EDITORIAL
Page 15
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Dangerous rubbish
The amount of material which falls from lorries. especially on motorway s. is a matter which should be causing concern
operators, and should lead to clear instructions being given by them to their drivers on the action to be taken if they think they have lost a vehicle component or part of the load. More constructively, a pay-packet reminder to drivers about load security from time to time could lessen the hazards and reduce the risk of an operator being charged with "causing or permitting".
Our reporter's investigations, recorded in this week's issue, show that there are nianY causes for the dangerous litter which is causing such concern. Much of it comes from motorists but a large part is inescapably identifiable as truck trash: spare wheels, wheel carriers, dunnage and a variety of spilt loads Y arying from steel girders to loose gravel — all capable of causing a accident. On motorways n particular, there seems to be a need for drivers to be better briefed on the effects of higher speeds, so that loads which would create no hazard at up to 40mph are sheeted and secured when speeds of perhaps 60mph are to be reached. One of the clear results of our own investigation was the evidence that the ropes used to secure loads are sometimes too weak and too slack.
It is understandable that a driver who knows or suspects he has shed part of his vehicle or load should be tempted to carry on and say nothing. To report such potential hazards' promptly to the police is to risk prosecution. but to shirk the responsibility at the possible expense of someone else's life or limb is to take a cynically irresponsible attitude. Even self-interest should prompt the thought that he who shrugs off the responsibility may he the next to meet a hazard; and failing to stop is in any case no guarantee of escaping prosecution, and the man who has acted responsibly at his own risk can expect this to be taken into account bl a court.
The road freight industry is always saving how anxious it is to improy e its public image. Here is an opportunity to do so, by an industry-wide campaign which could improve its standing with the public and, more importantly, reduce the toll of the roads.