C O MMENT
Page 7
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JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON
When it comes to inviting comments on the road manners of lorry drivers we're reminded of the Gospel of St John: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone..." Of course he was talking about adultery at the time, but the same risk of hypocrisy applies to judging the skills of fellow road users—when was the last time you heard anyone confess to being a bad driver? It's fair enough for operators to monitor the activities of their drivers when they're out on the road, and not just through their tacho charts, but Commercial Motor is far from convinced that the average car driver should get involved. For a start the average motorist has no idea of the driving characteristics of a 38-tonner when it comes to braking or acceleration. Say a fully laden artic pulls out into a busy road and causes an approaching car to brake sharply. Say the driver of that car then complains to the operating company, having seen a "How's my Driving?" or "Well driven?" sticker on the back of the truck. Will the traffic manager handling the complaint get all the facts? Will the hurrying sales rep in the hot hatch say that the reason he had to brake so hard was because he was driving at 50mph in a 30mph limit? The overriding message for anyone participating in such schemes must surely be that there are two sides to every argument. Any complaints against drivers have to be approached from the standpoint that every employee is innocent until proven guilty. Reverting to our biblical theme, that will call for the judgement of Solomon. It would be wrong to assume from this that CM is against such initiatives: the Good Lorry Code is probably long overdue in terms of the industry accepting its accountability out on the road. Of course cynics would argue that large companies like the supermarkets and fuel companies can afford to adopt such a high moral tone. But there's nothing wrong with large companies setting the standards for others to strive for— and why stop at drivers? Why not put stickers on the managers' cars? Or better yet, let's have a placard on the front gate of every hauliers yard in the country with the legend "Well Operated?" Now that would generate a few comments...