Rob K:
I responded to you earlier but the post hasn’t come through yet. In response to this, the only reason it’s received attention is because there’s a big truck in the frame. These kind of antics are performed by car and van drivers everywhere and no-one bats an eyelid other than a bit of tutting and rolling of eyes. As mentioned by someone else in a recent thread, we are only “professionals” when on the receiving end of The Law; the rest of the time we are just drivers, the same as everyone else, the only difference being that our vehicles are bigger than their vehicles. People go on about how we should set examples. Examples to whom? Do you think a car driver trundling along in their cocoon with their blinkers on is going to be paying any attention to a trucker maintaining a 2 second gap and correct use of indication and lane discipline?The only thing car drivers care about is getting in front of the nasty juggernaut at all costs, regardless of the fact their arse falls out at 45mph, because-speed-cameras. They are quick to post their selective few seconds of glory on the internetz for the Daily Mail lot to get all frothy over, yet when scrutinised it usually transpires that their own driving is just as bad - if not worse - and that’s just within the selective clip they’ve uploaded. Like I said in my other post, let’s see the footage in the preceeding few minutes as I strongly suspect this wasn’t the first encounter he’d had with the BMW. Doesn’t make it right but it takes two to tango.
You’re maybe right about the ‘professional’ question, and it only applying in terms of negative circumstances, but as I’ve said before, a good truck driver displays professionalism naturally in his driving ability and technique, as any other professional (in terms of the job being his full time profession) does, (or at least should) in any field.
Yeh the ‘‘Guy in the big truck’ is always going to stand out in comparison to some old bloke in his Rover, or plumber in his van, but that’s just another reason as to why he should …ok maybe ‘set an example’’ is the wrong phrase, so maybe ‘‘display professionalism’’ in his driving, is a better way of putting it, if only if it’s just to avoid him standing out like a pair of Bulldog’s balls.
The lack of this ‘display of professionalism’ nowadays is undoubtedly the reason for the general ■■■■ poor opinion of us by other road users would you not say? (Whether you me or anybody else actually care about public perception or opinion is irelavent imo)
I am not the perfect driver who never does anything wrong nor balls up by any means, but I do know that I don’t drive like a ■■■■ and use intimidation as a technique of driving, as the guy in the subject of this discussion did.