Truck driver films himself snorting, smoking suspicious white powder behind the wheel of 65-tonne rig
A truck driver in Victoria, Australia, who drives a 65-tonne rig has taken a video of himself snorting two lines of a suspicious-looking white powder while in the cabin of the truck. The man announces in the video that he is having "breakfast for two" before he is seen snorting what looks to be illegal drugs using a rolled up $10 note. The video went viral on social media after it was uploaded on July 26.
The driver can be seen wearing a shirt with the Dorncarm Transport logo and can be seen lighting a glass pipe and inhaling smoke from an unknown substance that was inside the pipe. The man can be heard in the video saying: "Well, f**k me, this hasn’t been done for a very long time. Breakfast for two right there. Now this is gonna hurt like a mother**ker." He can also be heard telling his mother: "Mum, if you’re watching this, I suggest you f*cking change the channel".
9NEWS heard from the Victoria Police's Heavy Vehicle Unit that it was "aware of a video of what appears to be a truck driver taking illicit substances". They are currently investigating the incident. Bill McKinley, a representative of the Australian Trucking Association, said that the video of the trucker ingesting the seemingly illegal drugs has left him "stunned and amazed".
He told the Today Show: "50,000 businesses in the trucking industry, more than 200,000 employees, there are drivers coming off shifts now watching this program, there are drivers starting work now. This isn't the modern trucking industry. I think I speak for everyone which I think I speak for everyone which I say I'm appalled."
McKinley said that the Australian Trucking Association only found out about the video after the media reported it. He severely criticized the actions of the driver and said that anyone driving a truck who is under the influence of drugs will be caught.
He said: "I can say that most employers in the trucking industry have random drug and alcohol tests to pick up this sort of thing. I can also say that the police are doing more and more random drug tests by the side of the road. 100,000 in Victoria per year. These sort of drugs make you a more aggressive driver. They make you an overconfident driver and they are a terrible safety risk. The penalties reflect that and just don't do that."
Truckers who are caught with drugs in their system will have to face having their licenses taken away for many years, fines that could reach up to $30,000, and possible jail time. McKinley added: "The legal system takes this very seriously and the penalties have gone up a lot." A spokesperson for Dorncarm Transport said that the man in the video had not worked with the company for almost three months at the time the video had been uploaded. He told ABC in an interview: "I don’t know when that happened."
The Facebook page where the video was uploaded is administered by Scott Allen, a truck driver, who said he got the video from another truckie. He said: "It's been floating around our group for a few days. We posted it because we don't want these people in our industry. We do so much to be safe and improve things, and then this comes along and drags us back 20 years. I don't want people to think this represents the industry, because it doesn't."
Screenshots posted online appear to show the man messaging the Facebook page begging for them to take it down. "Plz remove that video. I have asked 3 time for you to remove. I'll be getting legal advise (sic)," he says. Before the page could respond to the request, the man deactivated his account.
The video has 46,000 views till date. Many social media users have also criticized the unnamed man for endangering other motorists lives with his actions. One user wrote: "Are you f**ken kidding me it’s d**kheads like this that give other honest truckies a bad name. Get off the road you dumb c*nt." Another said: "You are both not worth the oxygen you breath idiots. Get a life before you take some innocent family out."
A third commented: "And this is behind the wheel of a truck ffs should have his hr licence stripped so people don’t get killed when his “high” finally carks him," while yet another said: "This dumb a*se is off his chops. How many people is he going to kill tonight. Both car and truck drivers alike. What a boof head."
It is still unclear when the footage was taken.