Right, I know this probably belongs in the Health forum, so if it gets moved, fair do’s.
My partners step dad drives class 1, night trunking, and is diabetic. By his own admission, he gets tired quite easily at work, and has admitted to ‘zoning out’ a couple times, (he admitted that one night, he could see amber beacons in the distance, next thing he know’s he’s on top of it and had to take evasive action to avoid it!). He also admits he has to stop quite often to have a sleep, despite doing the job for well over 3yrs so should be used to it by now, and spends all day, upto 12hrs, in bed.
Now, his getting tired at work, zoning out etc, as it could be related to his diabetes, would you report him to whoever? Now, I know he’s my gf’s stepdad, and I could turn a blind eye and say nothing, but thought about it quite a lot, and there’s the what if, what if he zones out and ploughs in to someone or something.
Would you report it? If so, what is the likely outcome, would it be followed up?
Should have added, his wife knows, he pays no attention to her, he won’t mention anything to his Dr, and also very rarely follows his Dr’s advice unless it suits him. As an example, he is severely overweight, yet any diet advice from his Dr regarding his weight and diabetes hasn’t been listened to.
If his wife knows then you should try to persuade her to do any grassing up, that way you won’t end up as the bad guy
Usually I’d keep my trunk out of other people’s business, but in a case like this normal rules do not apply, he’s a danger to everyone on the road unless he receives treatment or gets parked up…he needs to think of the children
This is one of those jobs that if you go to the doctor with an ailment you could be putting yourself out of work, in my case it was for the best as they discovered things that needed sorting.
My friends dad lost both his legs because he was pigheaded about it, but families being families. I think you are the last one to be able to do anything about it without causing a ruck.
He must have passed his medical and in the eyes of the law he is fit to drive. overweight or not, maybe it is not diabetes but sleep apnoea.
I think the only one is your girlfriend or her mother who can convince him to visit the doctor or at least get some insurance sorted for them.
SuffolkLad:
Right, I know this probably belongs in the Health forum, so if it gets moved, fair do’s.
My partners step dad drives class 1, night trunking, and is diabetic. By his own admission, he gets tired quite easily at work, and has admitted to ‘zoning out’ a couple times, (he admitted that one night, he could see amber beacons in the distance, next thing he know’s he’s on top of it and had to take evasive action to avoid it!). He also admits he has to stop quite often to have a sleep, despite doing the job for well over 3yrs so should be used to it by now, and spends all day, upto 12hrs, in bed.
Now, his getting tired at work, zoning out etc, as it could be related to his diabetes, would you report him to whoever? Now, I know he’s my gf’s stepdad, and I could turn a blind eye and say nothing, but thought about it quite a lot, and there’s the what if, what if he zones out and ploughs in to someone or something.
Would you report it? If so, what is the likely outcome, would it be followed up?
At best your being a drama queen and at worst a total interferring busy body snitch. I done years of night trunking, off and on , and it never suited me. I suffered with all the above, so did ‘most’ of the guys i worked with. I never had , nor did they, diabetes. I got off it as i was frightened as i was starting to nod off, and thus had to pull over for a 15 miute nap all the time. So did the drivers running with me usually. Somehow i could start work at 5am and work untill midnight no problem, but even after a 12 hour kip i couldn;t go through the small hours without feeling tired. And, irrespective that i’d only been up since 9pm, when i finished at 6am i could sleep for England. Its a known phenomenon driving in the small hours, boredom, body clock. And you wanna report it? !!!
Mike-C:
At best your being a drama queen and at worst a total interferring busy body snitch. I done years of night trunking, off and on , and it never suited me. I suffered with all the above, so did ‘most’ of the guys i worked with. I never had , nor did they, diabetes… …And you wanna report it? !!!
No diabetes, no problem.
However if it turns out he is diabetic and he blacks out one night trundling down the motorway with the CC set to max, bit of a problem that… and not necessarily just for himself. Do any of your loved ones ever venture out onto the tarmac Mike C?
Do the right thing and grass him up or live with the guilt when someone gets killed.
Are there any figures for how many diabetics crash and burn? I know dozens of them and I cant say any of them have killed anyone or crashed through it. I know far more who have crashed through heart failure, driving when ■■■■■■ or while lighting a ■■■.
It is a very unfair disease for a lorry driver to be diagnosed with, as soon as you need an injection you lose your livelihood but cannot be classed as disabled or be paid for a carer.
Mike-C:
At best your being a drama queen and at worst a total interferring busy body snitch. I done years of night trunking, off and on , and it never suited me. I suffered with all the above, so did ‘most’ of the guys i worked with. I never had , nor did they, diabetes… …And you wanna report it? !!!
No diabetes, no problem.
He said he has diabetes.
SmashedCrabFace:
However if it turns out he is diabetic and he blacks out one night trundling down the motorway with the CC set to max, bit of a problem that…
If it turns out? He said he was diabetic. We can only assume it is the mild type and there is no problem as he still has his licence. We have no other info.
SmashedCrabFace:
and not necessarily just for himself. Do any of your loved ones ever venture out onto the tarmac Mike C?
It might be a hard concept for you, but its an easy one for me. Out on the roads there are thousands of dickeads, diabetics, maniacs, disabled drivers, less abled drivers and general undesirables and people with the best will in the world who have no clue what they’re doing. There is no way you can control or forsee all of them, so i tend not to worry.
SmashedCrabFace:
Do the right thing and grass him up or live with the guilt when someone gets killed.
I’ve changed my mind, lets grass him up. First,lets decide who too? My guess is DVLA. Right, lets compile a letter…
Dear Sir/Madam,
it has come to my attention that Mr. [insert name], of [insert address] is a diabetic and has complained of ‘zoning out’ whilst doing his night trunk, he also sleeps a lot. I hope you investigate this thoroughly, i’d hate an accident to happen.
Yours,
[insert name of sticking your nose in]
Whats the worst that could happen, we save a life? And the worst? Lets not think about it !!!
I personally find it frightening that some of the posters here actually drive on the roads. I thought about grassing them up too.
Mike-C:
It might be a hard concept for you, but its an easy one for me. Out on the roads there are thousands of dickeads, diabetics, maniacs, disabled drivers, less abled drivers and general undesirables and people with the best will in the world who have no clue what they’re doing. There is no way you can control or forsee all of them…
At best your being a drama queen and at worst a total interferring busy body snitch. I done years of night trunking, off and on , and it never suited me. I suffered with all the above, so did ‘most’ of the guys i worked with. I never had , nor did they, diabetes. I got off it as i was frightened as i was starting to nod off, and thus had to pull over for a 15 miute nap all the time. So did the drivers running with me usually. Somehow i could start work at 5am and work untill midnight no problem, but even after a 12 hour kip i couldn;t go through the small hours without feeling tired. And, irrespective that i’d only been up since 9pm, when i finished at 6am i could sleep for England. Its a known phenomenon driving in the small hours, boredom, body clock. And you wanna report it? !!!
Busy body snitch? Bit of a difference between a 15 min nap and an hours sleep every shift. I’ll take your advice and keep out of it, then when someone on here mentions the accident on the A1 or A14, artic ploughs into another wagon/car etc, I can say, ‘Yeah I know the driver, had some concerns but kept my gob shut cos I didn’t want to be a busy body snitch’, you can say, well done, glad you took my advice. On the other hand, I could report what I know, you never know, I could be blowing everything out of proportion, or I could be addressing a problem. This is the bloke who’s been warned by his Dr that his licence could be on the line, but refuses to take any notice, so grassing him up could be just the wake up call he needs (no pun intended).
