P SAFETY
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Recovery operators call for red lights at roadside to cut fatalities
RECOVERY OPERATORS are demanding the right to use red flashing lights at the roadside in order to boost road safety.
Chair of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) recovery group and CEO of Isuzu Trucks (UK) Nikki King says she is writing to the government stressing the need for an overhaul of the laws after the deaths of two recovery drivers already this year. At the moment, vehicles being used for recovery purposes can only use orange lights, but campaigners say they are being mistaken for roadworks and motorists are not slowing down near them.
King says: "We have been campaigning for years and years and getting nowhere. It's a major issue.The industry feels passionate about it.
"These guys are operating at the roadside on motorways and it's dangerous."
Robin Doney. chairman and MD at Hants-based recovery operator Boarhunt, says one of its drivers was killed at the roadside because the vehicle's orange lights were ignored.
-It gets lost in everything else.he says. "-No-one knows it's a recovery vehicle. Just because it's the most noticeable colour doesn't mean it's the safest. We have got to have something done about it."
A Department for Transport spokeswoman says this is not an issue it is currently considering.