Foreign lorry drivers without correct documents 'a danger to UK motorists' - Hughes

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 22nd Apr 2008

Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, has today added his voice to parliamentary concern about foreign drivers who are not held to account for driving failures while on roads in the UK. This issue was the subject of House of Lords questions this afternoon - Tuesday.

Mr Hughes issued the following statement today after being asked for help by a constituent of his who lives in Rotherhithe:

"I have been contacted recently by one of my constituents who was involved in a collision with an articulated lorry on the A2 motorway last year. I understand that the driver of the articulated vehicle, who was Hungarian, carried only his driving licence and had no other identification for himself or his employer. I am concerned that my constituent has not been able to file an insurance claim because of vital information which the driver of the lorry was unable or unwilling to provide.

"I understand that the lorry was displaying different vehicle registration numbers on the front and back of the vehicle and that the Metropolitan Police have not yet been able to identify the driver, the firm who own the vehicle or its destination in the UK. My constituent, through no fault of his own, has been unable to claim for the considerable damage to his vehicle because there is no way for him to find out important information about the driver of the vehicle which he claims struck his car."

Mr Hughes said today:

"It should be mandatory for all lorry drivers, whether they are based here in the UK or in Europe, to carry information about their driving qualifications, their employer, their cargo and their destination. I believe that drivers should present this information immediately to anyone involved in an accident with their vehicle. UK courts prosecute those who provide false insurance information, yet lorry drivers who fail to provide insurance information at all are allowed to get away without paying for their unsafe driving. Motorists should be able to claim on their insurance against unsafe lorry drivers and lorry drivers should be required to provide information which will help accident victims to claim as swiftly and painlessly as possible.

"I am now going to get to work with my parliamentary colleague, Baroness Sarah Ludford, the Liberal Democrat MEP for Greater London, to ensure a rigorous European Union wide policy to deal with the serious problem which this case illustrates."

ENDS