Britain drives in fear of foreign lorries

Four out of five motorists are giving left-hand drive lorries a wide berth on UK roads for fear of being side-swiped or falling victim to other unpredictable manoeuvres according to a survey by Motorpoint, the UK’s leading car supermarket group.

And drivers are right to be concerned. The latest accident statistics produced by the insurance industry show the number of crashes caused by foreign-registered vehicles has risen by a staggering 47% in the past five years. What’s more, European heavy goods vehicles are three times more likely to be involved in an accident than UK lorries.

The Government has begun to respond to the crisis with the distribution of 40,000 window-mounted lenses - known as Fresnel lenses - to left-hand drive trucks entering the UK across the Dover Straits. The lenses offer drivers of left-hand drive vehicles a wider field of vision through the passenger window. The Highways Agency plans to distribute a further 90,000 lenses, targeting major ports in both England and France.

The private sector is reacting too. Peak Performance, a driver training company, has set up a course in UK driving for overseas truck operators.

Motorpoint managing director David Shelton commented: “The seriousness of this issue for the driving public is reflected in the numbers who took part in the poll with some 5,500 drivers making their views known – that’s a rate of more than a thousand a day.

It is estimated there are in excess of 10,000 heavy goods vehicles from mainland Europe driving on British roads every working day. As the first car retailer to be a member of RoadSafe, we are concerned that UK drivers are at real risk from overseas lorries whose drivers may not be able to see vehicles overtaking them or who simply don’t have a good enough understanding of British driving laws.”