White van man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
White van man is a stereotype, a usually pejorative term used in the United Kingdom to describe aggressive, thoughtless drivers of light commercial vehicles. Such vehicles are almost always painted white at the factory — in order to facilitate easy sign-writing on the panelled sides — and as such, the colour is very popular among van buyers. Drivers of un-lettered white vans are often thought of as having poor road manners, cutting off other road users and generally failing to drive safely. The term is therefore used to refer generally to aggressive van driving, and is not usually specific in its target.
White van man is often thought to be a self-employed or small businessman, often a builder, carpenter or a plumber. His prototypical vehicle of choice is the popular Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter light panel van.
Use of the the term is a uniquely British social phenomenon, and has been in popular use for more than a decade - although the first known usage in the media is credited by some to BBC Radio 2's Sarah Kennedy in 1997.
Alastair Stewart, presenter of ITV's Police, Camera, Action!, in the episode A Lorry Load of Trouble (produced in 1997), had a sequence of footage from police forces in the United Kingdom showing the problems that "white van man" causes.
The Sun newspaper often uses a "white van man" as an alleged representative voice of the people. The series ran from 2001 to 2003.
