back to article Trucker pulled with DVD and laptop on dashboard

Central Scotland Police have expressed their incredulity at a trucker who was happily making his way from Aberdeen to Dover with a DVD player and laptop on his Hungarian vehicle's dashboard. The well-equipped driver was pulled by road policing unit operatives at Craigforth weighbridge on 21 September, the Telegraph explains, …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous John

    Re "once the problem was rectified".

    What's to stop him unrectifying it further down the road? I doubt that the gear was, or could be confiscated.

    1. The BigYin
      Flame

      Exactly

      "The best way to avoid being involved in a collision, or being caught by my officers"

      Well, as "his officers" are going to do sod all when they do catch someone, why should anyone care? Grow a pair and take these morons to task! This driver should have been prevented from continuing, charged and his employer contacted to deal with the truck.

      [Lack of] Enforcement of the rules in this manner is exactly why there are so many idiots on our roads.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Enforcement?

        Sorry, but there is nothing in the law that would allow the police to prevent the driver from continuing. All the police could do was report the driver with a view to prosecution, this isn't an offence for which they could issue a fixed penalty. Given that he was probably driving on a foreign licence I don't think they could issue a fixed penaly anyway.

        Spout on in your Daily Mail reader fashion if you must, but at least bother to check what powers the police have before you do.

  2. Garry Perez

    Shoulda used one of this doohickys

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/1st-harrison-Laptop-Car-Tray/dp/B00126A7P4

    1. mamsey
      Thumb Down

      Doohickey for those with straight roads

      As it appears to clip over your steering wheel it would be useless when going round corners...

      1. Rattus Rattus

        re "clip over your steering wheel"

        That's part of the point. It's meant for use only when parked.

      2. Mr Ian
        Thumb Up

        Indeed

        That's what's so comical about the laptop tray...

  3. Jacqui

    driving licence

    Some people just pay a fee and get thier licence - no test involved. Then they drive over here with no idea how to even turn a corner never mind reverse into a loading bay. Reversing someone elses lorry into L-bay is now called "doing a hungarian" at certain supermarkets.

  4. John Robson Silver badge
    Stop

    Rectification

    Would involve removal of license.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In the midlands

    The police fitted a truck cab with some cameras looking out the nearside window and overtook a load of truckers to catch them driving dangerously.

    Highlights included reading the paper, watching dvds and frying bacon.

  6. Annihilator
    Megaphone

    Erm, satnav

    "McMillan explained that a key to collision avoidance is not having stuff like DVDs and laptops blocking your view of the road"

    Presumably satnavs that stick to the windscreen are on the no-no list then? Fair enough the guy is a douche, but let's not say that it was for blocking the view of the road - it's for driving without due care and attention.

    1. Charles 9

      Question.

      What if the laptop <em>was</em> the navigator? Laptops can be loaded with map software and be connected to USB- or COM-connected GPS receivers. I've considered the idea myself but, perhaps like this driver, can't think of an elegant solution in terms of placement.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Meh..

    Seen dozens of British and EU trucks with laptops, DVD players etc on the dashboard, one guy watching porn as he drove (at least he had one hand on the wheel)

    Paris likes trucking...

  8. JaitcH
    Pint

    You should see the vehicles in China and S.E. Asia

    In the West we are used to having impressive in-dash audio systems, In my oart of the world the in-dash audio spaces are usually filled with pop-out DVD players and TV screens that can easily be seen by ANYONE in the vehicle, including the driver.

    These devices are also offered as optional accessories for trucks, and the like, too. In VietNam they are commonly fitted in taxi's as their cost is relatively low.

    Maybe this helps explain how over 1,000,000 people are killed in China annually and over 13,000 in VietNam (population ~90-million).

    For those who want to show off their wealth driving their Mercs or Bimmers one way is to fit individual pop-up players for the rear seat passengers.

  9. Pen-y-gors

    but?

    Was he actually watching the DVD or using the laptop at the time, or just using them to block out the sight of the pedestrian disappearing under his wheels?

  10. andy gibson

    "professional drivers"

    Are usually the worst on the road, especially taxi drivers. Flash or "pip" them for their failure to indicate, pull in wherever they want or perform dangerous U-turns and they just give you abuse. So much for professionalism.

    1. Graham Marsden
      Thumb Down

      "professional drivers"?

      Getting paid to drive a taxi, white van, truck or anything else does *NOT* make someone a "professional driver"!

      As you mention, those who think of themselves as "professional drivers" are often extremely *bad* drivers because they think they know it all and probably think they have right of way over everything else on the road too which makes them very dangerous.

      1. John Robson Silver badge
        Pint

        Professional

        Merely means that it's how you earn your living. It implies nothing about skill level.

  11. mafoo

    Or the Romanian kind

    Romanian truck driver:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmp8GuunCU0

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ...and that seems to be filmed in the UK too.

      ..guess I'll be giving the eastern european truckers a bit more room going forward.

      1. Milkfloat

        which part of the uk

        So which part of the UK do we drive on the right?

  12. Pandy06269
    Coat

    Blocking view of the road

    "McMillan explained that a key to collision avoidance is not having stuff like DVDs and laptops blocking your view of the road"

    Of course - blocking the view of the road is the only issue here.

    So if my laptop / DVD player is on my passenger seat, that's OK then? Keeping your eyes on the road and not on the laptop/DVD player is not important, no?

    Mine's the one with the laptop not in the pocket but on my dashboard.

  13. Cameron Colley

    I hate to come over all Daily Mail.

    But how come this guy wasn't fined or banned form driving? If I were to stop at the side of the road and talk on my mobile phone, but happened to leave the engine running, I could expect a fine and point on my licence, or even a ban -- but this guy can drive a truck on main roads while watching a DVD and he just gets a slap on the wrist. How come?

    1. Alan B
      FAIL

      @ Cameron Colley and some others

      I don't see anywhere in the article that says the driver was watching a DVD, just that the player was on the dashboard along with a laptop. Having these items on the dashboard does not mean he was watching/using either of them.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Banned?

      I think you need to have a read through the road traffic act and find the bit that says you can be banned for this. Then again only a Daily Mail reader would think that the police have the power to ban a driver.

      All the police can do in this situation is report the driver with a view to prosecution. And I've read nothing in the story that says they didn't. They can't prevent him from continuing if he rectifies the problem.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Any hin t as to what was playing on his dashtop devices?

    Perhaps some other fine products of Eastern European extraction, of the kind that are used for an entirely different kind of pulling?

  15. Arclight

    So...

    ...does this mean if I did the same I'd get away with 'rectifying' the problem, or the more likely get nicked for driving without due care?

    Hungarian driver, about to leave the uk = police can't be arsed with the paperwork

  16. Wize

    Even if it wasn't obscuring his view...

    ...is it not a bit dangerous to drive while watching films?

    Did he get let off with a warning because he isn't from these shores and it would take too much paperwork?

  17. Thomas 18
    Unhappy

    Zealous police?

    I can't see what's wrong with a stack of hardware on the screen if he isn't actually watching it while driving. So he looses a foot of windscreen view, big deal. It only takes 2 inches of mobile phone screen to cause a way worse problem.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    @Andy GIbson

    Andy, as a "Professional" sometime coach driver, I can assure you that taxi-drivers are in no way professional, and I resent being compared to them - and White Van Man, actually.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Professional

      FFS the word professional means you make a living from something. Buy a dictionary and pull your neck in.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    HiTek Bulgarian.....Airbags???

    along with at least 6 points to his licence and a fat fine for both him and the haulage company he works for......

    Hopefully

    Paris cos she knows all about DVD's and Airbags....

  20. Herbert Meyer
    Coffee/keyboard

    maybe he was watching the road...

    Perhaps he had the nose camera piped to the laptop screen. Probably not, though.

    Anybody else see the irony that the cop who pulled him also has a laptop mounted on his dash, to check plate numbers and driver warrants (at least they do in the states).

  21. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    New law

    So a new law will be rushed in to ban DVD players on dashboards

    Then some celeb will get off on the basis that they were watching a Blu-Ray

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    I would have it all the way around...

    My laptop would be wired to the rig, showing everything, from oil flow to tire's pressure to extra cameras on blind spots. Regular dashes these days lack so much information. Most cars won't even show the engine temperature, for chrissakes!

    I'm thinking 747 with glass cockpit right now for some reason.

    I had a car that showed even battery voltage and oil pressure. On a regular sedan. I loved that dash. You knew the car engine was cold in the morning because the oil pressure was too high. As it heated, the oil thinned out, and the pressure dropped. If it didn´t drop, was a dead giveaway for oil change, for example.

  23. Sir Runcible Spoon

    Sir

    Perhaps the underinflated tyre allowed the cab to drop enough to rectify the loss of forward vision over the laptop screen?

  24. Chris Hunt

    Not a surprise

    On a recent trip to the Lakes my girlfriend spotted two lorry drivers reading the paper whilst driving, one of them was using his mobile too (didn't see them myself - I was concentrating on driving!).

    These wagons typically have cruise control, so the drivers are in no danger of being caught be a speed camera. Since that's the only kind of law enforcement that we have on the roads these days, it's hardly surprising that this happens.

    We need more traffic cops, with powers to DO something about these clowns.

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