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So Bertie,

You are complaining that you could not park and do what the lorries had done?

Get a clue!!

These guys are earning a living to feed their families ,you are on freekin holiday !!

A trucker has to stop there and then when his time ( tacho) runs out no matter where he is ,he cannot carry on to the next campsite like you could .

Who has more right to the laybys ffs?!?!

Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 17/8/2008

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The  Barfleur has 2 lounges with reclining seats which are free and 2 reserved lounges for which you pay.

Saxo1

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That's interesting, Saxo1.  I thought they were ALL subject to pre-booking. Thanks for that.

Bertie.

Quote: Originally posted by Skatty on 17/8/2008

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Get a clue!!

These guys are earning a living to feed their families ,you are on freekin holiday !!

A trucker has to stop there and then when his time ( tacho) runs out no matter where he is ,he cannot carry on to the next campsite like you could .

Who has more right to the laybys ffs?!?!

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Skatty, you are just stirring it up, without even reading the posts properly.  You CANNOT carry on to any campsite at 11:30 pm!

And I wish people would not keep referring to "rights".  Yes, I understand, and have said so, the problems truckers face.  But cut out the "right" rubbish.  The only drivers who have ANY "rights" over and above any other driver are the emergency services when they are on call.

And the need to stop for an emergency, tiredness or whatever is applicable to ALL drivers (truckers included) for road safety reasons.   The purpose for being on the road is totally unrelated.

Be constructively critical by all means, but get your brain in gear before sounding off. And is keeping it polite such a difficult thing to do?  Or are you intent on getting the thread locked?

Bertie.

Bertie it was you in your original post that tried pointing out your right to use the laybys ,hence why I picked up on it

When I said carry on to the next site I meant one you had booked ,plan ahead ,a trucker cannot do that!

Im not stirring anything up ,its just unlike you ,I do know what I am talking about ,being married to a trucker!

Skatty, I did not claim to have any rights that truckers do not have.  And it is not possible, even by pre-planning, to get into a campsite, CL or CS at 11:30 pm.

I did observe that there IS a problem with laybys being congested at night.  I did not realise how bad it is and, yes, I will be making sure that I do not hit this problem on future trips.  Another problem, also in one of my posts, is that originally we were going to stop over on our friend's drive, near to Poole, but this offer was withdrawn AFTER the French trip was underway; a warning not to rely on friends.

But the fact remains that there is a problem with laybys being very unlikely to be available at night in the event of a need to stop. Ignoring tiredness or any leisure activity (eg. caravan), this can be for vehicle failure or someone suddenly taking ill. And the driver needing to make an emergency stop could just as easily be another trucker as it could any other driver.

I think that the mistake many are making is that of thinking I am biased; which I am not.  The fact that I referred to truckers, is because the volume of vehicles clogging the laybys are trucks.  If it had been due to buses, then I would have said buses were the problem.  The truckers are not personally the cause; it is because the system has failed.  Somewhere, at central government level, adequate provisions need to be made.  I am not simply saying trucks should be banned from the roads. That would be just as stupid as saying all private cars should be banned. Some would say put more freight on the railways, but even that isn't practical.  Any rail traveller will tell you that they cannot handle existing passenger journeys satisfactorily, let alone add an additional massive volume of freight.

Bertie.

OK, thanks all.  Time to close now.  Thanks for all your comments but getting personal now

Cheers  Ratty