• Lemmings leap over cliffs, whales beach themselves, hedgehogs run on to motorways, but what do trucks do?
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The Hawk may have discovered that lorries, like elephants go to a special place to die. In this case they throw themselves at Commercial Motor's roadtesters on our Welsh route.
On running down to the start of the Welsh route recently, our roadtester was confronted by the sight of a Renault 390 that had narrowly missed him after hurling itself on its side. The lorry had overturned on the A34 aft-a roundabout and
the load Bel wheels spilled out onto the road. The French driver was unhurt, but found the accident a complete mystery. "Humph", said one of the technical department when told about the accident, "I wonder what they're doing about the harmonisation of Europe's roundabouts".
A bit later, further down the road, a Volvo had shed its load of planks into someone's front garden. The following day the test was delayed by a burning Coca Cola lorry on the M4. In this case the vehicle had caught fire at the rear and melted the tins of drink, which promptly burned with the rest of the trailer. Is there something we should know here?
That same evening the M4 was the site of something a little more serious, with a series of accidents involving lorries and cars. An Iveco 190-30 had jack-knifed, and been involved in a collision.
The Hawk wishes all those involved a speedy recovery, but in future could you please leave our roadtesters alone!