VOSA: More foreign drivers flouting rules
Date: 23 October 2007
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Recent figures from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) suggest that foreign haulage drivers are more dangerous than their UK counterparts.
Although criticism of foreign drivers is sometimes interpreted as narrow-minded, the VOSA statistics do indicate that it is sometimes justified.
For the past 18 months the organisation has been conducting targeted checks on international freight drivers, prompting Geoff Dossetter of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to tell RoadTransport.com: "Five years ago I'd have been wary of condemning foreign vehicles on UK roads, but with the VOSA statistics, it has become clear that operating standards in some countries are much lower."
Dossetter adds that there are many safe overseas firms operating in the UK, but the figures show a prohibition rate of 56.68 per cent on vehicles from Romania between June 2006 and May 2006, and a rate of 62.28 per cent on those from the Czech Republic.
This compares with 33.91 per cent on UK vehicles.
Similarly, Romanian truck drivers contravened driver hours regulations three times more often than UK drivers, with Greek and Turkish drivers also performing badly.
As well as this, foreign trucks are involved in 12 per cent of accidents involving LGVs, even though they make up just four per cent of those on UK roads.
Meanwhile, the FTA has called on the government to introduce charging for foreign trucks using Britain's roads.
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