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Driving towards Portsmouth this morning and behind a Hovis van with a displayed notice "how is my driving phone 080 etc etc." Has any body out there phoned one of these numbers, if you did what did you say.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/10/2008 at 12:47
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Presumably they expect you to phone at the time and so you need to have a hands free set up. An 0800 number isn't free from a mobile and I have better things to spend my money on - food, clothes and fuel for a start! The ones saying "If you can't see my mirrors I can't see you" are vaguely useful but the one I would like to see is "I am a Continental driver and I shall make a sudden manoeuvre which will kill you"
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When i drove for a small supermarket chain we had those numbers on the back, i had 2 complimentary calls about me and then a rather serious one.
I was accused of hitting a car on Kew bridge and continuing without stopping, good grief, so i enquired of the time of day of the incident (some week earlier), about 10am, now i knew i was in the clear as i used the North/Sth circular on the way down to Sth London stores due to the London boroughs transport scheme, but would be cruising over Chelsea bridge or similar on return (not to check out all the pretty ladies you understand...).
So i had them check the running sheets, and sure enough i was in Grimethorpe that day, some 200 miles away.
Probably some twit had got the wrong number plate, or possible someone was trying it on to get some damage repaired.
I somehow doubt those 2 complimentary's were mine either..;)
I have phoned a mini bus operator once to complain about his driver after witnessing some very dangerous driving with a bus full of school children, the bus operator took it very seriously.
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I was accused of hitting a car on Kew bridge and continuing without stopping
Surely if this had of been true the victim would have taken the reg number and gone to the police. More like someone causing trouble for you, or just a mistake.
My missus rang one once to report an HGV driving none to carefully. Like all things she wasn't expecting much, but a real live human answered the phone and seemed to take it all seriously noting all the details. Notably it was an independent body, nothing to do with the HGV company, and if you give your details you can also join the scheme (they offer you a sticker) and add you on the database.
In general you always notice the bad driver but forget that you can also compliment good driving. Trouble is I'll never remember the number when out driving...
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There was a similar problem on the Kingston Bridge when I drove for a well known washing machine manufacturer. (They also make vacum cleaners) Several people claimed one of our lorries had hit their cars in the space of a few weeks.
All the claims were the same, rear of trailer hit car as lorry was entering the bridge and always in the morning rush hour.
Fleet was self insured, the company paid out on the first couple of claims.
We then started crossing the bridge in convoy when heading to London from Kingston. (was an overnight stop in those days) It meant we could keep an eye on each other.
A few more claims came in but the company asked the complainants to take the damaged vehicle to our Perivale transport depot or report to police.
Stopped quite quickly after that. Never found any damage on the trailers that were alleged to be involved.
We reckoned the local chancers thought they had found a good way of getting their cars repaired after bumping the vehicles themselves.
A few of our drivers lost their safe driving bonus for the year though.
Edited by Alyn Beattie on 27/10/2008 at 12:17
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I seem to recall Jasper Carrott tried it once....
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Here's one scheme: tinyurl.com/6mwtg4
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Here's one scheme: tinyurl.com/6mwtg4
I wonder how many of these schemes just end up attracting socially insecure Daily Mail reading busybodies who think the world should listen and react to their trivialities. See this site for an example.
tinyurl.com/interferingbusybody-co-uk
I hope I never encounter anyone who contributes there.
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Oh goodness, my car's there ! "Being driven like a mimsing carphound !"
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tinyurl.com/interferingbusybody-co-uk I hope I never encounter anyone who contributes there.
If ever a bunch of nitwits needed either a good woman or at least try to get a semblance of a life....
Good find Bagpuss, i'm amazed that SWMBO doesn't feature on their search facility, and she's disappointed.
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>> tinyurl.com/interferingbusybody-co-uk >> >> I hope I never encounter anyone who contributes there.
another example of why the govt's policy of everyone should have acess to the internet is wrong wrong wrong!!!!!!!!!
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I didn't spend much time there, but one contributor has over 300 posts... a real Mr Angry!!
Makes you grateful for the Backroom, when you see what the internet can be like... :-)
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I called a how is my driving number when I was tailgated by a psycho in a merc sprinter, who then went on to overtake over double solid white lines, insane speeding up, braking etc... then I got an operator who in a dull monotone wanted my name and address, promising that the company's transport manager wouldn't reveal it to the driver... oh-kay....
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As a Transport Manager I have been on the receiving end of these.
The company in question handled it all in house, freephone number went through to a dedicated line in the fleet department. They then raised a query and sent it to the relevant vehicles transport manager.
From there we had to identify the driver and then follow up. I always used to ring back the person who raised the query to get the full story from them. I would then interview the driver on his daily debrief about the incident. I would then form an opinion and let the person who raised the query know what I had decided, and done about it.
The driver could end up on a disciplinary because of it, they could also end up on driver training as a result.
But all the calls were handled seriously and none were just dumped!
In my time there though, I never had one to praise the driving they were all for complaints. But I used to get about 5 a year, and that was with a fleet of 26 vehicles and 30 drivers, so not too bad all in all.
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