Driver with No Lorry Licence Blames Zombies

As any police officer will tell you, drivers involved in accidents can come up with some pretty strange excuses to explain their behaviour. But perhaps nothing is as strange as the excuse offered by an American man arrested after he crashed a stolen lorry. He told police zombies were chasing him.

Jeremiah Hartline, a Tennessee man who does not have a lorry licence, allegedly stole the lorry while the driver was stopped at a weigh station. With the driver outside the truck preparing for his inspection, Hartline slid behind the wheel and took off. Less than 2 miles down the road he struck a pickup truck and set off a chain reaction crash that eventually caused the lorry to overturn and block all four lanes of the highway.

Fortunately, no one was killed as a result of the accident. However, there were some significant injuries and heavily damaged vehicles. As for Hartline, he has been charged with six different offences including driving without a licence and causing an accident inflicting great bodily harm.

Lorries Are Extremely Dangerous

As strange as this story is, it serves as a reminder of how dangerous lorries can be. It is also a reminder of how much training is required to operate heavy goods vehicles properly. Zombie hallucinations aside, the Tennessee man who crashed the lorry had neither a lorry licence nor the experience to operate the vehicle safely.

The fact is that the size, weight, and profile of a large lorry make it extremely difficult to control without proper training. Throw in weather conditions, increased traffic flow, and other distractions, and drivers must always be on their toes in order to remain safe. That’s what HGV driver training is all about.

We’re not sure how things work in America, but earning a lorry licence here in the UK requires drivers take a theory test before beginning their hands-on instruction. Part of that theory test is a section that tests the driver’s knowledge of potential hazards, how to anticipate them, and how to avoid them.

Once behind the wheel a driver learns how to put that knowledge into practice. Safety is always of utmost concern in any good HGV driver-training program.

In order to drive a lorry in the UK, one needs an HGV licence, at a bare minimum. Additional entitlements may be necessary depending on the specific vehicle driven and the cargo being transported. Yet earning your licence is not difficult. In a matter of eight weeks or so candidates can have their medical exam, past the theory test, complete practical training, and move on to the road test.

At the HGV Training Centre, we specialise in preparing drivers for both of the HGV tests. We have a range of classes covering everything from lorries to forklift trucks to coaches and buses. When you train with us, you’ll be training with a company that has a 97% first time pass rate. It doesn’t get much better than that.