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The owner of Leicestershire-based Ritchie Transport has hit out at Warwickshire Police's handling of a case where a Polish driver wrote off one of his trucks, which he describes as "a farce". The incident happened on the morning of 3 April near the junction of the A5/A426. Speaking to MT, managing director Ricky Morris says: "The vehicle had broken down and was sat at the side of the A5 when a Polish lorry smacked straight into the back of it. Luckily, the fitter had gone to fetch parts or  he would have been under the vehicle when the Polish lorry hit the trailer."

According to Morris, the police didn't check the Polish driver's tachograph, despite the Ritchie Transport driver sug-gesting it. The police also failed to retrieve the driver's insurance details, leaving Morris to do a lot of the chasing himself. "Although tracking down the driver's insurance details has been time-consuming, what concerns me more is that this driver may have been driving solidly without a break for days or weeks and was allowed to just continue on his way," says Morris.

With the problem of foreign drivers highlighted by ITV1 show Killer Lorries and VOSA being given extra funding for enforcement, Morris is amazed by the way this incident was handled. "It's a farce that this driver has been allowed back behind the wheel with no repercussions," he adds. After a phonecall from MT, Warwickshire Police chief inspector Chris Lewis says he will ensure there is a review of the incident  in question and will "be happy to enter into dialogue" with Morris. He adds: "In a damage-only traffic collision, it is the responsibility of the drivers involved to exchange names and addr-esses, registration marks and insurance details. It is not the role of the police to do this.

"It seems there is inconsistency among EU member states in respect of the advice and information that drivers should carry. I would welcome more dialogue with interested parties, including the Motor Insurance Bureau, the Depart-ment for Transport, and the FTA, on the issue of drivers on international journeys, as there seems to be a general lack of understanding." According to Lewis, only 1% of collisions in Warwickshire involve drivers on international journeys.