'They are letting drivers loose with a machine capable of killing en masse'
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New regulations will create ill-prepared and inexperienced Class 1 drivers, says David Whitaker, transport manager, Dumfries and Galloway NHS Trust.
4 t's never-ending, isn't it? Fit spray I
suppression (although don't bother to clean it!), Fit even more marker lights, drivers—sit a tougher eyesight test and risk losing your livelihood, and to add to a nonexhaustive list of increasingly high overheads, "Hello, Euro-2"!
Why do we have to do it? Simple! It's for the safety of all other road users and the latter to the eventual benefit of our environment. Worthy causes, who can knock it? Why should we? Trucks are on the increase and it is our responsibility as transport professionals to try and keep the roads safe.
So why, despite all the precautions, does z the government see fit to allow drivers on to gour roads in 46Ft artics without having first P gone through a course of training and tests z's by approved examiners?
Absolutely ludicrous! What on earth are ..
2 these bureaucrats thinking of? One minute E they are seen to be passing constructive I' I ' egis awn and restricting the new drivers to
inexperienced drivers loose with a machine capable of killing en masse in the hands of an amateur.
The Government's proposals to "bring the UK in line with the rest of Europe" by granting "Grandfather Rights" to all pre1991 Class II and III drivers to acquire class I entitlement must be challenged and I would hope that associations such as the Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations will be doing just that. How they ever got away with giving the Class III boys entitlement to drive drawbar combinations is beyond me. If the Government is so hell-bent on creating an influx of Class I drivers, thus creating a disadvantage to all those who have genuinely acquired the skills required and proved it by examination (at some cost!), the very least they should be doing is insisting that drivers who wish to obtain "Grandfather Rights" should undergo some form of certified basic training with the certificate, being proof of said training, to be submitted when applying for upgrade. There is also the question of compensation for all those Class II and III drivers who have pushed on to pass their Class I before new, harsher regulations coming into play, who would have got the entitlement anyway (free of charge!). What a bunch of clowns! Make the test tougher for all newcomers to the industry (fair enough), and permit hundreds, if not thousands, of inexperienced drivers on to the road to play dodgems with them.
My almost two-year-old twins share ownership and drive a "cost coupe" at the moment. At this rate, with the government's way of thinking, they will be delivering milk by the time they are 101 As a member of the Health Service, I am constantly faced with Government cuts. If this is the standard of safely they wish on our roads, they may wish to consider doubling the size oF the NHS in order that we may cope with the potential increased demand.
• if you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane.