ri4( it is far too easy to obtain
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this licence the test is unchanged in 22 years'
iI have been involved with training in the transport industry since 1969
and have become increasingly concerned that any person passing the LGV test can start training others the next day.
I have written many letters on the subject and talked to MPs and Government ministers when the opportunity arose.
In the department's eyes nothing has changed since 1987. But more and more non-RTITB registered driving schools and instructors have been established and it daily becomes less and less true that the RTITB exercises any control of the majority of LGV training that takes place.
I believe that the whole subject of LGV driver training needs urgent attention from the Department of Transport.
The 1987 transport minister Peter Bottomley stated: "It is not correct to say that the HGV test is taken on a vehicle which is unlike the type or size which would be driven subsequently." I believe this is still the view of the DOT. It is increasingly difficult for properly-run HGV driving schools to compete with the unregistered instructors who tend to use club and pub car parks as areas for manoeuvring and do not have proper classroom facilities and the training aids needed. I am sure many well-run approved driving schools have been put out of business by these people.
I appeal to all those concerned with road safety to petition Members of Parliament to force the DOT to make it not only illegal for anyone who is not properly trained to give tuition, but also to make the test more comprehensive. Certainly one and a half hours to decide whether or not someone is fit to drive an HGV does not seem to me long enough. It is far too easy to obtain this licence; the test remains almost the same as 22 years ago when it was first introduced, but the roads and vehicles are not the same. The time for an update is long overdue!
Onward Transport's Training School is the only RTITB-approved school in our
area. There are more than 10 unapproved schools — one operating five vehicles. These schools publish misleading advertisements to obtain customers and send people for test after as little as nine hours training. Unofficially I have been told that the first-time pass rate for those trained by unapproved instructors is 20%, for approved instructors 75%. Apart from the dangers, people are being conned.
Let us unite to force the Government to change the system and make our roads safer. Bearing in mind the increasing dangers on Britain's congested roads and the dreadful potential for accidents, surely the time has come to take every step to minimise the risk of undertrained drivers being at loose" on the roads by insisting on the establishment of a register of approved instructors, coupled with a review of the HGV test which has not been changed for 22 years.
Ei If you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane.