A Sheffield lorry driver is facing years in the wilderness, after having all forms of camaraderie removed by the HGV community. The extreme punishment was served after Michael McGuire, an Asda truck driver mistakenly flashed a Fiat 500 car back into the first lane of the motorway after it had overtaken his truck between Junction 18 and 19 of the M6.
'The helpful double flash of the headlights, to indicate that it is safe to move back into lane 1 can only be offered by lorry drivers to similarly weighted vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, everyone knows that', said Peter Smith of the Haulage Association, following a hearing of fellow HGV drivers at Lymm truck stop.
'That warm feeling and compulsory obligation to thank them back with a quick 'left-right-left' of your indicators is only available to the lorry driving fraternity. It has to be, otherwise all social conventions of the road might as well be ripped up.'
In his defence, McGuire's lawyer argued it was a genuine mistake. McGuire had been at the wheel for hours and an earlier glance in the mirror had revealed a Homesense truck pulling out rather than a Fiat overtaking. Unknown to McGuire, the Homesense driver had decided in the end to stay in the inside lane and get right up the arse of an elderly couple in a Micra. 'My client has 10 years of unblemished truck driving' , said his lawyer. ' He always pulls out into the second lane automatically after 6 seconds of his indicator being on, and the neon signage behind his driving seat is second to none'.
Lorry drivers have been told to not acknowledge McGuire on major carriageways. He will also be barred for 2 years from doing that thing that lorry drivers do when a lane is closing on the motorway, where they straddle the 2 lanes and drive really slow with their hazards on.