Whinging Courier wrote:
In uk.transport.london, John Rowland belched forth and ejected the
following:

Are they taught to deliberately block both lanes when they stop at traffic
lights, so that no-one else can overtake them?

As a driver of a HGV I can say yes.

If you don't block both lanes, some clever c*** a Beemer or Audi or one
of those green-disc-mini-cab-****s will just pour through the gap
squeezing us out with nowhere to go.

No they will probably move off ahead of you and you will merge in
naturally, assuming it reduces back to one lane once you have crossed
the junction.

If most people drove courteously, there'd be no need but this is London,

And it's because you do this kind of thing that they are not courteous
to you. Same with buses.

I won't let buses out of bus-stops because I know they are going to
behave like that in front of me. Either blocking both lanes at traffic
lights or not going into their bus layby at the next bus-stop.

Of course, when I'm on my bike it's quite useful that the bus occupies
both lanes as I can comfortably find a way through to the front,
whereas with a bus and a car, or even two cars, it might be more
difficult.

See above; it's not the driver's mentality so much as the size of his
vehicle and other people not wanting to let them out.

Not the size of the vehicle, it's knowing they are going to hold you up
later.