Near misses should be NFC cools off on
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reported URTU boss
the Continent
• Drivers should be forced to report all near accidents to the Vehicle Inspectorate or to Traffic Area Offices in a scheme that would uncover the true extent of drivers falling asleep behind the wheel.
He is backed by University of Loughborough professor Jim Horne, who is expected to tell delegates that accident reports understate how often drivers fall asleep.
"Because of the way we deal with these things people don't admit it," says URTU.
"If we didn't immediately blame the driver for falling asleep at the wheel we might be able to do something more positive about these things."
URTU believes the conference could have a significant impact on future EU policy. It will be attended by policy advisors and EU officials as well as academics and sleep experts. • NFC has considered a withdrawal from some of its strategic continental operations, according to City analysts.
In an internal review at the end of last year, the logistics and removal group considered whether to pull out of its German and French businesses in order to stem massive losses.
But NFC, which last week saw its continental businesses posting a .C4.6m loss for the six months to the end of March, shrank from making the decision because of punitive redundancy costs. The review group also concluded that the company should not pull out of the expanding international European market.
The review began shortly after Gerry Murphy took over in the summer as NFC's chief executive. "Inevitably one looks at all the businesses when one arrives, especially the ones losing money," Murphy said last week. "But you can't seriously be in logistics and not have a presence in Germany."