1,500 deaths a year caused by tired truckers

Date: 02/05/02

By Laurence Frost

MORE than 1,500 people a year are killed in accidents caused by tired lorry drivers in the EU, according to a report published today (2 May).

The study by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) reveals that fatigue is a factor in at least one in five of around 8,000 road deaths involving commercial trucks every year.

The findings were released as the safety group launched a campaign to toughen up new proposals on lorry drivers' working time, which it warns are too weak to reduce road deaths significantly.

Although it sets driving time limits of a maximum ten hours per day, the regulation allows truckers to combine driving with other duties, making working days up to 15 hours long.

'The critical issue is not just how long you have driven, it's how long you've been at work,' said Nick McDonald, chair of the ETSC's driver fatigue working group. 'After an 11-hour work span, the risk of being involved in an accident doubles.'

ETSC fears the regulation could open the door to 80-hour working weeks, superseding a working time directive adopted in March, which sets a 60-hour limit.

However, the Commission insists the lower limit will stand. 'You won't be able to use the regulation to go over the 60 hours,' an official said.

The ETSC analysis is also rejected by the EU's €200 billion road haulage sector. Wim Smolders, spokesman for the International Road Transport Union, said the calculated working times were based on 'a very theoretical case' that took no account of mandatory breaks and the long periods spent waiting for goods or instructions, when drivers are able to rest 'on duty'.

British and Dutch studies had shown lorries had similar accident rates to private cars in relation to mileage, Smolders said. 'If road safety is the main objective then it's clear more general measures would need to be taken.'

The European Commission is aiming to half the EU's 42,000 annual road deaths by 2010 - as well as their €166 billion cost to the economy.

• Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio faces a setback this week over her bid to clamp down on fuel tax breaks granted to truckers by three EU governments.

Her proposal to ban the measures as illegal state aid will be unanimously rejected after France, Italy and the Netherlands invoked a controversial and little-used EU Treaty clause to block the move.

The three countries granted tax breaks to road hauliers following mass protests in 2000 against rising oil prices, and won the support of other member states.

Report of a study by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published on 2 May 2002.