Collisions on UK roads involving foreign heavy good vehicles have risen by 14% since 2012.
Figures from The Accident Exchange show that foreign lorries were involved in nearly 1,100 motorway crashes last year with vehicles from Poland (15.7%), Germany (13.1%) and Spain (8.45%) the most likely to be in a collision.
1 in 3 incidents involving foreign heavy good vehicles occurred on a motorway, the M25 (36.93%) saw the highest percentage of these accidents, followed by the M6 (15.12%) and M1 (14.25%). Across all road types the incident figure involving these vehicles rises to 3,100, nearly 9 per day.
Liz Fisher, Director of Sales Development at Accident Exchange said “This worrying statistic shows that a collision with a foreign lorry is an increasingly real possibility.
“A heavy goods vehicle in unfamiliar territory can be a danger. Common types of accidents that might involve trucks are cars getting caught in the blind spot of a lorry that is changing lanes or cars being rear-ended by a much bigger, heavier vehicle. Both are equally as dangerous and we urge all motorists to drive with safety and vigilance in mind at all times.
“While safety is the paramount concern, getting involved in an accident with a vehicle from abroad can also lead to frustrating and difficult administrative complications.”
Figures supplied by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency found that a large number of foreign heavy good vehicles on the UK's roads were also in an unsafe condition. Last year two thirds of foreign lorries were found to be overloaded in weight checks whilst 32,344 were checked for mechanical problems with 10,586 being subsequently taken off the road.
Foreign lorry motorway accidents top-10 countries
Country Percentage (%) of total
Poland 15.73
Germany 13.15
Spain 8.45
France 6.10
Netherlands 6.10
Italy 5.40
Czech Republic 5.16
Hungary 4.69
Lithuania 4.46
Romania 4.46
Top-10 motorways for foreign lorry accidents
Road Percentage (%)
M25 36.93
M6 15.12
M1 14.25
M40 5.83
M20 4.97
M4 3.02
M62 3.02
M11 2.16
M42 1.94
M5 1.73
