1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
DfT surveys foreign RTAs
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The DIT wants to know if left hand-drive trucks are a danger. David Harris reports...
POLICE FORCES have been asked to record the number of accidents involving foreign trucks because of fears that left-handdrive vehicles are causing too many accidents on British roads.
The Department for Transport has asked police to change their method of recording accidents because of continuing anecdotal evidence that the blind spot in foreign trucks causes problems.
A DU spokeswoman says: "We just wanted to have statistics to help us establish whether it really is a problem and if so what the extent of it is."
Until now the police have recorded accidents involving HGVs, but not where the HGVs came from. In the latest year for which figures are available, 2003, 214,030 accidents were reported, of which 12,205 involved HG Vs.
Kent is perceived to have the highest number of accidents involving foreign trucks because it is close to the Channel Tunnel and ports. Kent police have started collecting statistics but a spokeswoman says it is too soon to say if foreign trucks are more dangerous than UK-registered vehicles.
"I don't think we can say for certain yet," she adds. -We shall just wait and see what the figures reveal."