Confirming what drivers on the road every day already know, research has shown one in seven trucks in the country is foreign.
Figures from insurance provider LV= reveal the number of Continental HGVs running in the UK has increased by 33% since 2001, and is expected to grow by a further 18% in five years. Of the overseas-registered lorries running in Britain last year, 252,000 were from the Netherlands, 218,000 from Germany, 205,000 from Poland and 197,000 from France.
According
to LV=, taking into account the cost of accidents, insurance claims and potential congestion foreign HGVs cost the domestic economy nearly £100m in 2006. Its research also found that over the last five years, 31% of foreign trucks stopped by Vosa for spot checks failed, compared with 25% of UK-registered vehicles.
LV= managing director John O'Rourke says: "We want the government to bring in legislation to make blind-spot mirrors compulsory on left-hand-drive HGVs to help avoid sideswipe incidents."
Reed Business Information Limited.©2009
