HGV Driver - A Pretty Dismal Performance.
Discussion
A few days ago I referred to an unpleasant encounter I had with an HGV, and promised to post details later, so here they are in the form of a self explanatory letter:
Dear Mr. (Name of Managing Director),
UNACCEPTABLE DRIVING.
HGV - (Reg. No.)
I regret to say I have a serious complaint to make about the behaviour of one of your HGV drivers on the A1 in North Yorkshire on Thursday morning 22 April. Normally I would have contacted you earlier about this, but I have been out travelling full time since the incident occurred. The situation was as follows:
At about 8.15 a.m. I was driving north on the A1 delivering a new car from a main dealership in Wetherby to a customer in Glasgow. Somewhere around Dishforth I passed two of your vehicles travelling together in lane 1, very closely spaced nose to tail, seemingly a popular trick among HGV drivers. At the time I merely noticed two HGV’s from the same company travelling together, but I thought no more about it.
By the time I reached the Leeming/Catterick area the traffic was more dense and speeds had reduced, so I settled to about 50-55 mph keeping pace with other traffic in lane 1, and leaving a sensible gap to the vehicle in front of me. The traffic in lane 2 at this time was travelling slightly faster. One of your HGV’s then came up extremely close behind me and followed me at a distance of about 8 to 10 feet. Naturally it is difficult to be precise as to the gap between us but it was startlingly close, almost as if the driver wanted to push me along faster. I used the hazard flashers for two or three seconds in an attempt to get him to pull back, and eventually he did. A few minutes later he repeated the process, again closing to within a dangerous distance of my tail. This time I touched the brake pedal lightly a couple of times to show him some brake lights, but not sufficiently to actually slow the car. I dare not do any braking with him so close, which reinforced the merits of having a good gap in front of me. After a few seconds he again pulled back to a reasonable distance behind me, and shortly afterwards he was able to move into lane 2 and overtake me, which I was very glad to see him do. Soon after that your driver continued on the A1 and I turned off at Scotch Corner onto the A66.
I have no idea why your driver behaved in that manner, but if he was in any way upset with something I did he will no doubt be able to explain it to you, in which case I shall also be interested to hear about it.
Whatever he may choose to say about the incident that kind of behaviour amounted to nothing less than a dangerous attempt to bully and intimidate, and this is quite unacceptable.
In modern traffic conditions we must accept that drivers make genuine mistakes from time to time - we can all do that - and in most cases we have time and space in which to make slight adjustments and no harm is done.
Generally speaking I have very high regard for the really good HGV drivers, particular their ability to manoeuvre large articulated vehicles in restricted spaces. It is therefore most unwelcome to be seeing examples of wilfully bad behaviour with such large heavy vehicles, which can easily create quite dangerous situations.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to discuss this with the driver concerned, and if you are not satisfied with his explanation I trust some disciplinary action would be in order. An unhappy incident of this nature reflects no credit on the driver concerned, nor is it the best way to represent your Company.
I would be grateful if you would let me have your views on the matter when it is convenient.
Yours sincerely,
David Knowles.
Copy to:
Ms. Della Cannings, Chief Constable, North Yorkshire Police.
On 28 April I had a telephone call from North Yorkshire Police asking me how I felt about them pursuing the matter, bearing in mind that if appropriate they would need to issue a Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days. I was surprised at their apparent readiness to launch into a prosecution given that no accident had occurred, but I felt that if the company did not deal with the matter properly, then I would certainly provide evidence to support a prosecution if the police judged that to be worthwhile.
On 30 April I received a letter from the company concerned in which they said that they had interviewed the driver (who had been with them for eleven years and had an exemplary record) and he professed himself unable to recall the incident. However (their letter said) they had reiterated their company policy of promoting safe driving, and issued a letter to all their drivers about avoiding tailgating and similar bad driving.
This is not totally satisfactory but I guess it is about what one might have expected and I hope it will have served as a shot across the bows, and reduced the likelihood of similar behaviour in future.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Dear Mr. (Name of Managing Director),
UNACCEPTABLE DRIVING.
HGV - (Reg. No.)
I regret to say I have a serious complaint to make about the behaviour of one of your HGV drivers on the A1 in North Yorkshire on Thursday morning 22 April. Normally I would have contacted you earlier about this, but I have been out travelling full time since the incident occurred. The situation was as follows:
At about 8.15 a.m. I was driving north on the A1 delivering a new car from a main dealership in Wetherby to a customer in Glasgow. Somewhere around Dishforth I passed two of your vehicles travelling together in lane 1, very closely spaced nose to tail, seemingly a popular trick among HGV drivers. At the time I merely noticed two HGV’s from the same company travelling together, but I thought no more about it.
By the time I reached the Leeming/Catterick area the traffic was more dense and speeds had reduced, so I settled to about 50-55 mph keeping pace with other traffic in lane 1, and leaving a sensible gap to the vehicle in front of me. The traffic in lane 2 at this time was travelling slightly faster. One of your HGV’s then came up extremely close behind me and followed me at a distance of about 8 to 10 feet. Naturally it is difficult to be precise as to the gap between us but it was startlingly close, almost as if the driver wanted to push me along faster. I used the hazard flashers for two or three seconds in an attempt to get him to pull back, and eventually he did. A few minutes later he repeated the process, again closing to within a dangerous distance of my tail. This time I touched the brake pedal lightly a couple of times to show him some brake lights, but not sufficiently to actually slow the car. I dare not do any braking with him so close, which reinforced the merits of having a good gap in front of me. After a few seconds he again pulled back to a reasonable distance behind me, and shortly afterwards he was able to move into lane 2 and overtake me, which I was very glad to see him do. Soon after that your driver continued on the A1 and I turned off at Scotch Corner onto the A66.
I have no idea why your driver behaved in that manner, but if he was in any way upset with something I did he will no doubt be able to explain it to you, in which case I shall also be interested to hear about it.
Whatever he may choose to say about the incident that kind of behaviour amounted to nothing less than a dangerous attempt to bully and intimidate, and this is quite unacceptable.
In modern traffic conditions we must accept that drivers make genuine mistakes from time to time - we can all do that - and in most cases we have time and space in which to make slight adjustments and no harm is done.
Generally speaking I have very high regard for the really good HGV drivers, particular their ability to manoeuvre large articulated vehicles in restricted spaces. It is therefore most unwelcome to be seeing examples of wilfully bad behaviour with such large heavy vehicles, which can easily create quite dangerous situations.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to discuss this with the driver concerned, and if you are not satisfied with his explanation I trust some disciplinary action would be in order. An unhappy incident of this nature reflects no credit on the driver concerned, nor is it the best way to represent your Company.
I would be grateful if you would let me have your views on the matter when it is convenient.
Yours sincerely,
David Knowles.
Copy to:
Ms. Della Cannings, Chief Constable, North Yorkshire Police.
On 28 April I had a telephone call from North Yorkshire Police asking me how I felt about them pursuing the matter, bearing in mind that if appropriate they would need to issue a Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days. I was surprised at their apparent readiness to launch into a prosecution given that no accident had occurred, but I felt that if the company did not deal with the matter properly, then I would certainly provide evidence to support a prosecution if the police judged that to be worthwhile.
On 30 April I received a letter from the company concerned in which they said that they had interviewed the driver (who had been with them for eleven years and had an exemplary record) and he professed himself unable to recall the incident. However (their letter said) they had reiterated their company policy of promoting safe driving, and issued a letter to all their drivers about avoiding tailgating and similar bad driving.
This is not totally satisfactory but I guess it is about what one might have expected and I hope it will have served as a shot across the bows, and reduced the likelihood of similar behaviour in future.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Dwight VanDriver said:
Very sensible way of dealing with the matter Mr Knowles.
I commend the tone and substance of your letter that commands it to be read through not going into histrionics.
DVD
Thanks DVD. Genuine error is one thing, but sheer bloodymindedness is not acceptable.
Best wishes,
Dave.
TripleS said:
A few days ago I referred to an unpleasant
This is not totally satisfactory but I guess it is about what one might have expected and I hope it will have served as a shot across the bows, and reduced the likelihood of similar behaviour in future.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Hi Dave
Tell us what would have constituted satisfaction in your eyes?
I would be very interested to hear your views especially when you have had both the company and Police respond in the way they have done.
gone said:
A few days ago I referred to an unpleasant
This is not totally satisfactory but I guess it is about what one might have expected and I hope it will have served as a shot across the bows, and reduced the likelihood of similar behaviour in future.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Hi Dave
Tell us what would have constituted satisfaction in your eyes?
I would be very interested to hear your views especially when you have had both the company and Police respond in the way they have done.
Personally I think the outcome is a good one. Even if the driver can't remember the incident in question he has been reminded about his standard of driving.
I have twice in the last couple of months called companies where drivers of sign written vehicles have driven to an appalling standard. All I expect the company to do is mention the complaint to the driver concerned. Hopefully the driver will realise that they can't drive so badly and get away with it.
Now if only all cars had details of the driver on them!
Many thanks to all of you for your support and constructive comments. On reflection I think the result was probably as much as could reasonably be expected.
Perhaps I expected too much but I would rather the driver had been honest about what happened, received a bit of stick from his employer, and promised to refrain from that type of behaviour in future.
Instead of that it appears he either has an extremely poor memory, or he simply lied to his employer.
As for the response from North Yorkshire Police - yes they took a prompt interest and appeared willing to pursue the matter, which was encouraging.
All things considered I think the point has been made, and I hope it will have done some good.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Perhaps I expected too much but I would rather the driver had been honest about what happened, received a bit of stick from his employer, and promised to refrain from that type of behaviour in future.
Instead of that it appears he either has an extremely poor memory, or he simply lied to his employer.
As for the response from North Yorkshire Police - yes they took a prompt interest and appeared willing to pursue the matter, which was encouraging.
All things considered I think the point has been made, and I hope it will have done some good.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
TripleS said:
Perhaps I expected too much but I would rather the driver had been honest about what happened, received a bit of stick from his employer, and promised to refrain from that type of behaviour in future.
Maybe he couldn't remember what had happened. Being a lorry driver he probably covers many thousands of miles a month and lots of apparently angry/upset car drivers!
tripleS said:
Instead of that it appears he either has an extremely poor memory, or he simply lied to his employer.
I meet people like that all the time
. Sometimes they appear to have amnesia within seconds of the point I stop them for something they have just done 
. It is even worse when they attend the Mags court several months later!!! tripleS said:
As for the response from North Yorkshire Police - yes they took a prompt interest and appeared willing to pursue the matter, which was encouraging.
Most Police officers are quite willing to deal with this sort of incident. When the complainant has made their point, let off steam, realises that this could involve some considerable time waiting around at court to tell the tale, not to mention the messing around with dates to appear there, the degree of poor driving in comparison seems not too bad after all
tripleS said:
All things considered I think the point has been made, and I hope it will have done some good.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
I think you are probably right!
Hello 'gone' and thanks for your reply.
It is quite conceivable that one could make a genuine error and not realise the effect it has had on others, but I find it hard to believe that one could forget two instances of dangerous tailgating deliberately perpetrated in quick succession.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
It is quite conceivable that one could make a genuine error and not realise the effect it has had on others, but I find it hard to believe that one could forget two instances of dangerous tailgating deliberately perpetrated in quick succession.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Nice Letter, well written. Something that bugs me though - if you passed the two trucks at speed and then were slowed by traffic to 50-55mph, how did they catch you up? Heavy trucks are limited to 56mph (even though the limit is 60 - dont start me on that one!). This may be the reason that the BiB were interested - perhaps the speed limiter had been bypassed. With the greatest respect, was it in fact an HGV, or was it white van man on steroids in a 7.5 tonner? Unfortunately it is these lunatics (on the whole) who give us professionals a bad name. If it was an HGV, there is a possible explaination for the tailgating: If you were cruising at 55ish, it is likely that the truckie had his cruise set at max i.e. 56mph and rather than slowing (it takes ages to regain speed), he was hoping that you may speed up a little. Whilst not condoning his actions, this may explain why.
towman said:You make a good point. With changes in design and materials (and the law), there are many commercial vehicles now on our roads that many would class as HGVs, but technically are not.
... With the greatest respect, was it in fact an HGV, or was it white van man on steroids in a 7.5 tonner? Unfortunately it is these lunatics (on the whole) who give us professionals a bad name.
towman said:Many years ago I drove a Ford D300 (IIRC) - ULW 2t 19.75cw - just under the (then) limit for an HGV licence. I know how long it can take to build speed back up. BUT, that is NO excuse for dangerous tailgating. Mind you, if other drivers had just a little more awareness of the difficulties that drivers of heavy and/or long vehicles experience, maybe they'd drive with more consideration. Then, maybe, the drivers of those heavy/long vehicles would stop bullying car drivers.
If it was an HGV, there is a possible explaination for the tailgating: If you were cruising at 55ish, it is likely that the truckie had his cruise set at max i.e. 56mph and rather than slowing (it takes ages to regain speed), he was hoping that you may speed up a little.
Streaky
I think it would be worthiwhile (if you are taking no police action against the driver), to write a second letter to the company.
Politely state that although you found the answer rather unsatisfactiry (i.e. the guy just shrugged it off), thank them for the effort involved on their behalf, and include a transcript of the Police telephone conversation.
The fact that the police were willing to prosecute the truck driver, might serve a reminder to him to watch his distance next time.
I once witnessed a most apalling piece of driving from a National Express coach into Bath, including speeding, overtaking on a blind corner (god knows where the speed of this came from but it was faster than 60mph), tailgating and using abusive gestures.
The coach was also full at the time. I still have the number on my phone from the back of the coach, but kept forgetting (as it was over new year) to report him... Damn well wish i had done.
I now live in Bath and shall be keeping my eye out for said driver again!
Politely state that although you found the answer rather unsatisfactiry (i.e. the guy just shrugged it off), thank them for the effort involved on their behalf, and include a transcript of the Police telephone conversation.
The fact that the police were willing to prosecute the truck driver, might serve a reminder to him to watch his distance next time.
I once witnessed a most apalling piece of driving from a National Express coach into Bath, including speeding, overtaking on a blind corner (god knows where the speed of this came from but it was faster than 60mph), tailgating and using abusive gestures.
The coach was also full at the time. I still have the number on my phone from the back of the coach, but kept forgetting (as it was over new year) to report him... Damn well wish i had done.
I now live in Bath and shall be keeping my eye out for said driver again!
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