News

A television programme to be screened tomorrow evening (31 March) has claimed foreign lorry drivers, thousands of whom drive through the port of Dover, are breaking UK safety laws and risking lives with accident figures rocketing in the last five years.

The show, Killer Lorries on ITV at 8.00pm, reports on concerns from police and transport bodies over an inability to properly sanction foreign drivers, contributing to a rise in accidents.

It says foreign vehicles are three times more likely be involved in accidents than British truckers.

The programme highlights figures showing that in the last five years, accidents involving lorries coming into Britain have risen by almost 50%.

It says 44 people were killed in 2006 and 1,322 injured on British roads in collisions with heavy goods vehicle from abroad.

According to the programme 400,000 foreign lorries are on our roads each year, and drivers are under financial pressure from employers to keep moving. It says that foreign lorry drivers bringing goods into Britain are four times more likely than UK drivers to drive while tired.

It highlights a lack of police powers to prosecute the owners of lorry companies on the continent, even when there is evidence that they know their drivers are working in the UK without taking rest breaks.

Chief Inspector Phil Hibbert of Kent Police tells the programme they have considerable powers to sanction British lorry drivers on safety breaches.

With foreign drivers powers are more limited, but police can delay their journey until they rest up or make vehicle repairs.

Each day at the Port of Dover, 6,000 foreign lorries drive into Britain.