Crying Polish truck driver on British roads is Internet hit

There a plenty of truck stops. By his own admission he's been an international lorry driver for 20 years. He knows where he can park. He also knows why it's an absolute no-no to park on the hard shoulder of a motorway.

No, they don't park on hard shoulder - they are monitored and the Police arrive in minutes. 'Parking' is impossible.

he pulled over becuase there was congestion - why sit in a traffic jam when you can just sit on the hard shoulder boil up some potatoes and have a meal? Problem is thats illegal and the hard shoulder is there for emergencies, it wont function as a hard shoulder with HGV's sat there.

Monia, please don't just believe it... I honestly believe you are wrong, I know I have no proof but I believe you are just trying to see the worst in British people here. It's a program and I do believe it is real and I just don't see it being all 'acted out'. It's just not that kind of program, honestly.


I don't understand why you can't see what he did was wrong? You don't cut potatoes on the road... You don't talk on the phone on the road... There are other things you should not do when driving. You do not just park up on a motorway. It's just something you don't do. It's just that simple. I know it's not a HUGE crime, but still it's a crime, and you're fighting the law. In Uk, traffic cops are strict and that's just the way it is. I'm sorry a Polish person was humiliated on TV but it doesn't mean you have to defend his 'actions.'

People need to try understanding each other instead of just thinking about their own country/people. There's just too much hatred.

Plastic Pole why are you trying so hard to make excuses? Your "but maybes" have become routine. He did wrong. He was fined for it after they dealt with his childish behavior. You so desperatly want for it not to be his fault and it doesn't make sense. If he your uncle or something?

And they were nice enough to overlook him waving a knife around.


Given that BBC producers will be fired if they get caught passing off staged material as documentary material (i.e. will suffer a direct financial loss and loss of the confidence needed to for their professional duties) and given that the BBC is extremely sensitive to allegations that documentary material has been faked, monia might want to be careful with her accusations.

Oh, sorry, I forgot that she's repeatedly proved she knows bugger all about libel law.

.


PP when was the last time you drove on a UK motorway? of course there are places to park..they are called 'service stations', which have 'lorry parks' or should i say, just to be clear, 'truck stops'

FGS.

It was't just him. He had pictures of hundreds more. Why are all these people parked only in the U K? It is strange. What is the explanation?

One explanation could be quite simple,and Im trying to see a good side to their actions, a British Lorry would have no problems pulling off the motorway into a minor road to pull over for a break,but,these European Lorries have the stearing wheel on the wrong side,I suppose they prefer to spend as little time as possible on minor roads for this reason alone.

But, they still have plenty of huge truck stops every few miles on every major road in the UK,pulling over is lazy and dangerous.

If they pull over in a traffic jam and that jam has been caused by an accident how are the EMT and Fire Trucks meant to get to the accident if the emergency lane is blocked by truckers cooking their supper?

2 last points, Polish Lorry drivers are notorious for being reckless on UK roads,one reason could be simply they have had the longest journey to get here and the shortest time to adapt to driving on the proper side of the road.

Secondly, even though the Police are not held in high regard by many people in the UK all the time,what most people agree on is that we would prefer more Traffic Police and wish they would make more use of existing Traffic laws to make the roads safer. Legal speed limit is 70 mph, most people do 85 mph,idiots go over 100 mph, bit scarier than a US highway with a 55mph speed limit when you think about it....

Oh so its just confusing for them so they do the easiest thing possible. I can see why it would be a problem. Thanks isthatu, it is becoming more clear. However, this raises another concern...just how safe is it with all these confused lorry drivers on the highways?

Are you kidding me Plastic Pole? Yes there were others but they LEFT when told to. He did not. Why will you and Monia not see the issues instead of making every excuse possible.

Eberhart, there shouldnt jave been any. Are you aware this pronlem does mot exisr everywhere but seems to be quite widespred across the pond. Its time to figure out the root cause and implement appropriate changes.

The no parking hard shoulder rule exists in a lot of places for a very good reason. You exhibit the typical Polish behavior of blaming everything and everyone but the person who did it. Should not have expected anything else.

Eberhart, the law exists but isnt a problem everywhere. Certainly isnt one here. That fact should be acknowledged.

Wow I can't believe we are 9 pages into this discussion,PlasticPole,I agree the problem needs to be addressed;What if the driver had to pull over to rest and absolutely couldn't drive anymore?They really need to extend the width of the emergency lane drastically.It's very foolish,how

narrow they have these lanes.

P3undone, so true! Also, the mans truck was blocking aother road which is actually worse than just being parked on the shoulder.

Lorries in Europe are fitted with tachographs to prevent drivers from driving so long that they're too tired to be safe. If he absolutely couldn't drive for some other reason then that would be a medical issue. The hard shoulder is designed for emergencies and if a driver takes ill or has a mechanical fault the police can help him. There was no such issue. He was instead trying to abuse the rules of the road (of which he and any other international lorry driver is well aware) and got caught for it. And then behaved very badly indeed.

Is there any way of finding out his name? He deserves a bit more negative publicity for his appalling behaviour.

Jon357,Why do you feel he needs to be berated more.The situation was dealt with.He's probably being chided everywhere he goes'anyway.

That is a very plausible explanation. Continental semi-truck drivers perched in their seats high above a small British road, with their steering wheels on the left side of their trucks, are indeed in a precarious situation.


The speed limit has been raised on many US highways to 65 mph, but road systems in Britain are often scarier than those in the USA Take Britain's roundabouts as an example. These types of circular roadway are almost non-existant in the USA. There is a sort of roundabout in the city of Long Beach California known as The Traffic Circle which is quite dangerous. Legend has it that the man who designed The Traffic Circle was killed in one of its numerous traffic accidents.

Roundabouts exist all over Europe and an international lorry driver with 20 years experience should know what to do with them.


To make damn sure he doesn't do anything like that again and as a warning to others who might.

Interesting to find the guy's name.

LOL I said the same exact thing just now!..............talk about your bloviators hahaha

*snores gently*

Traffic circles are a notoriously bad idea!

Jon, the poor guy has been through enough. He has paid his 30€ by now and the cops know who he is. He has learned his lesson the hard way.

I suspect that by going on and on about it and introducing red herrings about roundabouts (was he even near one?) people will forget how badly the jerk behaved.

Rybnik,lol,I didn't think there would be more than 2;let alone 9.I'm sure the driver's been catching a lot of flack and won't make that mistake anytime soon.

Its hairy,Ive been cut up twice by a Polish Lorry and countless times by other european registered cars. I only drive on the motorways now when I have to go more than about a hundred miles,when I first started driving only about 12 years ago Id nip on and off them like rat runs,last few years with all the open borders and cheeper european petrol we have far far more euro drivers on our roads as its cheaper to hire a truck on the continent which will buy petrol at continentatal prices to deliver to the UK than send a UK lorry over to the continent. Money over saftey, the Traffic cops can be over zelous,but,at the end of the day I prefer that to lazy Police work :)

Oh.and as an aside Traffic cops are notorious even amongst fellow cops for not letting anyone off if the offence is serious enough,there have been a few cases over the last couple of years of Traffic cops landing very senior Police officers in court on Drunk Driving charges :)


If you expand a highway in America,no offence but you might disturb a few goffer holes or whatever, if you do that in the UK you either knock someones house down,build on vital farmland or plough through a 3 thousand year old historical heritage site :)

But,they are narrow because they are not for parking on.....seriously,there is no need to make them wider,this will just confuse the issue even more. Ive seen a French registered car pulled up quite literally in the non lane in the middle of a duel carriageway with the nice smart looking middle aged couple puzzling over a map. Put simply,continentals are frigging crazy when they get on UK roads :)

It takes me about 3 days when I go over to Europe to look in the right direction every time i cross a road and Im always in Europe but people who spend all their life driving on the other side of the road just drive off a ferry straight onto a road system designed for cars with the steering on the other side........

I always remember two coppers discussing the back road route they were going to take to get back to the police station. Apparently they were trying to avoid the traffic cops who would never miss an opportunity to prosecute normal cops. They would single out Police for special treatment and the police were scared of them.

Then he would be prosecuted for not stopping earlier. The longest section between junctions in the UK is about 20 miles - no excuses for not stopping earlier.

Wow ! Is that thread still going ?
I'm going to burst into tears !