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Lib Dems call for rail freight switch to cut road accidents
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS have called for more freight to be shifted from road to rail to cut motorway accidents.
Party transport spokesman Norman Baker says the road network is not capable of dealing with the volume of freight it carries.
The party has released figures, based on Parliamentary answers to Baker. which state that nearly 40% of personal injury accidents over five years on the M20 involved collisions with trucks, along with 35% of the accidents on the M6, M25 and A14.
In 2006, 356 people were injured in accidents with trucks on the MI and 397 on the M25.
However, the Freight Transport Association says Department for Transport figures show that, on a mile-for-mile basis, trucks are involved in about 40% fewer accidents than cars.
The association also claims that foreign lorries are about three times more likely to be involved in an accident than lorries operating a domestic fleet.