Reply to: Justice!

[d000hg]

Can't be arsed to read the rest of this. If you are ever in a position where someone can undertake you (especially in a van) then you are in the wrong lane.

Only in free-moving traffic. And apparently, only in the UK, which I never realised before.


I wonder if there are people whose hobby is phoning those "how am I driving" numbers and making spurious complaints?

[SueEllen]

Can't be arsed to read the rest of this. If you are ever in a position where someone can undertake you (especially in a van) then you are in the wrong lane. Sounds like he attempted to signal this fact to you and you were still oblivious to the fact that you were in the wrong.

Stay off the motorway if you are incapable of keeping up with the traffic.

I wonder how many lorries over took him.

[MaryPoppins]

Can't be arsed to read the rest of this. If you are ever in a position where someone can undertake you (especially in a van) then you are in the wrong lane. Sounds like he attempted to signal this fact to you and you were still oblivious to the fact that you were in the wrong.

Stay off the motorway if you are incapable of keeping up with the traffic.

Fair point.

Last week , I was going approx 85 in the outside lane on a v busy, but moving, stretch of the M6 - Audi (shocker) behind me, driving incredibly aggressively; but I had nowhere to go. I was overtaking, had cars in front of me etc - and yet this guy was speeding up to get closer to me, flashing me etc. No idea why, or to what end. It made me angry at first, but then it did actually scare me a bit. I couldn't have got out of his way if I wanted to.

Some people are just pricks, I suppose.

[Alf W]

Can't be arsed to read the rest of this. If you are ever in a position where someone can undertake you (especially in a van) then you are in the wrong lane. Sounds like he attempted to signal this fact to you and you were still oblivious to the fact that you were in the wrong.

Stay off the motorway if you are incapable of keeping up with the traffic.

Got very aggressively undertaken by a Fedex driver the other day on the M62. He was driving right up peoples bumpers flashing them out the way in lane 3. Even cut up an ambulance trying to join. Basically driving with extreme aggression causing cars to move dangerously to get out of his way.

I phones the handy number on the back of his van, spoke with the nice lady who answered giving his reg.

Well, ended up with a phone call from somebody senior at Fedex this morning thanking me very much, advising from the reg and timings they found the driver, who was being appropriately dealt with by management.

Hopefully one less idiot on the roads

[OwlHoot]

Hate to say it, but I agree with MF.

I used to drive from Wemyss Bay to Halifax every Monday and back on a Friday. Depending on what kind of mood I was in or if I needed to get there at a specific time, I would cruise along at 85/90 or go like a twat at 100+ (and sometimes +++) most of the way. Journey times varied by around 30 mins depending on how twattish my driving was.

By the way, OP, If you're in the outside lane and people need to get past you, you shouldn't have been there.

Yes, toeing it obviously saves a lot of time if traffic conditions allow (unless you're pulled for speeding). But I think whoever TestMangler replied to was talking about obsessive weaving and ducking and diving in busy traffic. That's the mug's game - I followed some twat doing it on the M4 going into London, and for all his manic efforts, and stress, and brake wear, he gained only about three cars' lengths in 20 miles.

[Sockpuppet]

I used to drive from Wemyss Bay to Halifax every Monday and back on a Friday. Depending on what kind of mood I was in or if I needed to get there at a specific time, I would cruise along at 85/90 or go like a twat at 100+ (and sometimes +++) most of the way.

I did a bergan relay around the UK to support injured troops carrying a bergan by motorbikes handing over at specific points. It had a tracker fitted to it reporting to a web page. The aim being to get the rucksack around the UK in less than 48 hours.

Started off at midnight in Norfolk and went up the East coast to Scotland. Around 4am in the morning they decided they were behind schedule so the tracker page showed an average speed at times of 124mph

[Mr.Whippy]

You do realise that doing this if it caused an accident would constitute driving without due care on your part.

Which is why my preferred method when in the outside lane is to drift over the white line to the outside by a few cm's.... the resulting shower of stones & other assorted debris behind me generally makes them drop back a bit and leave me alone

[TestMangler]

Balderdash. I find that over a 50 mile journey I can shave anything up to 20 minutes off a motorway drive by driving like a loon at 100mph+

Hate to say it, but I agree with MF.

I used to drive from Wemyss Bay to Halifax every Monday and back on a Friday. Depending on what kind of mood I was in or if I needed to get there at a specific time, I would cruise along at 85/90 or go like a twat at 100+ (and sometimes +++) most of the way. Journey times varied by around 30 mins depending on how twattish my driving was.

By the way, OP, If you're in the outside lane and people need to get past you, you shouldn't have been there.

[Mr.Whippy]

Are you Gricerboy's brother?
http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ml#post1371019

No, thankfully. I expect there's more than 1 place with ridiculous H&S rules

[DaveB]

I'll give you the benefit of my experience as a transport manager (which is what I contract as).



I severely doubt it. You'll have got a phone call from someone who is giving you the shine on knowing that you'll never know who the driver is. Its very likely that they have no power over the driver as he's probably a franchisee.

I'll Role play it for you.....

You: phone number of back of van
Call Center: Receive complaint and pass onto Fed Ex
Fed Ex: Find depot and send complaint to manager
Manager: Files in the bin.

In my experience (which is a lot) 90% of the complaints I got from members of the public were due to the lack of understanding of the highway code by them.

I currently run the transport for a major UK retailer. I had loads of complaints from the "hows my driving" stickers on the back of the trailers. So in order to solve the problem I just took the stickers off the lorries. The phone calls reduced dramatically.

"Dear Sockpuppet,

I would like to complain about the lack of phone numbers on the back of your lorries which makes it difficult to complain about your lorries.

Regards,

A. Nutter"

[Sockpuppet]

I'll give you the benefit of my experience as a transport manager (which is what I contract as).

Got very aggressively undertaken by a Fedex driver the other day on the M62. He was driving right up peoples bumpers flashing them out the way in lane 3. Even cut up an ambulance trying to join. Basically driving with extreme aggression causing cars to move dangerously to get out of his way.

I phones the handy number on the back of his van, spoke with the nice lady who answered giving his reg.

Well, ended up with a phone call from somebody senior at Fedex this morning thanking me very much, advising from the reg and timings they found the driver, who was being appropriately dealt with by management.

Hopefully one less idiot on the roads

I severely doubt it. You'll have got a phone call from someone who is giving you the shine on knowing that you'll never know who the driver is. Its very likely that they have no power over the driver as he's probably a franchisee.

I'll Role play it for you.....

You: phone number of back of van
Call Center: Receive complaint and pass onto Fed Ex
Fed Ex: Find depot and send complaint to manager
Manager: Files in the bin.

In my experience (which is a lot) 90% of the complaints I got from members of the public were due to the lack of understanding of the highway code by them.

I currently run the transport for a major UK retailer. I had loads of complaints from the "hows my driving" stickers on the back of the trailers. So in order to solve the problem I just took the stickers off the lorries. The phone calls reduced dramatically.

[Spacecadet]

Sounds like he was responding appropriately to the usual poor lane discipline you see on UK motorways

[Arturo Bassick]

Got very aggressively undertaken by a Fedex driver the other day on the M62. He was driving right up peoples bumpers flashing them out the way in lane 3. Even cut up an ambulance trying to join. Basically driving with extreme aggression causing cars to move dangerously to get out of his way.

I phones the handy number on the back of his van, spoke with the nice lady who answered giving his reg.

Well, ended up with a phone call from somebody senior at Fedex this morning thanking me very much, advising from the reg and timings they found the driver, who was being appropriately dealt with by management.

Hopefully one less idiot on the roads

So you were causing an obstruction by cruising in an overtaking lane thus holding up a poor worker trying to do his job. Though it seems it was not only you. Was the ambulance coming on or the fedex chap?
Then you committed an offence and endangered other road users by using your mobile.

tut tut.

[MarillionFan]

Probably not.

Thing is though, unless he's a very skilled driver, driving like a loon is unlikely to enable him to squeeze more drops in. You can try it on a regular commute. Drive like a loon for a couple of weeks. Then drive defensively for a couple of weeks (if you survive the first two weeks). The timings will be pretty much the same - maybe you gain a few minutes over 50 miles, if you're lucky.

Even driving 500 miles a day, it's not going to save enough for an extra drop.

Balderdash. I find that over a 50 mile journey I can shave anything up to 20 minutes off a motorway drive by driving like a loon at 100mph+

[JamJarST]

Do you think a FedEx employee who drives like a loon in order to squeeze more drops into his day is likely to get reprimanded by management?

I usually deal with knobs like that by letting them get right up close and then switching the rear fog lights on.

You do realise that doing this if it caused an accident would constitute driving without due care on your part.