Lorries are involved in a increasing percentage of fatal traffic accidents on Britain's roads. New analysis has shown that last year HGVs were implicated in more than half of fatal motorway accidents and one-in-five fatal accidents on A-roads, continuing negative trends over the last five years.
Campaign for Better Transport, who commissioned the research, have called on Government to introduce measures to limit accidents caused by heavy lorries and make roads safer for all users.
Philippa Edmunds, spokesperson for Campaign for Better Transport said
"This new research shows lorries are involved in a high percentage of the most serious accidents on our roads and that year-on-year the problem is getting worse. The Government should be taking steps to reduce the dangers posed by lorries. They must start by abandoning wrong-headed initiatives to allow longer lorries and higher speed limits for HGVs on single carriageways."
The assessment of official statistics, carried out by the Metropolitan Transport Research Unit (MTRU) for Campaign for Better Transport, showed that the ratio of fatal road accidents involving Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) compared with those involving other vehicle types has been climbing year on year: