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Terrifying ! An article from The Times of 10th January:
Lorry drivers fight their lonely nights at the wheel by taking in a road movie France | Adam Sage | Paris |
Driving in Europe this year? Then you’d better look out for lorries, since they may not be looking out for you. A growing number of hauliers have their eyes not so much fixed on the road as on road movies playing on their dashboard DVDs, according to traffic police.
Officials in France, where one driver was recently found to be cooking a meal on a portable gas stove and watching a film while driving along a motorway, are so worried about the trend that they are seeking far harsher punishment for offenders. The fine for watching a film while in charge of a vehicle was increased this weekend from €135 (£111) to €1,500. Police were also given powers to confiscate DVD players.
Officers say that the spread of cruise control systems, which maintain a constant speed, has encouraged long-distance drivers to relax behind the wheel. Several have been caught with their feet on the dashboard. One was recently stopped practising on a set of drums on the motorway. A total of 324 hauliers were caught watching a DVD in France in 2010, the last year for which full figures are available. The signs are that the offence is becoming more frequent. In the Aude département in southern France, police stopped 58 HGV drivers for watching a film in 2009, mainly on the A9 motorway to Spain. The figure was 102 in 2010 and 130 for the first 11 months of last year. Moreover, the true number of drivers watching a DVD is probably higher as only a small proportion are caught.
Officers say they can detect the offence only at night, when the screen light is visible in the cab, and then only by posting themselves on a bridge above the motorway. When police in Montpellier did so last month, they stopped a Pole, a Spaniard and a Lithuanian in an hour. All were viewing DVDs on their laptops. “On long journeys, drivers have got into the habit of watching a film while driving,” said Commander Fara N’Doye, of the Aude gendarmerie. They either install a DVD player in the dashboard, at a cost of up to €500, or put a portable device behind the steering wheel. “This offence can reduce the vigilance and the concentration of the driver and the slightest error can have serious consequences,” said a police spokesman.
Three years ago, a woman in southern France was killed by a lorry driver who hit her car on the hard shoulder while watching a film. Nicolas Paulissen, spokesman for the French National Federation of Road Hauliers, said dashboard DVD players were increasingly common. “They give drivers something to do when they’re parked.” But he insisted that only a small minority watched them on the road. “It’s certainly not general practice,” he added.
The issue is particularly sensitive in France, which has more lorries on its roads than any other European country, but there have also been cases in Britain. Last year, a German driver was stopped in North Wales watching Das Boot, the 1981 movie about a Second World War U-boat. In 2008, a British haulier was banned from driving for 15 months after being caught watching Battlestar Galactica on the M6.
In the US last year, a trucker was found guilty of manslaughter after he hit and killed a woman who had stopped her car after colliding with a deer. He was watching a porn movie and had not noticed her vehicle. Attempts to combat the boredom of road journeys were highlighted in the 1940 film, They Drive by Night, when Humphrey Bogart played a driver who fell asleep at the wheel.
This also happens by British lorry drivers in Britain, there is footage on one of the Traffic Cops style programs where they have a police lorry cab that they use for catching lorry drivers on film doing these antics.
Yup! We passed one on the M27 just two days ago steering with his elbows and using both hands to send a text message on his mobile.
______________________________________________________________ "On all the oceans white caps flow,
You see no crosses row on row
But those who sleep beneath the sea,
Rest in peace for your country is free".
I have seen several with their feet on the dash and more that a few wandering all over the road, clearly either falling asleep or doing something while driving. It's frightening, Alan.
Having dealt with many RTC's my personal view for anyone caught doing such a n insane, dangerous and plainly stupid thing would be a mandatory 12 months imprisonment and a LIFETIME driving ban.
Draconian? certainly, effective? I would think so, likely to happen? no chance!!
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