Topical question asked in the House of Commons, by John Baron (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 25 November 2008 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Topical Questions

Question: Government figures confirm that foreign heavy goods vehicles account for 3 per cent. of journeys, but for 10 per cent. of HGV accidents, resulting in approaching 40 deaths a year. Given that Fresnel mirrors have been proven to eliminate the blind spot on the passenger side of those left-hand-drive vehicles and given that the Government have also admitted that the latest EU directive will not eliminate that blind spot, why will the Government simply not make all Fresnel mirrors mandatory for incoming HGVs instead of handing them out at our ports of entry as freebies?

Answer: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue of Fresnel mirrors, of which we are great supporters. The evidence that we have shows that they are effective in reducing the number of side-swipe incidents and improving driver vision. We are sharing with our European colleagues the information and the data that we are collating. We are always looking to improve the safety of all vehicles. One hopes that the use of such mirrors will be one measure to achieve that. At the same time, we have given the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency £24 million extra funding this year to address the issue of foreign HGVs, as a higher proportion of them are in breach of road safety regulations than are UK vehicles. That funding has meant staff increases, 24/7 coverage, new testing stations and many more inspections.

Secondary information