was this woman bu to complain about my husband?

[wingsofgildedsilver]

My husband drives a van for work. Driving to work in the morning traffic and the car in front of him slowed down as the car in front of her was turning off left, the woman then waited to let another car pull out of the junction.

My husband beeped his horn at her and shook his head when she looked in her mirror at him.

When he got into work, later on that day the company had received a complaint about him - the woman had noted his licence plate and company name and sent them an email.

He now has a mark on his employment record.

The thing he has to remember is that whilst driving a van with the name of the employer who emplys him is that he is represing them. So ifhe makes them look bad then they need to punish.
If a company van or car i see driving like a maniac or whatever - i call or email the company hoping the guy will get a talking to and not be such an arse on the road.

Your husband was the arse on the road. Did he really need to toot and shake his head? Really? It must have been a matter of seconds he had to wait. Not minutes, not hours, not days. SECONDS. And here he is tooting and shaking his head. Sorry, but what a prick!

And he needs to remember - or be reminded - that he can't control other drivers' behaviour, but he can't control his own behaviour, he has to abide by the consequences.

In other words, even if he thinks someone else is driving like an arse, that's not an excuse for him to be an arse.

I can't believe the name calling here! Have a stumbled into a schoolyard?!

Hardly appropriate to call someone a prick!

My sister reported a bus driver for cutting her up and then preceding to stick a middle finger up at her, no need for rudeness.

My BIL was also cut up by a bus, he turned and beat the bus to the stop via another road, got on the bus and made him apologise, not only for the cutting up but the dirty look the driver give him like BIL was in the wrong for being on the road.

and anyway- one road user doing something that isn't advised (should not give way on major road to minor road traffic) doesn't mean every other road user then is allowed to throw the highway code out of the window.

Besides which thats not the issue here. Whatever the woman reported his company decided it doesn't reflect on them and noted it in his record. Its important enough to them to do this then its important enough for him to take it onboard and not behave like this again in the company van.

He can toot his horn all he likes without a warning on his own time (provided no local traffic police around)

He was being a prick! IN MY OPINION.

OP, have you told your DH that he acted like a twat yet?

Because I have a sneaking feeling that you agree with the rest of us...

Okay, Employment law would forbid a company from just accepting a strangers report of bad driving as it could be malicious, frankly there HAS to be more to op's husbands story to validate an employer putting a "Mark" on his employment record.
He either did far more and there were witnesses, or he is not telling op the whole truth, company's don't just believe any old story they stick with actual facts.

I assume you are new to MN, bzoo - price is pretty mild - we speak our minds here, without a swear filter fear or favour.

I don't think he was any more in the wrong than she was.
You aren't supposed to let people out at junctions, you have right of way being on the main road.
Peeping horn is done to warn others you are there.
So both wrong I guess.
Company also wrong for believing woman.

I still can't find the bit in the Highway Code that says you shouldn't let a vehicle out of a minor road when you have already slowed.

Bugger and damnation dash it all - that should be prick not price

Asked dh what he would have done with his drivers.

He says that when someone has complained the driver had been given a verbal warning. The sign written vans are an advertisement fr the company and should be driven courteously because otherwise it is very negative advertising!

The fact there's a redundancy cloud is irrelevant to the question in the op since the woman who complained would not be aware of that. She had a legitimate grouse and made a complaint on the basis of what she knew I.e. your dh was impolite.

Your dh was being rude to someone who was being kind and using common sense to keep things moving in the roads in the area, I'd feel like reporting him too (although I'd probably forget before I had the chance). It's up to the company if they think it is a justified complaint though.

You should not give way to drivers coming onto a main road from a minor, they should wait for a break in the traffic.

Doesn't this apply more to free flowing traffic rather than the situation that the OP and others on here have described. In rush hour there is always a queue of traffic outside our house and lots of the drivers in those cars are kind enough to let people out of their drives and side roads.

I have to say that the OP's husband is living up to the white van man image. Like I say, I live on a busy road and have to reverse into my drive. I do this as politely as possible so that I don't delay other drivers. I usually have to drive onto the pavement and wait for a break in the traffic. Just occasionally some driver has to slow down for a few seconds (I can reverse very quickly by now) and you can guarantee that it is the man in the van who speeds up when he sees me, beeps his horn, plonks himself right against my bumper and generally acts like an idiot. I haven't reported one yet.

Ignoring the situation in the road, there will be a company policy on the "report my driving" technique. If he's unhappy he should follow the policy to discuss it. The company will clearly state usually what they will accept or not. And what a mark on his record etc means to his firm.

Keep copies of all. If he were made redundant and he felt this was the only reason why and they HAVENT explained their policy properly then he might be able to argue against it.

IMO tho, he was being a bit of a tit and got pulled up on it by the driver. Oh well. Won't do it again will he?!

Check with flowery et al in employment too

I know this isn't exactly the situation but it seems relevant.

147
Be considerate. Be careful of and considerate towards all types of road users, especially those requiring extra care (see Rule 204). You should
try to be understanding if other road users cause problems; they may be inexperienced or not know the area well
be patient; remember that anyone can make a mistake
not allow yourself to become agitated or involved if someone is behaving badly on the road. This will only make the situation worse. Pull over, calm down and, when you feel relaxed, continue your journey
slow down and hold back if a road user pulls out into your path at a junction. Allow them to get clear. Do not over-react by driving too close behind to intimidate them

It sounds like the op's dh hasn't disagreed with the fact as reported.

The way I've imagined it there is van man. Car in front. Another car that turns left. Why did this involve car in front slowing to allow the minor route car to pull out if the way ahead of it is free. If they were stuck in a jam and couldn't proceed then yes let car join the queue or out to opposite direction if safe to do so. Car on front should have continued and not held up the major route.

151
In slow moving traffic you should ... allow access into and from side roads, as blocking these will add to congestion

Fair play to her reporting him!
I'm a nervous learning driver and something like that would make me panic.

hettienne and SDT, that's why I asked the OP upthread whether she was in the car with him, or whether she is taking his word for it about what happened.

She didn't reply, though

Surely that rule soup is only applicable if it's slow moving traffic anyway. Car on front MADE it slow running. It was not slow moving due to any other cause