What is a professional driver?
It is not just someone whose job involves a lot of driving.
It is someone who spends their whole life going up and down our motorways, at
56 mph, and observing the antics of motorists from the often quite elevated viewpoint
of
a
truck cab.
And you would not believe what they see.
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Suffice it to say that there is so much crap talked nowadays about cars, driving
and speed, that the professional driver tends to turn away in disgust and say
nothing.
But, if he does say anything, he is not going to pull any punches. |
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Let's get it straight:
Driving is a wind up.
One often gets the impression that our roads are laid out by amateurs, particularly
in
cities
like
Bristol.
When one is driving on these roads, one feels that there is a complete lack
of
input
from
professional
drivers.
The advent of the speed camera marked the change in our society, from 'innocent
until proven guilty', to 'guilty until proven innocent'.
And the change to policing
by bureaucrats. Which may remind one of the horrors foretold in '1984'.
Is it little wonder that motorists are losing respect for our law system?
Speeding is no longer such a crime, but just another road hazard / wind up.
It is NOT speed that is the problem, it is the motorist's lack of respect for
braking distance.
Plus the total failure of government, and local government,
to
provide adequate
and safe roads.
The motorist, in general, tries to be a good driver.
But he or she is human. And subject to stress, wind ups, frustration, all things
which
affect one's driving.
It was known a long
time ago that our roads would become very busy and a higher standard of driving
would be necessary.
The driving test has become more complicated, but people are still being
killed
on our roads every day.
Really, however, road education should start in school.
Perhaps
with the mechanics of road flow, vehicle momentum, whatever, but looking
to
gain
appreciation
of
what
gets
people killed. Training in the handling of stress and frustration would be
essential.
A few years of this, and an exam requirement at the end, before one can drive
a car, may
save
lives.
We do need to become less car dependant.
Most people depend on a car to get to work. If you live near to your work you
are
not car dependant.
Why not have large industrial complexes, say car factories, in areas like say,
Oxford, Birmingham, Coventry, etc?
With plenty of housing in the area. If you have a secure, long term job, you
can live nearby.
You can walk, or use a bike. And keep fit.
But hang on, didn't we try this some time ago?
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The reduction from three lanes to one lane, over
some 800 yards, is not one of the better ideas of the road planners.
This might have worked if all cars were traveling at the same
speed, but, always, there are drivers
MUST push in at the
front of
the queue, often turning a minor twenty minute delay
into a serious two or three hour delay.
And is why trucks will often block the outside lanes. It is
the only way to get traffic moving again.
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The M6, Birmingham to Manchester section, is worse than the M25.
Kamikaze car drivers: 44 tonne vehicles cannot stop on a sixpence.
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