Ban left-hand-drive trucks?

[Donkmeister]

An un-named family pays the price of truckers ill-equipped to drive on the left:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7681240.stm

I hope they don't do the usual trick of letting the trucker out on bail, hoping he is man enough to show up in court and take what's coming.

I've seen lots of near-misses, and it seems the actual collisions are always fatal. I was very lucky to escape one French trucker on the M25 Although the traffic was only going 30mph, I didn't enjoy doing an emergency stop in the middle-lane of the M25...

What can the authorities do? There's signs everywhere when you leave the ports reminding drivers to stay on the left, but we still get these accidents (and countless near-misses). Perhaps it's time that we ban left-hand drive commercial vehicles from our shores? Either that or detain non-resident criminal drivers until their trial.

 

[Bahco]

6 members of the same family paid the price because of this idiot!

Wholeheartedly agree with Donk. Is there a process for suggesting new legislation?

 

[JohnD]

just checking:

have you seen evidence that the accident was caused by a truck being LHD?

or is it just uninformed prejudice?

 

[clf-gas]

5 members of the same family, the sixth peron was involved in an earlier incident.

Whats driving on the left got to do with the incident Donk, he certainly wasnt driving on the wrong carrigeway.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

It is very sad to hear about so many people being killed in a tragic accident like this (especially kids )

The facts of the accident are not out yet.

We do not know that the driver was at fault.

If he was at fault was it because it was a lhd vehicle or is he just a bad driver.

It could be just an accident.

The knee jerk reaction of wanting to ban lhd trucks is a bit extreme to say the least. Would the proposed ban be for lorries only or vans as well and perhaps cars should be included. The ban of course would have to work the other way with UK trucks not being allowed to operate in countries that drive on the opposite side of the road to us. No more holidays in France, we could shut the tunnel and sell off the ferries

Lets wait until we know what happened.

 

[snico]

I think it is little too early to suggest how this accident happened. A lot of these drivers coming in from abroad are extremely good drivers, yes he has been arrested but lets just think about that poor family instead of trying to change any laws jus yet.

 

[Glassman]

5 members of the same family, the sixth peron was involved in an earlier incident.

Whats driving on the left got to do with the incident Donk, he certainly wasnt driving on the wrong carrigeway.

LINK
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...h-wreckage/article-415728-detail/article.html

6 members of the same family, 7 if you inlcude the van driver. It is now believed that there was also a baby on board. Very sad.

If this guy is at fault then I hope they throw the key away

 

[Glassman]

The knee jerk reaction of wanting to ban lhd trucks is a bit extreme to say the least.

You obviously dont use the motorways as much as some of us then. I use this part of the M6 almost on a daily basis and I have lost count of the number of times that I have been forced to veer into the inside fast lane to avoid weaving and/or overtaking left-hand drive HGV's.
Something really has to be done becuase this isn't the first incident involving an HGV on this stretch of the M6. A couple were forced off the same stretch of motorway a couple of years ago and were killed again by a foreign HGV driver. The driver eventually got sent down for it. The same shoud apply here if this guy if found guilty.

 

[JohnD]

"I saw an LHD truck being driven badly before, therefore I know that this accident was caused because the driver was foreign"

yeah, right

 

[JohnD]

the M6. A couple were forced off the same stretch of motorway a couple of years ago and were killed again by a foreign HGV driver. The driver eventually got sent down for it. The same shoud apply here if this guy if found guilty.

Like this one?
Trucker jailed for M6 death crash
Colin Steele, 41, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was driving
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7410904.stm
or this?

M6 crash deaths footballer in court
Former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick
http://www.wigantoday.net/latest-north-west-news/M6-crash-deaths-footballer-in.4559301.jp

M6 death crash chaos
"A car travelling northbound from Junction 5
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk...&headline=m6-death-crash-chaos-name_page.html

or perhaps
Cumbrian man caused M6 motorway crash as he tried to force

A MARYPORT man who caused a crash on the M6 motorway has been warned he could be jailed

An 82-year-old woman drove the wrong way up the M6 in Cumbria,

Police arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicious of causing death by dangerous driving ...a black Range Rover

 

[Watchmaker]

"Perhaps it's time that we ban left-hand drive commercial vehicles from our
shores"
Really? Would that also include our RHD vehicles being banned from those Countries where driving is on the right?

 

[clf-gas]

5 members of the same family, the sixth peron was involved in an earlier incident.

Whats driving on the left got to do with the incident Donk, he certainly wasnt driving on the wrong carrigeway.

LINK
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...h-wreckage/article-415728-detail/article.html

6 members of the same family, 7 if you inlcude the van driver. It is now believed that there was also a baby on board. Very sad.

If this guy is at fault then I hope they throw the key away

Thankyou GM, now its even mofe sad

 

[Donkmeister]

Hmmm, admittedly I made a big assumption, the driver was Portuguese so I assumed it was a Portuguese (and hence LHD) truck.

I would apply such a law to all commercial vehicles. A LHD car is also a danger but I fancy my chance of survival is MUCH better when side-swiped by a car than when side-swiped by a 45-tonner.

Also, another assumption: car will more likely be driven by a holidaymaker with their family in the car. They will also be less complacent as driving on the left will be more alien to them.

Whereas a LHD trucker DOESN'T have his and his family's lives at stake by hitting a 1-tonne car with his 45-tonne truck.

Anyone who does a lot of motorway miles will have seen LHD trucks doing manoeuvers that endanger the lives of other road users with far greater frequency than RHD trucks.

 

[Donkmeister]

"Perhaps it's time that we ban left-hand drive commercial vehicles from our
shores"
Really? Would that also include our RHD vehicles being banned from those Countries where driving is on the right?

Well, if they can prove a link between RHD vehicles and road fatalities/injuries then they're welcome to instigate such a policy too.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

The same shoud apply here if this guy if found guilty.

I couldn't agree more.

If the driver (regardless of nationality) is at fault then he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

If it is found that the cause of the accident was due to the vehicle being a lhd then a proper investigation should be carried out as to possible solutions to the problem.

If it is such a prolific problem on the M6 then unmarked traffic cars should patrol and fine the drivers caught driving without due care and attention, there could be a scheme put in place that refuses entry to the UK of foreign drivers who have been caught (maybe on a points system similar to the UK).