Branded Vans and Cars – have you missed the human element?

There is a small van, its owner lives in a street close to me. This means every month or so I am dismayed to see it appear in my rear view mirror. Dismayed as its image becomes larger and larger until it fills the mirror, the van being now very close to me. This is while I am driving the maximum legal speed for the area – 30 mph.

A year or so ago the breakdown service Green Flag published the results of a survey on dangerous driving. Ironically it declared that tailgating – driving perilously close to the car in front – was voted as the most dangerous driving practise. Why ironic? Because that van that habitually tailgates is covered with Green Cross branding.

Irrational or not this certainly puts me off ever using Green Flag's services.

This is not isolated – whenever I see poor driving using a car or van with bodywork promoting some brand, then I immediately feel hostile towards that brand. For instance when I used to drive back from a particular job, often at some point of the 30 mile run I was overtaken by two
Ford Civil Engineering vans who were obviously each other; driving (to my mind) in a reckless manner. Surely it would be better to find these lunatics unbranded cars?

So, do businesses make any kind of check of driving attitude and ability before handing over the keys of a branded vehicle?  Do they ever follow up by checking how well it is actually being driven? Does it even occur to them that poor driving in their vehicles might be making making a poor impression?

Or is it just me who is bothered?

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