British hauliers are still at risk when driving though long road tunnels on the Continent, with European governments failing to introduce officially recommended safety designs and equipment. So concludes the latest European Union-supported European Tunnel Assessment Programme (EuroTAP) safety probe.
"Inspectors came home with the worst results in five years," warns a EuroTAP statement, with a third of 31 tunnels tested in 11 countries failing to comply with EU safety recommendations.
British tunnels were not studied in the latest checks, which branded Italy and Norway as Europe's worst countries for tunnel safety.
Three out of five Italian road tunnels were "very poor", along with all three checked in Norway. Italy has Europe's most dangerous tunnel: the 2.4km Cernobbio tunnel, off Lake Como. All were lacking lighting, power supplies, traffic surveillance, escape routes, fire protection services, ventilation and emergency management. Belgium also had a 'very poor' tunnel (Waasland) Germany and Spain had 'poor' tunnels. EuroTAP especially criticised Norwegian complacency: with traffic growing, "it is only a matter of time before a catastrophe happens".
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