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Couriers urged to look out for sideswiping trucks

Couriers and truck drivers have been urged to look out for foreign freight haulage drivers who may 'sideswipe' on motorways.

Around one in seven of the heaviest freight haulage vehicles on the UK's roads are left-hand drive foreign vehicles, and their drivers have blind spots on their right-hand passenger side.

Now the Freight Haulage Association (FHA) has warned other drivers, such as couriers, to be wary of overseas trucks who may fail to see another vehicle in the lane they are entering. Sometimes this results in a sideways collision - otherwise known as sideswiping.

"When left-hand drive HGVs change lanes on our roads, the risk of sideswiping an overtaking vehicle is increased due to a passenger side blind spot," said Derek Turner of the Highways Agency.

The agency has been working with the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to increase the number of fresnel lenses on foreign freight trucks' passenger side windows. These give the driver a better view of overtaking vehicles and lessen the chances of sideswiping.

Lenses have been handed out to vehicles at Dover, and the scheme may be extended to other ports in the future.

The FTA's Geoff Dossetter maintained that freight haulage lorries nevertheless remain the safest vehicles on the road, and that motorways are the safest kind of roads.

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