September 12th 2025 at around 1050am, the other driver cut across my path far to close and they made contact.

 I was on the M6 heading Northbound at the Ray Hall Interchange preparing to leave the M6 at J8 to join the M5 slip. I ensured I was in lane 1 at least 1.5 miles before my exit. As I approached the exit slip it wasn't possible for me to exit lane 1 of the M6 to join lane 1 of the M5 slip due to the flow of traffic already in lane 1 flowing from Great Barr Interchange. I continued in lane 1 of the M6 knowing that I didn't need to force my way into lane 1 because that slip would fan out to become two lanes. When I had the opportunity I merged from lane 1 M6 into lane 2 of the M5 slip then continued to make progress in lane 2. I kept an eye in my left mirror looking for an opportunity to safeimove over to the left lane so other motorist wouldn't feel compelled to undertake my slower vehicle. Before I knew it, a Mini had driven across the chevron area and cut across my path and forced itself into lane 2. They did not time their manoeuvre correctly and appeared to have not given any though to whether the could complete their lane change safely. Their back end caught my front end, they ended up horizontal for a couple of seconds across the front of my vehicle, and came to rest in the hard shoulder facing the wrong way.

In this event there was a child in the car as well as the two adults. I cannot confirm the person who said they were driving was actually driving. It could easily have been in unlicensed and uninsured friend at the wheel. There is no telling what was distracting the driver causing them to make that unsafe lane chang and cut into the path of a huge vehicle that is hard to miss. I was in front of the Mini leaving the M6 when it switched from M6 lane 2 to lane 1. I was already off the M6 when it drove into me. Adele McKelvie was too quick to claim she was driving, accepting fault and apologising for misjudging the distance between my vehicle and hers. The male occupant had called the police. It wasn't long before an ambulance, police and traffic officers were on the scene. The traffic officer I spoke to was not polite at all, it was as though they heard the other party's side and had concluded I was the problem. The police took a similar approach. However, they soon had to change their tone when they realised what I was doing. I had contacted my branch and been in touch with the fleet management company who deal with accidents and lose with the insurer. I had to make the call in order to obtain the insurance details required by the other party, but I also had to report the incident while it was still fresh. Once I told them what I was doing, it kinda of shone a light on me taking responsibility and doing what I was supposed to be doing in that instance. I was also able to do firm that the truck has a 360 camera system and that branch had already informed me that the cottage will be downloaded immediately on my return and given to the insurer and other people in the chain of command who needed to see it.

Something curious unfolded. The three occupants we're fine when I first approached them. I asked them individually is they were okay and they confirmed. But when traffic officers turned up the woman began to change her tune. Though she didn't say she was injured, shed gone from being quite upbeat to gradually playing the victim. And by the time the police were there she was crying and shaking; putting on a show in my opinion. And I think the extra bodies in attendance took pity on her. She spelled her name wrong when I asked. I held it up so she could see what I'd written and she said yes. But later that evening I googled her, discovered her socials and the correct spelling. That's they thing about dumb people...

The details covered here are sketchy but you get the idea. I've been a victim of other drivers incompetence to adhere to the rules of the highway. Truth is, at the very least, a dozen instances a week arise where I have to change speed or alter direction to avoid a car driver causing a collision. It's a nonstop battle defending my goods vehicle. i think 4 years driving trucks and two contact events is not a clean sweep but it is not terrible when totting up all the miles I do each month.