letters
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In his letter commenting on the "Well Driven"? scheme Ian N Bird asks: "does anyone phone to say how courteous the driver was?" (CM 4-10 September).
He answers his own question "you bet they don't".
You've got it very wrong, Ian—over 40% of the calls received by the Good Lorry Code in response to "Well Driven?" have been complimentary. Praise for drivers ranges from the general "good driving" compliments through "averted an accident" and on to specific instances of assisting motorists and other members of the public.
These responses are encouraging. The Good Lorry Code was established to help present the best face of our industry to fellow road users and to the public and it's beginning to work. Besides the benefits of the complimentary calls the complaints themselves are mostly helpful. They provide the opportunity to identify problems, and hopefully solve them. And they also give us the opportunity to explain to some motorists that driving a truck is nothing like driving a car. Many complaints have been rejected for this reason.
Ian is absolutely right to be critical of badly driven cars, but the aim must be to improve all road safety and driving standards.
Not surprisingly our industry boasts the best drivers on the road. But we do need to present the best possible image to the public at large. The Good Lorry Code and "Well Driven?" are valuable means of doing just that.
John Hix,
Good Lorry Code.