letters
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Do you want to comment on any of the stories in Commercial Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back—or a public dressing down? Or is there simply something you want to say to our readers? Don't keep it to yourself —drop us a line at CM Letters, Rm H203. Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. Alternatively, you can fax your letter to us on 0181 652 8971 or e-mail it to Miles.Brignall@rbi.co.uk Letters may be edited for length and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor.
Victimising the victims
Iwatched a recent episode of ITV's Police Camera Action which focused on the behaviour of CV drivers.
The presenter, newscaster Alastair Stewart, roundly criticised lorry drivers. He also did for van drivers what Edwina Currie did for eggs, smugly inventing a character called "white van man", who is a moron and invariably drives erratically.
Not all "white van men" are morons, and they take offence at this gross generalisation.
[know one ex-boxer who drives a white van and would now very much like to meet Mr Stewart!
Another thing that intrigued me about the programme was the stance it took regarding the foreign driver who managed to get an old ERF B-Series circus artic stuck between two trees on a narrow residential road. We were told the police warned him that he had been "naughty and should not have been in the street" and then let him go.
Would this have happened to a British driver? No way—he would have been done.
Why don't Mr Stewart and his uniformed friends let drivers get on with their jobs? With the state of the police at the moment (are there any working in the North-East?), they can hardly criticise.
Mr Stewart should stick to reading the news. if not, he should get a job on the wagons and see how he likes the grief.
Peter C Clark,
Durham.