Govt resists anti-bunching rules
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• 4 The Government last week resisted further demands for legislation compelling heavy goods vehicles to keep a certain distance apart on the roads.
This time the call for action came in the Upper House from Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, who spoke of "absolutely impossible" congestion on some roads at this time of year.
He suggested a rule saying that on non-dual carriageways large vehicles should keep at least 100 yards apart.
For the Government, Lord Mowbray and Stourton said there was no intention of bringing in legislation about the spacing of heavy lorries.
That was a matterbetter left to the discretion and common sense of the drivers concerned.
Lord Somers claimed it was rather foolish to leave these regulations to the good sense of the drivers "when they have no good sense". Was this not rather an excuse for just doing nothing?
Lord Mowbray would not accept that heavy lorry drivers had no common sense. By and large he found them very good, he said, and in any case education and example were what was needed.
Northern hauliers directory
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