Earlier this morning I was on my way to work , southbound on the new section of the M74 , passing Rutherglen , maintaining 60mph in lane one , in compliance with the limit on that section of road .
It was a little before 8am , so not properly daylight yet , and given that it had been foggy further back most people were on dipped headlamps or fog lamps .
I was following a white van , doing the same speed as I was , there was some traffic behind , and a few people speeding by at 70 or more , but not all that busy .
The White van and I were catching up with a flatbed truck towing a plant trailer , doing 30 or 40 in lane one , and completely unlit ; the van moved out into lane two to overtake , as did I , then , just as the van was alongside the trailer , the truck drifted out into lane two , forcing the van to brake and swerve into lane three - I had to brake moderately hard , staying in lane two behind the trailer , and a speeder coming up in lane three had to stand on his brakes to avoid the van which had been forced into his path . I should add there was nothing else in lane one to give the truck reason to move out , the next on ramp was still quite some way ahead .
The truck driver seemed oblivious to all of this and proceeded to continue in lane two , unlit , at no more than 40 mph ! When safe , I overtook him , giving a loud blast of my horn before passing , just so that he was aware of me .
As I left him behind , I could see him in my rear view mirror drifting between lanes one and two .
Then , praise be , about a mile further on , there was a police traffic car stopped on the hard shoulder beside another car with hazard lights going . I quickly stopped , jumped out and explained what had just happened to the two cops sitting in the car , pointing out the errant vehicle as it passed and finishing with the words 'I wonder if he's been drinking' .
The police driver replied 'we'll have a look and find out , thank you sir' before taking off after him .
By the time I had rejoined the traffic flow , I saw them on the hard shoulder another mile or so down 'having a word' with the truck driver .
It was a little before 8am , so not properly daylight yet , and given that it had been foggy further back most people were on dipped headlamps or fog lamps .
I was following a white van , doing the same speed as I was , there was some traffic behind , and a few people speeding by at 70 or more , but not all that busy .
The White van and I were catching up with a flatbed truck towing a plant trailer , doing 30 or 40 in lane one , and completely unlit ; the van moved out into lane two to overtake , as did I , then , just as the van was alongside the trailer , the truck drifted out into lane two , forcing the van to brake and swerve into lane three - I had to brake moderately hard , staying in lane two behind the trailer , and a speeder coming up in lane three had to stand on his brakes to avoid the van which had been forced into his path . I should add there was nothing else in lane one to give the truck reason to move out , the next on ramp was still quite some way ahead .
The truck driver seemed oblivious to all of this and proceeded to continue in lane two , unlit , at no more than 40 mph ! When safe , I overtook him , giving a loud blast of my horn before passing , just so that he was aware of me .
As I left him behind , I could see him in my rear view mirror drifting between lanes one and two .
Then , praise be , about a mile further on , there was a police traffic car stopped on the hard shoulder beside another car with hazard lights going . I quickly stopped , jumped out and explained what had just happened to the two cops sitting in the car , pointing out the errant vehicle as it passed and finishing with the words 'I wonder if he's been drinking' .
The police driver replied 'we'll have a look and find out , thank you sir' before taking off after him .
By the time I had rejoined the traffic flow , I saw them on the hard shoulder another mile or so down 'having a word' with the truck driver .
:bannana:
