The BBC has reported that the guy who was driving the truck that crashed in Bath this week and killed four people, including a little girl, had not long passed his test. However, it gives a picture of the Game of Thrones artic used by a local driving school – if he’d passed in that then he would have passed his class 2 some time before (how long do you have to have your class 2 before taking your class 1, anyone?).
I sent the BBC this email, as it gives a bad impression of new drivers – it could have been a badly-maintained, faulty truck operated by a cowboy operation.
The article states that the driver of the truck involved in the Bath crash had only passed his test days earlier, yet shows him standing in front of an articulated truck with another candidate and, presumably, his instructor. If he passed his test in that vehicle, he would have passed the test that entitled him to drive the tipper some time earlier, as a tipper is a single wagon and thus falls within the category C or class 2 entitlement. (The articulated vehicle is category CE or class 1.)
In addition, to pass a test on an artic is quite involved and difficult. Most class 1 trainees use a drawbar vehicle, which is a truck with a similar-sized trailer, which is much easier to reverse. It is highly unlikely that he was so unskilled that it was his lack of experience that contributed to the crash. Tipper operators have a bad reputation for poor maintenance and compliance with the law - the truck could have been faulty. It is damaging to those of us who have passed relatively recently and are responsible drivers; many companies have insurance that prohibits employing us, and the facts as are currently known do not justify making this connection.
You need to be careful openly claiming the company involved is a cowboy outfit who neglect their vehicles…comments like that could land in court with a slander charge.
ckm1981:
You need to be careful openly claiming the company involved is a cowboy outfit who neglect their vehicles…comments like that could land in court with a slander charge.
There’s no way of identifying the operator from the truck, at least not from pictures of the crash. It was a plain red cab with no signwriting on it or the body. I didn’t say that was the case, only that it could have been.
ckm1981:
You need to be careful openly claiming the company involved is a cowboy outfit who neglect their vehicles…
I’m struggling to see where IndigoJo wrote that.
However, I can see that Indigojo has tarred all tipper operators with the same brush, which isn’t really fair.
Maybe it’s fair to say that it might have been better for IndigoJo to have written something like, … there are a number of tipper operators who have a bad reputation etc, orsome tipper operators etc.
ckm1981:
… comments like that could land in court with a slander charge.
To be honest, the comment about tipper operators is just as damaging as blaming young drivers.
Next time anything happens the reporters will be running round saying ‘this truck driver once told me’
As we still don’t yet know all the factors involved in this case it wouldn’t be wise for anyone (inclding the press) to speculate.
It’s a sad reflection of the press these days that they have been trawling facebook for background information on the driver.
Mark500:
18 is far to young & inexperienced to hold an HGV licence!
you could say the same about buses or anything for that matter …the problem is this country’s lack of education …
Driving should be taught at school starting at 13 /14 along with the highway code First aid etc,a whole syllabus where every student gets to the point of passing a driving test. restrictions follow on the time of day you can drive, who you can have in the vehicle etc, and of course Engine size and max speed allowed.
I typed couldn’t but phone corrected it to could. I have changed it now.
The picture used in the BBC report looks like he’s sat in a farm tractor. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had been driving tractors and trucks around farms since he was a kid.
The age argument has been ignited on the other thread so I’m not going to keep arguing the same point on two threads.
Mark500:
18 is far to young & inexperienced to hold an HGV licence!
I passed my car test @ 20,did my HGV at 21…driving now 11 years and apart from taking a bit of paint off a post I’m accident free.
Age is just a number,it doesn’t define ones ability.
I passed PSV at 18. Started teaching others at 19. Passed HGV 1 (no requirement for “staged” training in the olden days!) a week after 21st birthday. Registered instructor at 21 years and 6 weeks. 40+ years later - still no major problem.
Mark500:
Disagree - most 18 yr olds shouldnt be on the roads driving a car let alone an HGV!
Comments like this really get to me. Most 18yo are perfectly able to drive. It is the minority who create the bad name. I’m 21. I passed my bike license when I was 18. No accidents for 2 years. Then a 42yo man, in a stolen car hit me and then drove of. Luckily for me his passenger gave him in. In court it turned out he had no license at all. Passed my car test when I was 20. Had a year on no accidents then some ■■■■ in a bmw over took me on a blind corner and swerved into the side of my car to avoid hitting a car in the oncoming lane. He was in his late 40’s. I’m in the middle of doing my hgv. All my tests I have passed first time. Age is irrelevant and as for experience it can make some drivers worse.
It seems to me that the point is being missed here. I think the ‘lack of driving experience’ could be a problem rather than the actual age. Also,whats an upper limit on age got to do with it? Im sure older drivers have lots of exp so why is it a relevant comparison?
