1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176 
Will Shiers, editor of Truck & Driver magazine, reports on some of the current hot topics at the driver forum.
Page 13
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
One subject that's captured the attention of TruckNet UK members has been the news that the Department for Transport's initiative for tackling side-swiping incidents on British roads has been a success. According to the road safety minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, some 40,000 window-mounted lenses have been handed out free of charge to the drivers of left-hand drive trucks as they enter the UK at Dover. Apparently, the number of side-swipe incidents involving trucks has more than halved in the South-East, and now another 90,000 will be distributed at other English and French ports.
The initiative was met with a positive reaction from most members, including TruckNet UK community manager Rikki Chequer, who posted this comment: "I'm the first to knock when they decide to spend a few million on setting up a committee to see if minority groups should have a grant to become lorry drivers, but in this case, I believe they have identified a problem and addressed it in a correct manner."
But others were less enthusiastic. One member said he thought the money would be better spent in educating car drivers not to sit in a truck's blind spot. He went on to suggest that demo facilities at motorway services would also make sense.
But this sparked further debate, with another member posting: "I don't agree with the notion car drivers are responsible for keeping out of the way of a supposed blind spot. It's patronising to suggest that a driver of a truck would not be aware of a supposed blind spot and not take appropriate measures themselves.
Another hot topic has been speed limiters, and what the UK's roads were like before the days of 56mph. There are some great comments from senior members, who recall frightening speeds being clocked up by trucks that have long since been confined to the scrapyard. "I had a driver done for 79mph fully freighted in an lveco 220.38 on the M6," admitted one member. "I saw the ticket!"
"The Mercs and ERFs had the best 'gearing' for high speeds," posted another. "If you take the limiter off these days, the 'gearing' is all wrong."