MPs want unsafe HGVs off roads

MPs have called for the agency in charge of safety-testing lorries to be given extra powers to get unsafe foreign vehicles off the road.

The House of Commons Transport Committee said non-compliance among overseas vehicles was unacceptably high. Nearly 47% of foreign vehicles stopped were found to have dangerous defects, compared with 37.5% for UK vehicles.

Campaigners concerned about the safety of the many trucks passing through Audlem, many of them from Eastern Europe, will hardly be reassured by the figures released yesterday by the House of Commons Transport committee.

Of those vehicles stopped for safety checks, the 'Prohibition' rate among Czech HGVs subjected to roadworthiness tests was more than 60%, an amazingly high failure rate. Polish and Hungarian vehicles with dangerous defects exceeded 50%.

Drivers falling asleepAnd it isn't just unsafe vehicles that's a worry. It's also drivers covering vast distances, often without sufficient breaks. Speaking on behalf of the police, Chief Superintendent Geraint Anwyl, chairman of the National Roads Policing Intelligence Forum, said HGV drivers were often a danger. "We have circumstances where drivers have been falling asleep. They've been driving excessive hours.

"And we've got vehicles which, frankly, shouldn't be on the road because in particular the trailers of these large goods vehicles are in such dangerous condition," he added.

Considering the winding, narrow roads with unprotected pavements through Audlem, and with large numbers of trucks passing through each day, the number of dangerous defects reported on the HGVs inspected is worryingly high.

It will only increase the pressure on the politicians and highways officials who have promised to de-prime the A525 to deliver on their promises made over six months ago.

It is the A525 that attracts the vast bulk of foreign HGVs to the village with the narrow and winding road somehow designated part of the Primary Route Network recommended for long distance HGV traffic.

As a result, the poorly surfaced road attracts many vehicles traveling from Continental Europe to Ireland or North Wales.

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