The problem of foreign trucks on UK motorways isn't just one of poor maintenance and overworked drivers. I refer, of course, to the rising issue of blindside wipe-outs by left hand drive trucks.
Once again, this morning, the M25 is brought to a standstill because a foreign drivers seem to find it difficult to manoeuvre between lanes without crunching a car! I know driving left-hookers on our busy roads is a tricky business, both as a professional truck driver and as a road tester I've had to do it, but the current levels of incompetence are reaching giant proportions. The hours wasted this morning/every morning and night as a result of these accidents is now beyond a joke.
The DfT continues to dither carrying out endless studies, while the motorways in the south easy completely grind to a halt. These roads struggle at the best of times to cope with the traffic levels, without throwing in this unecessary headache.
The answer to this problem isn't simple, but it is going to take some brave thinking. Perm any one or two from these: ban left hand drive trucks from UK roads; make fitment of blind side sensors compulsory on left-hand-drive trucks; ban left-hookers from overtaking; introduce a special driving test for foreign operators; levy a special congestion fine on operators involved in left hooker accidents. Sure this might be draconian measures, probably even anti-competitive, but this is road safety we're talking about.