Now before I start, let me just say that I like truckers - I used to be one - but the simple fact is that our country's roads are just not suitable for these 40 ton juggernauts and scenes like this remind us why we need to get them and the many foreign drivers who now drive here off our roads.
I expect the "benefits" of EU membership will be lost on the grandparents of these children who have seen their family wiped out by a driver who, if we still retained some control over our borders, would not have been on our roads. Since we have been in the EU we have seen the maximum permitted size of lorries increase from the 28 tons it used to be to 38 tons and it is set to get bigger, but these vehicles - even in right hand drive form and in the hands of well-trained British drivers - are far too big for British roads. And in left hand drive form and in the hands of less well-trained foreign drivers they are lethal. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has had a close encounter with a poorly driven foreign artic. - and not just on motorways either.
I'd like to see a ban on left-hand drive articulated vehicles entering our country and a more sensible size limit imposed, but as long as we remain in the EU this will not happen and many more incidents like the slaughter of these six people will.
2 comments:
They could at least make a start by banning HGV's off the roads on saturdays and sundays like they do in europe unless they are on essential services.
Where in Europe? I've driven in Germany, France, Belgium and Spain at weekends before and there have always been plenty of HGV's around as usual. Better to just ban them full stop - use rail for transporting freight nationally to freight hubs and then use smaller lorries for local distribution. Nothing over 10 tons in my opinion. Anything larger than that would require special permission to travel on our roads and only between the hours of midnight and 5 am.
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