Factory traffic - how do I complain?

Snowy Celandine

Snowy Celandine

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I took my new lad out for a short trip in the trailer yesterday to see how he travelled. We were out for 20 mins and all was well until we were nearly home. We have to pass a factory entrance/exit on a narrow lane and a blue Vauxhall Cavalier shot out at speed and nearly went headfirst into my car :eek: Because I am sitting quite high up in my 4x4 I could see the young male driver was looking to the right but he never once looked to the left (direction from which I was coming) before shooting out of the factory exit. I had to brake sharply even though I was travelling very slowly and it was the nearest miss I have ever had. The driver sped off and I had to pull over and check my horse was ok - fortunately he was - and wait until I had stopped shaking before driving the final few hundred yards home.

This is by no means the first time this has happened to me. I would say that it is a weekly occurrence at least and the same for my livery yard colleagues. We know the problem stems from the fact that the factory workers are mainly drawn from a pool of European workers who are used to driving on the right hand side of the road. There have been previous accidents on nearby roads (one witnessed by my OH) due to drivers setting out on the wrong side of the road. Just in case anyone feels that I am being racist I should perhaps point out the my husband is exactly the same nationality as the factory workers to whom I am referring.

So, who do I complain to about the situation? Do the council have a department that deals with road safety? I think someone else contacted the factory owners at one point because big signs appeared outside the factory exit telling drivers to look both ways before leaving the site but they seem to have got used to these signs and are now ignoring them :(:mad:
 
Perhaps people comeing from abroad should be made to take a test here, before being allowed to put others in danger, no doubt some innocent persons will have to suffer serious injury or death "before" anything gets done, as per usual.:mad:
 
I would suggest that you contact your local County Council Highways Department and advise them of the problem. I would also get others to write to the highway department as the more individuals that write in the more likely they are to do something about it. Also contact your local district and county councillors.
 
Pedantic - I too would welcome a road safety test for drivers used to driving on the opposite side of the road.

Janette - Thanks for your suggestion. I have also posted this in SoapBox and henryhorn also suggested approaching the factory owner directly which I think is a great idea so I have decided to ring them next week and see what they say.

If nothing changes or they don't want to talk to me I will ring the council for advice. I won't let it drop though because the situation is dangerous and there will be an accident at some point if it is allowed to continue. I have never dared hack past the factory because I cannot risk my horses getting injured or killed by a driver who cannot even see a 4x4 and large blue trailer :eek:
 
Thank you Peter Natt. I will do as you suggest. I am sure that every one of us at the yard will be keen to write letters of complaint as this issue affects us all :(
 
Interesting. IMO UK drivers are taught better (or they used to be!). As an English woman living in The Netherlands I am shocked by the standard of driving here. (Don't get me started!) So much so that I have vowed to send my daughter to the UK to take lessons. Obviously she will also need a few lessons here when she comes back to get her used to driving on this side. And, by the way, I have encountered quite a few English drivers here driving on the wrong side. Gives you a quite a shock.
Not sure if the council will do anything. As has been said, it usually needs someone to be killed or badly injured before something will be done.
 
Thanks for your comments micramadam. As I said, my comments are not indicative of any racist intentions (my husband and his family share the same nationality as the majority of the factory workers) but rather the simple fact that the factory workers are often not looking out for traffic in the correct place when leaving the factory. I am sure that English drivers in the Netherlands cause exactly the same problems if they mistakenly drive on the wrong side of the road.

I understand what you are saying about a serious accident having to occur before anything will be done to improve the situation but I am honestly not prepared to sacrifice myself in order to draw attention to the danger :eek: I don't really think that you were suggesting that by the way :D
 
We have the same problem where I live.Maybe the factory owner could put a sign at the entrance to warn the drivers to be more vigalent!
 
Jinglejoys - there are already two signs telling drivers how to leave the site safely but they seem to have got used to them and are now ignoring them :(
 
Maybe ask the factory if they can erect signs stating 'look both ways' in the European language of the workers. Perhaps when you write, if you write the exact phrase your husband thinks best eg My husband, being from xxxxx himself, suggests the most effect phrase would be 'yyyy yyyyy yy!' - if you tell them what to write in the same way as you would write a press release by gearing it to the content/phrases as used in the publication, it always works best.
 
Why not get your better half to write a letter to them in their own language and get the factory owner to give them out to each of his work force. If the factory owner refuses to do it then get the police involved and maybe they would be prepared to wait outside the factory at clsoing timeand catch a few of them driving without due care and attention. All it takes is for one or two of them to be caught and they will all be more carefull in the future.
 
I am sorry to say but it is unlikely that anything can be done. Yes they may be driving like idiots but they are legally allowed to drive over here. You would be horrified if you saw some of the people I have to teach - people who are over here legitimately using international driving licences. I am a driving instructor, i teach all sorts of people but at the moment I have 3 people who are driving here on international licences that are chinese. They are allowed to drive in the uk for 12 months on an international licence and then are supposed to take the UK test -to get around this they simply go back to China and then come back on another 12 month international licence. The test in China takes place in a large car park - they go forward 100m - then backwards 100m. then they do a figure of 8 round some cones. then park between two poles, no road signs to learn, no road markings to take account of. The ones I have got to teach are doing so because they are finding it so scarey driving on UK roads. Only one has any intention of taking a Uk test and to be fair he is doing well now. But initially it was harder than teaching a total beginner as he had no idea about UK roads. But he had driven his fathers car all round Beijing - what struck me as even more amazing was that that car was a fully marked up police car with the blues. the other two I am teaching are totally hopless, they do not understand road signs and road markings. They have no interest in what is happening outside their own car - and are really not able to understand how their behaviour impact on others. I am also teaching someone who bought a licence in Indonisia!!!! I am not being racist I am simply stating that the Uk driving law is rather stupid. On our roads and living in the UK- then pass our test. The Uk driving test is one of the best in the world, and is continually being improved.

Perhaps you could suggest that the factory arranges a couple of 'good driving days' with a local driving instructor, or ROSPA. Perhaps you can suggest the local police get involved with driving standards, or runs a lunchtime lecture on the effects of bad driving. Basically the factory is not responsible for the conduct of it's employees off it's premises but they may respond in the interest of sommunity relations.
 
Bosworth said:
I am sorry to say but it is unlikely that anything can be done. Yes they may be driving like idiots but they are legally allowed to drive over here. You would be horrified if you saw some of the people I have to teach - people who are over here legitimately using international driving licences. I am a driving instructor, i teach all sorts of people but at the moment I have 3 people who are driving here on international licences that are chinese. They are allowed to drive in the uk for 12 months on an international licence and then are supposed to take the UK test -to get around this they simply go back to China and then come back on another 12 month international licence. The test in China takes place in a large car park - they go forward 100m - then backwards 100m. then they do a figure of 8 round some cones. then park between two poles, no road signs to learn, no road markings to take account of. The ones I have got to teach are doing so because they are finding it so scarey driving on UK roads. Only one has any intention of taking a Uk test and to be fair he is doing well now. But initially it was harder than teaching a total beginner as he had no idea about UK roads. But he had driven his fathers car all round Beijing - what struck me as even more amazing was that that car was a fully marked up police car with the blues. the other two I am teaching are totally hopless, they do not understand road signs and road markings. They have no interest in what is happening outside their own car - and are really not able to understand how their behaviour impact on others. I am also teaching someone who bought a licence in Indonisia!!!! I am not being racist I am simply stating that the Uk driving law is rather stupid. On our roads and living in the UK- then pass our test. The Uk driving test is one of the best in the world, and is continually being improved.
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That sounds like my mates husband. He was telling me how dangerous he was and how scared she is in the car with him. He is worse when they have been back to nigeria for a week or so. She undertakes, swerves, weaves in and out of traffic.

My OH will just casually walk across the roads here - not using crossings. I refuse to as even on the pelicans you cannot guarantee that folk round here will stop! I have had too many near misses. Also, I know it could be UK national Locals, but to be honest, The majority of uk locals here dont seem to have cars. And the PL plates give it away

And then yesterday we saw a cracker at the local shop. An EE woman pulled up in a car with some kids - I then noticed that one in the back was themselves holding - and trying in vain to restrain - a child of about 2. When I came out the shop (she 3was behind me) said child was in the front honking the horn and reving the engine!

Needless to say I took her reg and called the police. This country has rules..........EVERYONE has to follow them!
 
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