Lorry Blind-Spots.

[mark st1]

I was semi-retired before I even went into the driving game. Now at a stage where I have no intention of working full time again. Did agency work for a while but it was the pits. Now driving taxis. Local work, so no petrol to pay for just to get to work. No intention of doing my CPC either, as that is just another Government sponsored money making excercise. So with no CPC, my HGV licence will be worthless in a year or so. Very little decent HGV work around here anyway, so all in all I think the time has come to hang up my keys and become a burden on the state (the same state who want me to work for peanuts and spend money on CPC, digicard, medicals, commuting, etc. etc..).

Agree with you 100% the thought of 35 hours of "education" at considerable cost is not very appealing at all. Even when completed it has to all be done again in 5 years time what fun

 

[Brandane]

And another thing ..... the camera is at the same level as the top of the steering wheel! Again a total misrepresentation of a real situation. A driver would be sitting in the drivers seat (which are height adjustable to compensate for the vertically challenged), and if he looked to his left he would be able to see some of those cyclists through the window without the need for mirrors. I knew there was something else not right about it; just had to watch it again to realise what it was!

Sorry MV, but your avatar is wrong. All those cyclists are NOT in the drivers blind spot.

 

[Brandane]

Agree with you 100% the thought of 35 hours of "education" at considerable cost is not very appealing at all. Even when completed it has to all be done again in 5 years time what fun

Wouldn't even be so bad IF the "education" was relevant to the actual driving - but it's not. And as you say, comes out of your own pocket and in your own time. All for a job which pays (in the Glasgow area anyway) about £7.50 to £8.00 per hour! Less 45 minutes per day for your legally required but unpaid break. Nah, they can shove it where the sun don't shine.

 

[lulubel]

No way! When I am out on my bike I will keep well clear of any HGV when it is manouevring - and given the choice, even when it is not.

So, what's your problem with the video? If it scares the sh1t out of someone who's usually less careful than you around lorries, and means they keep their distance in future, it's done its job.

 

[Brandane]

So, what's your problem with the video? If it scares the sh1t out of someone who's usually less careful than you around lorries, and means they keep their distance in future, it's done its job.

My problem with the video is that people watching it who don't know any better might think "well if those stupid b****ard lorry drivers would adjust their mirrors correctly, they might be able to see better", or "why is the meat-head lorry driver steering towards those cyclists anyway, surely he must have seen them on approach to the junction ...... because of course cyclists would NEVER cycle up the inside of a left turning lorry ...... would they?"

Granted, the video might serve it's purpose but in the process it doesn't portray a very good image of lorry drivers, and paints lorries as much more dangerous machines than they actually are.

 

[MontyVeda]

@brindane
@mark st1

you both clearly have a problem with being educated, although you also come across as know it all's. You both also come across as nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing like the stereotypical meat head lorry driver... the types who refuse to undertake their driver CPC because nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing... scared you might learn something?

 

[lulubel]

Granted, the video might serve it's purpose but in the process it doesn't portray a very good image of lorry drivers, and paints lorries as much more dangerous machines than they actually are.

To be honest, I don't think that matters.

I used to be a bus driver. I was a good one, who made sure my mirrors were adjusted correctly, did my observations properly, and took extra care around vulnerable road users. I knew and worked with plenty of bus drivers who did none of these things, and were a danger to everyone else on the road. I'm sure the same applies to lorry drivers - some very good, some idiots.

If we, as cyclists, assume that every lorry or bus driver (or every driver, for that matter) that we come across is an idiot, for most of the time, we'll be wrong. But the one time that we're right might mean the difference between life and death.

 

[mark st1]

@brindane
@mark st1

you both clearly have a problem with being educated, although you also come across as know it all's. You both also come across as nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing like the stereotypical meat head lorry driver... the types who refuse to undertake their driver CPC because nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing... scared you might learn something?

Your so wrong ive been polite agreed with everything that has been said agreed its a good thing to highlight and gave an OPINION not a fact. Im allways open to be taught anything as there are people far more qualified than me in life.

However to be told i need to pay between a minimum of £40 a day out of my own pocket to sit in a classroom for 35 hours without pay and "be educated" to please an EU legislation. If your happy to do that on my pay your more than welcome buddy.

 

[Brandane]

@brindane
@mark st1

you both clearly have a problem with being educated, although you also come across as know it all's. You both also come across as nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing like the stereotypical meat head lorry driver... the types who refuse to undertake their driver CPC because nobody-should-be-telling-me-nothing... scared you might learn something?

Wow; having a bad night? .

You know nothing of my circumstances, so please don't be so quick to make such judgements. As stated in a previous reply on this thread, I am semi retired. I have an occupational pension from a previous job (which incidentally involved regular training courses and "education"). As a result of said pension, I pay basic rate tax on anything I earn over and above. So you're just going to have to take my word for it, that it is not financially worth my while to take on the hassle of the CPC, commuting long distances, and other things already mentioned, just to drive a lorry for not much more than minimum wage. Thank you for your attention. Meat-head indeed!

PS. It's BrAndane, not brindane.

 

[MontyVeda]

Your so wrong ive been polite agreed with everything that has been said agreed its a good thing to highlight and gave an OPINION not a fact. Im allways open to be taught anything as there are people far more qualified than me in life.

However to be told i need to pay between a minimum of £40 a day out of my own pocket to sit in a classroom for 35 hours without pay and "be educated" to please an EU legislation. If your happy to do that on my pay your more than welcome buddy.

I thought the idea behind the DCPC was to improve driver safety, address bad habits they may be getting themselves into, such as not bothering to check if their mirrors are in the correct positions, to point out little things that most drivers miss, such as 20 odd amendments to the highway code on 2007... and overall, make the roads a safer place for all road users. My only problem with the DCPC is it should be for all drivers... you don't attend a short course every five years, you lose your licence to drive. simple as that.

What we have at present is too many 'don't give a toss' drivers who take their licence for granted.

as for the cost, diddums... if you want to watch TV it costs 140odd pound a year out of your own pocket... so what? Life has expenses. Seeing as your career a driver depends on getting a DCPC, I'm flabbergasted you're moaning about a new expense which is less than a pound a week.

I'm not a professional driver, but i can tell that the image in my avatar shows a truck turning, and i can tell that the nearside mirrors will show nothing more than the side of the trailer from the drivers point of view.

The reason i have that avatar is to help illustrate to people just how vulnerable they can be should they cycle up the inside of a slow moving wagon approaching a junction... you can argue all you want claiming it shows drivers in a bad light or whatever other feeble arguments you've made in slating the video in the OP... it doesn't change the fact that cyclists should keep well away from long vehicles in such situations.

 

[mark st1]

Again I AGREE with you but im also not naive enough to think that the few that dont allready do all this stuff continually ignore drivers hours regulations working time directives maintenance lists will change there ways. Example If you get caught speeding you get the choice of a speed awareness course or points on your licence. So where is my choice ? I lose a weeks holiday of my fabulous 23 days a year 3 of which are allready gone with xmas day boxing day new years day. And the Brucie bonus is i get to have to pay for the privilege.

The CPC is also not stipulated to any area of the haulage industry for example i can sit through 8 hours of transporting dangerous flammable goods it takes 8 hours of my 35 hours training. Im sure my company that supplies Aggregates will make full use of my newly acquired training qualification Im sorry but my opinion on that is the same as the credit card driving license's digital tachograph cards both which need renewing at 10 and 5 year intervals at a cost to me. Its a money raising exercise.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Agree 100 % although poor inaccurate information is almost as bad as no information IMO

The video still gets the message across - don't go up the inside of lorries.

 

[mark st1]

The video still gets the message across - don't go up the inside of lorries.

Again i AGREE. Well done to OP for highlighting it in the first place AGAIN.

 

[summerdays]

We have all seen cyclists go up the side of a large vehicle near a junction - and luckily most carry on without realizing what peril they had placed themselves in. It is one of those areas where cyclists do need educating about (same for lorry drivers too). If the video has been set up to over emphasize the point but that it reaches some people is it not worth it? Those that pick holes in it are hopefully educated in the art of not squeezing past lorries already.

 

[Gaz Vickers]

Oooooops! Didn't mean to cause an argument! .