Fewer crash — more die
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THE NUMBER OF accidents involving commercial vehicles on Britain's roads has fallen by 6% over the past year, according to the latest government figures.
The Department for Transport's report Road Casualties in Great Britain reveals there were 2,883 road accidents involving HGVs; this figure is down from 3,061 in 2003.
The number of vans involved in accidents fell by 17% to 6,166, compared with 6,897 in 2003. However, the total number of truck drivers killed rose by 7% to a total of 47, although this is still down by 12% compared with the average for 1994-1998. Overall, there were 207,410 road accidents in Britain during 2004; down from 214,030 in 2003.
The number of people killed fell by 8% to 3,221; the number injured also fell 8% to 31,310.
A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association says: "Commercial vehicles are still the safest vehicles on the road but due to the laws of physics and the amount of force needed to stop a truck if it is involved in an accident, there are more likely to be fatalities, especially when it is in collision with a car."