Horror rise in danger foriegn trucks

One-in-three foreign lorries is flouting UK traffic laws and putting other road users in danger, according to a new investigation.

During roadside spot checks, a total of 36,997 left-hand-drive HGVs were pulled over by vehicle inspectors. A staggering 14,190 of them were deemed unroadworthy, or over-loaded, or the driver had exceeded their allotted hours at the wheel.

The data was gathered by inspectors at the Vehicle and Operator Ser­vices Agency (VOSA) during a swoop in the south-east of England.

But this isn’t the only worrying statistic about lorries on our roads. Our table (right) shows a rise in UK and foreign-registered trucks being banned by VOSA for failing safety inspections. The number of lorries pulled over and prohibited for being overloaded has increased by nearly 2,000 since 2004 to 5,082. And the number of HGVs found with mech­anical problems has risen by nearly one-third from 13,622 to 17,622 in the same time period.

Drivers also appear to be dis­regarding allocated hours limits, as 9,107 were taken off the road for this offence in 2006-07 alone.

The Government has recognised the problem and set aside an extra £24million of funding to improve the situation. The money will be used to increase roadside checks by 50 per cent and help VOSA to open two new enforcement sites.

Road safety minister Jim Fitzpat­rick explained: “There will be more inspectors undertaking more checks at more sites, which will make the roads safer for everyone.”