Crack down needed on unsafe foreign HGVs

Following the expansion of the European Union, the number of foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles on Britain's roads continues to rise.

A recent House of Commons Transport Committee report has claimed that they bring unacceptable levels of non-compliance with basic road safety standards. This is backed up by Association of British Insurers (ABI) statistics that show that foreign HGVs are three times more likely to be involved in a collision on our roads than British lorries.

According to the Committee's report on "The enforcement activities of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)", foreign vehicles are more likely to be non-compliant with UK safety legislation than UK vehicles. Foreign registered HGVs are also, reportedly involved in more accidents than UK-registered vehicles.

VOSA is responsible for maintaining vehicle roadworthiness standards in the Britain, which is widely regarded has having one of the strictest haulage transport enforcement regimes in Europe. As a result it has one of the best safety records.

In 2008, VOSA reported that 46.5% of foreign HGVs they tested failed to meet the required roadworthiness standards. This is compared to 37.5% of UK registered vehicles tested. The worst offenders were Czech HGVs where 60% failed VOSA checks. Polish and Hungarian vehicles also fared badly.

The report was also welcomed by road safety campaigners. "It is clear that foreign-registered lorries are over-represented in crashes on UK roads," said Robert Gifford, Executive Director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

 Date: 1 September 2009