SAFETY FIRST
Page 3
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• There has always been bravado in the trucking industry about wearing seatbelts. In the spacious cab of a 38-tonner, surrounded by heavy metal and towering above the rest of the traffic, the truck driver can be forgiven for feeling immune to the very real danger of hurtling through his windscreen should his vehicle come to a sudden stop.
Katy Thomas's plea (see Headline News, page 5) shows just how false that feeling can be.
Thomas wants all trucks to be fitted with seatbelts, and their drivers forced to wear them by law, just as they are in cars. She believes this move would save lives.
Volvo is already installing belts in all its new models: other manufacturers should follow suit.
The sooner the wearing of seatbelts by truck drivers is recognised as an essential safety precaution — in the same way hardhats are on construction sites and lifejackets are on many boats — the better it will be for drivers, their employees and the rescue services which deal with the aftermath of such tragedies.