Severe weather alert
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THE HIGHWAYS AGENCY (HA) has launched a severe weather alert service to inform drivers when conditions on UK roads become too dangerous to drive.
The warnings will be made via radio bulletins and are a response to the carnage caused atthe beginning of the yearwhen hurricane force gales blew over 48 LGVs and led to deaths.
The alerts will either be amber, which means drivers must take care because traffic conditions are likely to deteriorate, or red, in which case hauliers should leave the road network as soon as possible. The HA's traffic radio service available on DAB digital radio and the Internet --www.trafficradio.org.uk will carry the warnings. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Road Haulage Association will also inform members of weather warnings.
The FTA's head of road network management policy, Malcolm Bingham, says employers must heed the weather warnings or face the consequences: "These warnings are only put out if there's a possibility of severe weather threatening drivers' lives. If an employer fails to take notice, in my opinion, they will put themselves into a corporate manslaughter situation."