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It's a no-brainer question, but we asked it anyway: should other road users receive more education about HGVs and how to behave around them on the road?
A resounding 95% answered 'yes'.
The verbatim answers expressed all the usual concerns about braking distances, turning circles and blindsoots, but there was also a strong emphasis on manners and etiquette not only of other road users, but of truck and van drivers.
Here are some of the more interesting answers:
• "They should be taught that the middle lane of the motorway isn't for cruising and they should return to the left-hand lane as soon as they have overtaken a slower vehicle, but trucks should also be more considerate about overtaking similarspeed vehicles and holding everyone up. If people want cruise lanes on British motorways, then the whole policy about undertaking on British motorways should be revised."
• "They should be taught about foreign vehicle blind sights especially."
• "Every road user Should have a refresher and be made aware of the changing aspects of their fellow road users. Licences to drive on the roads should be harder
to get, or re-tested every seven years. Every driver should have an online examination of hazard awareness at least before the re-issue of their photo licence."
• "Visual sat-nay should be banned: a whole vehicle can be lost behind a sat-nay stuck on a windscreen."
• "Other drivers should also be provided with graphic photographs of how getting tangled with HGVs can end their lives very quickly. This should be backed up by a TV and radio campaign to enforce the message that all drivers are expected to be responsible behind the wheel, not just occupational drivers."