Moral Dilemma

[Peterbilt Pilot]

Having used my dashcam now for a few weeks I find myself in a moral dilemma. What to do with recordings of particularly dangerous behaviour by other professionals. Ordinary motorists' bad behaviour I find kind of funny(I tend to think of them as errant children) but when there is a big rig involved people can get killed. I've overcome the resolution issue, i.e. unable to read license plates, by simply reading the numbers aloud and letting the dashcam record it with the video. I don't want to get people fired, but I would like to see corrective action taken. There are far too many accidents caused by driver error resulting in death and injury. The other morning before daylight I observed 2 tractor trailer dump trucks racing and endangering lives. One truck was actually committing a crime (felony) and the other numerous (summery) HTA offenses. What to do...my dilemma

 

[adorfer]

Just to make it a bit more complicated: Where would you put taxi drivers in this scheme?

 

[sludgeguts]

I can't see the dilemma.
People who drive for a living should have been given additional training in order to carry out their duties.
I rarely see my peers driving in a way I would question - but when I do, I have no qualms about reporting them & showing my dashcam evidence.
My license is my living, it keeps a roof over my head & puts food on the table - I bear this in mind when I'm out and about.

Taxi drivers should, by virtue of their employment, be much better drivers than normal motorists. Sadly, these days, anyone who has passed their test can drive a taxi, very few have to go the extra mile & prove themselves.
End of the day, people are paying them to provide a service, if that service is below the standard (the benchmark is the highway code) then I WILL ALWAYS report.
Email to licensing authority AND police (if appropriate).

Someone once asked me "what gives you the right to name and shame, to be judge, jury and executioner?"
My answer - 30 years' driving experience, HGV, PSV/PCV and IAM.
The police are spread way to thinly to be an effective force against poor driving standards, the driving public MUST police itself else government will see falling standards and start to make our lives worse - we are already seeing this with many local streets getting enforced speed restrictions, speed bumps/chicanes etc, more traffic lights to slow down the flow...

 

[Sabe]

What to do...my dilemma

The big issue is not them, the big issue is you.
Do you really want to spent your life judging other people on the road :?:



I could say more, but i want to keep that issue simple.

 

[Tokai]

everyone, especially these adult got drive license need to know,
they need to take responsibility for everything they do.
you may die/injured/pay the fine/get fired because of the action you take, so do the others.
And don't expect you can/they will make it like nothing happened,
it's you asked for it, or you shouldn't do it in the beginning.

 

[adorfer]

The big issue is not them, the big issue is you.
Do you really want to spent your life judging other people on the road :?:

I agreee: That's the real issue.
If you like to dump all of your current hobbies and spare time activities, you can replace them by a second full time job like
"filing complaints about other drivers, preparing evidence videos and probably appear in court all over the country on a weekly basis"

 

[Evan55]

What to do...my dilemma

The big issue is not them, the big issue is you.
Do you really want to spent your life judging other people on the road :?:



I could say more, but i want to keep that issue simple.

so you would be just fine with it if your family (or yourself) got killed by a truck driver driving recklessly?

you're right. it is a simple issue.

 

[Horsepow3r]

I have driven a tractor-trailer for 16 years. While I have seen plenty of "professional" drivers do dumb crap on the road, rarely is the time I would call their dispatcher. It takes a serious offense for me to make that effort. If the driver made a simple mistake, that's one thing. But if I see one make multiple 'mistakes' or he/she is just downright a menace on the road, by all means call. I've only done so maybe 6 times. You can bet that these drivers were a serious danger to the public and absolutely deserved whatever punishment they got for being idiots.

 

[sludgeguts]

What to do...my dilemma

The big issue is not them, the big issue is you.
Do you really want to spent your life judging other people on the road :?:



I could say more, but i want to keep that issue simple.

so you would be just fine with it if your family (or yourself) got killed by a truck driver driving recklessly?

you're right. it is a simple issue.

I'm more than happy to watch 40 ton lorries being driven by someone watching videos on their laptop or engrossed in conversation on their mobile.
More than happy to have a 40 ton lorry swap lanes right on top of me because the driver was too 'busy' to check his mirrors.

With freedom comes responsibility. If too many act irresponsibly, dashcams may become compulsory in ALL vehicles.
Alternatively, the tech is already out there to install a small black box in the car - link this to the body computer so you cannot do anything without the box sending ALL info to monitoring computers - and not just GPS info but all the other stuff that you can pull out of the OBD port.

There is no dilemma, someone breaks the law - report, simple.

 

[Milamber]

My general rule of thumb is this, if the driver is endangering life to the extent that other vehicles or persons are having to evade a retard then I report it and that includes road rage.

 

[cantremember]

I also draw a line between acceptable offences, mistakes and reckless driving.

For example, it is IMO acceptable to drive over solid lines to overtake a really slow tractor trailer or take an exit in a traffic jam (if the exit is not too far head). Or for example going slightly over the limit when the posted speed limits are too draconian.

Then dangerous situations can also arise when a driver makes a mistake. Truck drivers might not always be in familiar places. Everyone has an off day and with dense traffic cars can be quite impatient with truck drivers, they don't always deserve to get reported and risk to lose the job they make a living of.

TBH I don't often see trucks misbehaving, mostly it is young drivers in small cars or drivers in their 20'ies driving Audis (speeding) or BMW (reckless driving). Also I don't really care enough to go and inspect the footage for the company and find a number to complain to unless it was REALLY bad.

 

[drh]

I also draw a line between acceptable offences, mistakes and reckless driving.

+1

 

[Peterbilt Pilot]

Some interesting replies here. I find that motorists not being able to see around trucks is the biggest factor. The problem arises due to following too closely. Here in the Greater Toronto Area the highways are extremely congested, we have a lot of immigrants from 3rd world countries who are naturally pursuing their dreams, including car ownership. Some of these drivers come from countries without decent roads, let alone the common man owning a car, are tossed into the frey.
Darwins' "Law of Natural Selection", where the weakest are doomed to extinction runs smack into a new "law" of "Industrial Elimination", falling victim to machine 'mishaps'.
There is an acute shortage of truck drivers here, probably due to the long hours away from home and inadequate pay. Many new immigrants choose this as a career. Can you see where I'm going here ? ( another moral dilemma ) telling it like it is.
New drivers, sometimes only a half generation removed from dirt roads, animal drawn vehicles and the horn being the way to get from A to B. Now they face fast moving traffic where the rules of the road are the key to survival for all. Put this driver ( with not, shall we say, "command" of their new language ) behind the wheel of a Big Rig and you have a recipe for disaster. Most of these new drivers take a course on how to pass the MTO test. I was told by one examiner that the failure rate is over 90%.
It's time to call truck driving a trade, with apprentices, journeymen and so forth. Perhaps the route to take is a prescibed period to be spent on long distance two man operation ( these companies are practically begging for drivers) job as a second driver, before graduating to solo. There is no substitute for experience. Check your mirrors before changing lanes guys and don't forget to keep right except to pass. Countries with the British system excepted ( keep left ).Hope I haven't muddied the water too much. Keep the shiney side up.