To ALL drivers within the u.k. are you aware of the dangers of foreign trucks on our roads?? If yes state your

Question

concerns??

Answer 1

no,im not aware of any particular dangers associated with 'foreign' truckers. the statistics do not show that they are disproportionately responsible for accidents

btw, these 'foreign' truckers are also responsible for transporting the lager to louts up and down the country, so, please, be grateful to them or they may 'turn off' the supply.

Answer 2

Yes they have blind spots on their mirrors and nearly wiped my car out about 15 years ago and they still have done nothing about it.  Insisting on additional mirrors would be a start.

The condition of some of the vehicles is a joke too.  We pay so much in car tax, and have to m.o.t. our vehicles yet they come across on the ferry and are a deathtrap on wheels.

To make matters worse although many they are unroadworthy very little effort is made to prevent them using the roads, some are stopped but this needs to be done at the ports and all vehicles checked/impounded.

Answer 3

in many of the eastern bloc countries the lorry drivers don't even take training OR a test! they just apply for a licence through the post and are then given one. there are some people as young as 17 driving 44ton trucks on UK roads and nobody seems to do anything to stop it..  in the UK we cant drive them until we are 21. disgraceful really

Answer 4

To be honest I worry more about the Idiots doing 50mph in the middle lane on motorways.

Answer 5

One thing I have noticed, which adds to the danger, is that British tuckers don't extend the same courtesy the foreign truckers in respect of fleshing them to let them know they've passed.

British truckers never fail to do it for each other, but I've yet to see them do it for a foreigner, it must be part of the "they're steeling our jobs" argument.

As a pro-trucker, I can see their point, but it's dangerous and counter productive.

Answer 6

I work at a place where 70-80 lorries deliver each day , many of them European. Have lost count how many drive out on the wrong side of the road,  usually those on Spanish plates. The british drivers tend to be over confident driving at well over the 10mph site limit, then off down the road at 40 plus.  It`s a 30 limit past here. I give all lorries plenty of room on m/ways but it really annoys me to be tailgated on ordinary roads. Speed limit for LGV`s on a single carriageway is 40 mph, but nearly always drive at 56 .Have never seen a vehicle pulled up for speeding, the police turn a blind eye.

Answer 7

In the UK, one drives on the left and the steering wheel is on the right.  In most other countries, one drives on the right and the steering wheel is on the left.  Vehicles from France, for example, have the steering wheels on the wrong side for driving in the UK.

Answer 8

Many of them are overweight (loads not drivers) and they ignore the drivers hours rules. These regulations are there for a reason, the saftey of other road users, and to ignore them puts other road users at risk including me.

Answer 9

One of the problems of foreign trucks is that they are left hand drive, so there is a large blind spot.  There have been cases of these trucks pulling out on a motorway, unaware of the car in the next lane, thus side-swiping them.

Also, commercial pressures for the drivers to work excess hours is a worry, as well as the condition of some of the vehicles.

These problems were highlighted in a recent edition of the Tonight programme on ITV.

Answer 10

yes I am aware. For all their insurance is worth...they might as well not have any.

Um??? all these thumbs down.. do you know how many people are waiting for their insurances claims to be honoured? it's thousands! I live within about 3 miles of operation stack. Foreign trucks and lorries are the bane of our life and the most serious ongoing issue is the number of people who have had their cars written off, put into ditches or had family members killed by foreign lorry drivers who are insured abroad and then never come back to be accountable and a foriegn insurance company who won't pay up. It's almost daily! They're talking about issuing adaptable mirrors now at the docks and tunnel to combat the problem because there are so many accidents.

Answer 11

several concerns.

Poor maintenance and no register of inspection certificates

Tachograph rules/driving hours ignored

No knowledge of UK rules and customs on the road

Blind spot on wrong side when changing lanes

Difficulty of contacting insurers and owners of fleet

Etc Etc.

Answer 12

i ride a bike so i pretty much dislike them as they dont pay attention 2 me coz theyre r 2 d**n close to me.. in the car its no problem as i have airbags and a metal shell... but on the bike i try to avoid them as much as posible as most of them r either 2 close, cut me up n pull out on me.. i just about reached 18 as the day b4 nearly got squished by 1 pulling out in2 the fast lane where they r not meant 2 be.

Answer 13

As a priffesional HGV driver in the UK,( Ihave had my HGV licence since passing at 17 when in the army),  my concerns are with the lack of training where many foreign drivers are concerned. One example: I used to work for a large firm in Worcester wher ethey employ several Polish People. Not anti POlish, just stating facts. One of them went home for three months after Chistmas, and came back with a class one licence, which he 'bought' in Latvia for the equivalent of £100.00! Add to this the fact that foreigh  drivers are not subject to the same stringent driving hours rules we British drivers are, I know of several instances of Spanish drivers coming over in one run!!!! Also, when involved in an accident, many play the dont speaka da lingo game, give a false address and get away with it! There are, of course, a few British driver who are somewhat lacking in the ettiquette of the road, but these are few and far between. For myself, I am happy to say that in all the years I have been piloting 40+ ton lorries around the country and Europe, I have never been involved in an at fault accident.

Answer 14

Too right mate. I got dragged around a roundabout by a Spanish truck whose driver was indicating to turn off left but carried on going right.

I watched as the windscreen and passenger side of my van got crushed underneath the trailer. When we finally stopped I got a load of abuse in Spanish, I said "feck you, lets get the police involved"

It was proven that he was in the wrong, and he still had his l h indicator going when the police turned up !

Answer 15

Yes, and i'm only 13, everytime i'm in the car and we're going up the M1 there's always a foreign drivers drifting lanes and sometimes one of them in their big articulated lorries drives in the fast lane. They change lanes without indicating and  don't even check their mirrors.

7 out of 10 times its always a foreign lorry on its side or in a ditch, surely there should be some tests that they need to pass before they can drive here.

Remeber, I'm only 13 and even I don't like them.

But I do respect the number of hours they drive to transport goods to us. If only they were more careful

Answer 16

My concerns are to the car drivers out there whom do not understand the highway code or how difficult it is to stop steer and manoeuvre out the way of car and van drivers.

9 Times out of 10 its the car drivers that are to fault

no indication

cutting you up

driving up to a roundabout on outside lane when no room

coming onto the motorway expecting a 40ft truck to move out the way  

Just a few examples

So what if we have a sandwich

or a cup of coffee

the modern trucks these days are the equivalent to roll  Royce's on the straight they drive themselves

Answer 17

d**n right i am. Ive noticed the majority of lorry  ( truck ) drivers are foreign and their driving skills are atrocious.

If i'm driving in front of one, nine times out of ten i will pull over and let him pass. They totally un-nerve me.

Answer 18

A lot of trucks from Eire come through NI to use the ports to get to Liverpool or Scotland. The vast majority of these do not have valid insurance. A friend had his car written off by a southern Ireland truck. No insurance, no road tax at all, the PSNI (the RUC as was then) couldn't get the driver as he disappeared into Eire, no jurisdiction and no international warrant for a 'traffic offence'. Friend spent 3 months in & out of hospital, loss of earnings, job, and car.

Answer 19

Looking at the M1 today, I have BIG concerns, I overtook one as he was swerving all over the place, and when I glanced back through my mirror he was on the phone, I have noticed them eating, with cups in their hands. I mean they can't concentrate when they have something in their hands. I would be one of the first to get caught if it was me. Luckily, I adhere to the law, as I have kids in the car. I even ask them to unwrap a sweet if I want one.

Edit.... I'm not just on about Foreign truckdrivers, because many of our car drivers are as bad.