Overseas lorry eight times more likely to be in a crash

By David Millward, Transport Editor

FOREIGN lorry drivers are eight times more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident than their British counterparts, figures show.

Vehicles from overseas were involved in 163 accidents in which someone either died or suffered serious injuries in one year, while British hauliers were involved in 1,956.

With foreign lorries accounting for one per cent of the total in the country, the proportion of accidents in which they are involved is far greater.

Campaigners say foreign lorries are not maintained to the same safety levels as British ones.

More than one in five trucks operated by overseas hauliers have been found to be unroadworthy.

Many accidents are also caused because the vehicles are designed to be driven on the right hand side of the road and drivers cannot see motorists alongside when they are changing lanes on motorways and dual carriageways.

The findings reignited the debate over the need for tighter controls on the thousands of lorries that come over from the Continent.

Some overseas lorry drivers are unfamiliar with British roads and several have run into trouble using satellite-navigation devices.

The extent of the risk posed by overseas lorries was contained within a Government document on plans to impose on-the-spot fines on overseas lorry drivers and increase penalties for more serious offences.

According to the latest figures, covering 2006, foreign lorries were involved in 163 accidents in which someone either died or suffered serious injuries. This was nearly eight per cent of the total involving heavy goods vehicles.

The Department for Transport also found random inspections disclosed that 22 per cent of foreign lorries were not roadworthy.

This means that foreign lorries are three times more likely to be in a dangerous condition than their British counterparts.

The British haulage industry called on the Government to get tough with foreign lorry drivers who fail to meet the safety standards.

A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association said: "The UK licensing system, involving annual tests and roadside inspections, has resulted in UK lorries being the safest on the roads.

"Too often we see that the operating standards of foreign lorries working in the UK are not what they should be.''

The call for tougher action was backed by Robert Gifford, the executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

He called for inspectors from the Vehicle and Operating Services Agency to be stationed at the French ports of Caen and Calais. However, the Department for Transport insisted that it was already stepping up its drive against dangerous overseas lorries.

The spokesman said: "In the past two years we have more than doubled enforcement against HGVs on international journeys and we recently announced an extra pounds 24 million to do even more.''