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Notorcyclists: "Stop killer diesel spills"
Page 10
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by Guy Sheppard otorcycle campaigners and politicians are imanding a crackdown on hauliers who spill esel on the road because of the risk it poses to otorcyclists.
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG1 says Pills usually happen on bends and round)outs—the very places where riders are most danger of skidding.
Last year, 7,305 motorcyclists were killed or wiously Injured on UK roads.
MAC has now won backing from Scottish diticians after claiming that up to 10% of iotorcycle accidents are due to fuel spills. wries are said to be the biggest culprits.
Brian Adam, MSP for north-east Scotland, Is ailing for the governments road haulage mod ernisation fund to be used to retrofit trucks with technology designed to remove the risk.
He told the Scottish Parliament: '1 suggest that we also require a sensor to be fitted that can determine whether diesel caps are in place and whether they are effective."
Lewis Macdonald, Scotland's deputy transport minister, promised to take up the issue with the Department for Transport.
Phil Flanders. Road Haulage Association regional director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, says hauliers may have been singled out unfairly for blame, claiming other industries such as farming could be worse offenders. "When you raise issues about the farming community not doing things properly, politicians from rural areas tend to back off," he says. He is due to meet Adam within the next fortnight.
Antonio Perlot, secretarygeneral of the Federation of European Motorcyclist Associations, says a European directive means that fuel caps now have to be attached to fuel tanks by chain so drivers can hear them rattling if not replaced or if they fall off.
MAG spokesman Ian Mutch says: "As a motorcyclist, I think HGV drivers are the best on the road; the only thing I have against them is diesel spills."