Training hgv drivers
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Last week's article about the Hull and District Road Transport Training group prompts me to write to you. After 20 years experience as a lorry driver, I had the good fortune recently to be able to attend the Hull Training Group Course for heavy goods drivers, Now, with all my years experience, what could they teach this old dog? For a start many new tricks. All the new road signs for one thing. God knows when I last looked at a Highway Code.
Then most important of all, the safety factors I had grown to ignore over the years.
These and many more points brought home to me the very serious matter relating to hgv drivers and licences — the value of driver training.
When will the Transport Minister wake up to the fact that he stresses for safety's sake, crash helmets must be worn by law, yet he allows thousands of unqualified lorry drivers to drive the length and breadth of our country, day and night with his blessing.
The present system of exemption is virtually giving a licence to kill!
Not until I had completed the course did I begin to see just how serious this whole issue is. The Government would not dream of sending out an untrained army to fight, so why send out our army of lorry drivers to fight 1001 dangers every day untrained.
The facilities are there, yet lack of foresight on behalf of both Government and employers does a great injustice to the dedicated men who are prepared to teach our drivers.
"Let's go forward into Europe is our latest slogan", we're even contemplating digging a Channel Tunnel, yet there's not one specialized establishment to train a single driver to go into the Common Market countries to deliver our exports.
For once let Britain lead the way, by training our army of hgv drivers to a high, safe and efficient standard, and let the Common Market countries see that our Government is ready, willing and able to pave the way to prosperity for Britain, TERENCE ASHTON, Hull.