Is there a way of limiting motorway accidents caused by left-hand drive HGVs?

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Is there a way of limiting motorway accidents caused by left-hand drive HGVs?

In 2006 my son got side-swiped by a left-hand drive Polish lorry. Whilst overtaking in a long slow queue on a motorway, he was clipped on the rear of his car by the lorry which pulled out, signalling as he came out, and my son's car rolled over, zig-zagging across three lanes and coming to rest on its side in the fast lane! Another car then hit them, but by some miracle they both got out of the car shaken but unhurt. Two days ago, driving down a dual carriageway, exactly the same thing happened to the car in front of us. Can anything be done to prevent these accidents?

Asked on 21 July 2012 by SC, Torquay

Answered by Honest John

The first rule is that cars should never hover beside a left-hand drive HGV where the driver cannot see them. That's just plain stupid and is asking for trouble. Always overtake as quickly as possible and preferably give the driver a blast of your horn to tell him you are there, which is actually what horns are for. But a very good idea would be surround cameras, as you can have fitted to Land Rovers. These give you a split-screen view all around the vehicle that would cheaply solve the HGV blindspot problem.

Tags: motorways accidents driving techniques

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