UKIP pledge to scrap lorry driver training would harm road safety, says HGV operator

Tovarishch you are right and wrong at the same time. There is the Operator's Certificate of Professional Competence, required for the Operator's Licence, and the Driver's Certificate of Professional Competence which didn't exist when you and I got our Operator's Licences.

As Oz and others have pointed out a lot of the training is a bit "Never mind the quality, feel the width!". Whilst some courses are certainly excellent there are an awful lot of courses that are all about racking up the required 35 hours. There is no exam at the end of these courses; they are attendance based. Sign in, sit there, get the training credit.

There is a strong feeling within the haulage industry that these courses are more about raising revenue than improving road safety.

Not all holders of LGV licences are required to obtain a Driver's CPC. Mobile Crane Operators require an LGV licence to drive on the public road but do not require a Driver's CPC as they do not carry goods (either own or hire and reward).

If only they were babbling in the wilderness but there appear to be a growing number of them. Don't people recognise them for the party they really are (namely the BNP in drag)?

UKIP. Brainless fuckwits babbling in the wilderness.

UKIP are just completely mad aren't they.

Well things must have changed since I sat my CPC or you have got it all wrong. It used to be required for the O (Operator license) holder to have a CPC., not the drivers. Basically it is an examination on driver's hours, weight limits, required maintenance and nothing to do with driving. I had my HGV1 for 15 years before I sat the CPC.

As someone who answers to three compulsory regulatory bodies and is forced to answer to a fourth 'voluntary' one just to stay in business, I understand the frustration of regulation compliance. However, I don't drive a time bomb through public space and will not kill anyone if I drop dead at work after finishing a double-everything all-day-breakfast. The country and the economy relies enormously on the transport system and it makes sense that the drivers operating the vehicles are given a compulsory heads-up occasionally. It's not onerous and should be seen as a benefit by the drivers - especially the bit about nutrition; it seems to me that many of them must pop out for a fag during the salad lesson.

I just want to say the Driver's CPC is a joke, it's another way for the government to take money from the drivers, I can c the point if it's to help the drivers, but u can do the same course 5 times and it all counts to your CPC, being that allot of Europe are not doing the CPC for the same reason that i have given above why should we do it, the CPC done not make sense and should b scraped, I'm all for learning, but if its nothing to do with transport why do we need to do it.

Ignoring the safety issue for a moment, why would it be:

"causing job losses, because of the added administration and expense to hauliers."

If there's a certain amount of freight that needs moving and every haulier has to do this then the cost just passes to the customer.

perhaps maybe the CPC should become part of the test required to drive these Killer machines, and not another piece of paper and added bureaucracy?
I thought the biggest issue was the blindspots on these vehicles?
although maybe a camera mounted to look down th side of the vehicle could help (Like reverse cameras on cars) in the interim?

More UKIP related click-bait (it worked on me).

Agree with 3mkru73 above that the vast majority of HGV & bus drivers are considerate around cyclists, although when you meet the odd one that isn't it can be very scary.

I'm in the NW though, the congestion and stress involved in driving in the SE / London may result in more dangerous behaviour

From personal experience, using roads regularly used by all types of HGV's I can say hand on heart that CPC must be working as the vast majority of lorry drivers are very considerate to cyclists in the North East. Only this morning 3 lorries and a skip truck gave me more than a cars width when overtaking me.
I have only once had a very close pass by a car transporter, on a wide road where they could have easily had more take over space. It wasn't a UK plated vehicle though.
Respect works both ways. I know not to overtake or go up the inside of a stationary lorry. Cyclist training is just as important.

Better Transport - an odd campaign group.

They say: 'We support cycling as part of our wider transport policy work, but it's not an area we work in specifically.'

That's not exactly 'support' is it.

Huge comercial vehicles, which disproportionately kill and injure, cause huge damage to roads and create massive amounts of pollution and noise are regulated nowhere near enough. I'm sure everyone reading has witnessed horrific, thoughtless driving of these machines.

Lorries already receive £5bn in subsidies - http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/new-research-britain’s-lorries-receiving-£5bn-annual-subsidy - the very least they can do is bear the cost of this minimal amount of additional driver training that may have already saved lives and may continue to do so.

More training and less UKIP bullshit needed.

Considering UKIP have little to no chance of getting any significant presence in the next parliament, does another crackpot 'pledge' of theirs matter?

Considering UKIP have little to no chance of getting any significant presence in the next parliament, does another crackpot 'pledge' of theirs matter?