PlayEvery day at the Port of Dover, six thousand foreign lorries drive into Britain carrying up to a quarter of a million tonnes of goods on which we rely – from tomatoes to televisions.
But as Killer Lorries: Tonight reports, under financial pressure from employers to keep moving, these drivers are four times more likely than UK drivers to be driving while tired. And they are faced with the added difficulty of driving a left-handed vehicle. On British roads these trucks have visibility blind spots that can hide a family saloon, according to Vehicle Operators Service Agency, VOSA.
Their vehicles are also more likely to be carrying dangerously heavy loads or be in poor condition. And there is concern over a growing trade in Europe in forged HGV licences.
As the police and transport bodies tell Tonight’s Quentin Willson, all of these factors along with the inability to properly sanction foreign drivers breaking the laws are contributing to an increase in accidents on British roads.
In the last five years, accidents involving lorries coming into Britain have risen by almost 50% (Dept of Transport) And 1366 people in 2006 were killed or injured on British roads in collisions with heavy goods vehicle from abroad. (44 killed and 1,322 injured)
Chief Inspector Phil Hibben, of the Kent Police, says that while they have considerable powers to sanction British lorry drivers on safety transgressions, the most they can do to foreign drivers is delay their journey until they rest up or make vehicle repairs.
He says: “Certainly for companies that rely on their vehicles getting to locations at peak times and to lay those lorries up between 36 and 48 hours has a significant impact on their business, however, we would like to see an extra provision for us to be able to fine lorries at the roadside.”
Even in the case of accidents where people are killed or severely injured due to dangerous driving, the legal repercussions for foreign drivers can prove disappointing for victims’ families.
In July last year, 19-year-old Rachel Ward was killed when a truck pulled into her lane, hit the back of her car and pushed it down an embankment.
It was a left-hand drive lorry from Holland and the driver said he hadn’t seen her.
The driver was convicted of careless driving, fined a £1000 and given six points. But the points can not be placed on a foreign licence and therefore it will have no impact on the driver’s record.
Barbara Ward, Rachel’s mum, tells Tonight: “I haven’t had any justice. That is not justice. That is not justice; we have been cheated, robbed of everything, haven’t we?
British police have no powers to prosecute the owners of lorry companies on the Continent, even when they have evidence that they know their drivers are working in the UK without taking rest breaks.
So what can be done to improve the system? Tonight challenges Jim Fitzpatrick, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, on what the government is doing to tackle the problem.
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