Tesco drivers breach safety rules, according to internet gossip
8.12.07 by Buffalo Bill
Someone posted the report about the cyclist killed in Brixton on Thursday night to the Very Little Helps forum, which is full of criticism of Tesco. This is presumably because the collision involved a Tesco lorry/HGV/LGV/artic. I was able to track this through my logs of referring sites. Scanning the forum quickly, I see some very worrying reports of drivers breaching Tesco’s own risk assessments’ recomendations.
As some or all of these reports are anonymous, they are not proof of anything. However, one mentions a Tesco driver who was suspended for refusing to carry out a task which would have breached risk assesment rules, and another talks two deaths resulting from collisions with lorries delivering to Tescos. I find a worrying pattern emerging. If it is the case that Tesco encourages a culture of rule-breaking, then fatal collisions involving their lorries are bound to occur. Given that there are so many Tesco lorries on the road (Tesco’s organisation follows the ‘just-in-time’ model, which requires quick delivery of stock from warehouses to retail space), this is cause for great concern.
I don’t really want to get into a general discussion of whether or not Tesco is a good thing (if you know me, you will know exactly where I stand on that), but a quick google of tesco lorry safety reveals this story of appalling attitudes towards deliveries at a Tesco Express in Cardiff.
< Cyclist killed by collision with Tesco lorry in Brixton · House of Pistard 'Goddamn Canuck Fund' hits £750 >
Tesco sucks, Sainsbury’s sucks, Asda sucks, Iceland sucks, Lidl sucks, Morrisons sucks, Marks and Spencers sucks ass. It all sucks ass like Dyson. Buy one tomato, get one free. Kiss my fu*kin ass. Kiss my tomato red ass c*nts. Take me and my brothers and sisters for fools at your fec*in peril :-0
— messyanger 10 December 2007, 03:30 #
Starting in April 2008, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
www.personneltoday.c…
is meant to hold employers more responsible for their employees’ negligent actions. Which I would also think includes punishment for forcing your employees to do things which violate reasonable safety precautions.
— Kerry 11 December 2007, 16:07 #
A Tesco delivery driver attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against me last April (2006).
Tesco showed little interest in the issue, it took them a week to even register that I had sent them an email, a week in which this driver was free to act in the same manner.
What followed was the standard ‘we will investigate’ response which from a large company like Tesco you can guarantee will mean very little.
Nothing of course happened, the driver was not disciplined, I presume he is still in their service, I presume when the mood takes him he will still steer his vehicle at cyclists who annoy him in an attempt to run them off the road.
Anyhow, here is my email to Tesco from April 06.
______
——- Original Message ——-
From: “lee wilson-wolfe” <leewilsonwolfe@hotmail.com>
Date: 19 April 2006
Subject: Complaint – 2nd post
To whom it may concern.
I am not sure which department to email this to so I would be grateful if
you could forward this to the relevant person.
I wish to make a complaint about one of your delivery drivers.
Today – Saturday 15th April 2006 – I found myself on my pedal cycle at the
traffic lights at the junction of Parkway, Delancey Street and Gloucester
Avenue close to Regents Park in North London, this is a regular part of my
journey home as I live close by in Primrose Hill.
As the traffic lights changed to green I pulled away following a black taxi
which was at the front of the traffic queue waiting at the lights. As I left
the lights a white Tesco delivery van appeared on my left sounding his horn
and shouting something towards me (I could not hear through the closed
window), he then proceeded to swerve at me and steer his vehicle into my
path, still shouting, before getting back into lane and driving away.
I was – as you can imagine – very angry at what I judged to be an attempt to
cause harm, even injury, to me. Regardless of what this employee of yours
thought I had done, there is no place on the road for a person to
intimidate, threaten or even attempt to cause injury to other road users
using one of your companies vehicles.
I caught up with your driver a few hundred yards further along Regents Park
Road and confronted him as he turned into Princess Road, I asked him what he
thought he was doing attempting to run me off the road, he offered no
explanation nor apology, when in the heat of – what turned in to a shouting
match – I said I could have been killed, he replied “well your not dead now
are you”.
I could see nothing was going to be resolved in the middle of the street as
I was becoming increasingly angry at his contempt for my road safety and his
lack of willingness to engage with my complaint. He was equally becoming
increasingly angry at my threats to attempt a prosecution through the
police, and when he rolled up the window and started smashing his fists
against it towards me – then getting out of the cab shouting – I felt it was
time to leave before I ended the day in more pieces than I started it.
My immediate thoughts were to contact the police and report the incident,
but on hindsight – after calming down at home for a few minutes – I realised
your drivers intentions were probably not to cause injury me, but simply to
intimidate or threaten me – perhaps at worst to knock me off my bike – but
as I am sure you are aware these reckless actions can easily lead to a road
death or serious injury whether intentional or not – more so when a cyclist
is involved.
I am not by nature a malevolent sort of person and have decided that
recourse to the courts would be a waste of both the drivers time and my own
and perhaps not the best thing to do in this instance. So I will not pursue
a legal path. But I am uncomfortable with the notion that this driver will
eventually cause harm to others if he chooses to deal with other road users
in such a manner, particularly when dealing with a cyclist or pedestrian who
annoys him in some way.
My thoughts as a long time Tesco shopper (and recent convert to your online
services) were to withdraw my custom and do my families shopping elsewhere,
but I am aware this token gesture would not even register with of a company
the size of Tesco and would only cause me inconvenience.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Details of the incident:
The incident took place at the junctions of Parkway, Delancey Street and
Gloucester Avenue in North London at around 4:30pm on Saturday 15th April
2006.
The vechiles number plate was BX55 CYL, it was a white Tesco delivery van
with a broken right front side indicator, the driver was a male around 30 years old.
I would appreciate some kind of feedback to know this complaint has at least got through to the right department.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
— leeww 17 December 2007, 12:40 #