Big bridge-bashing probe
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• More than 3,000 bridges over Britain's roads are putting lives at risk because they are too low and are frequently hit by high-sided trucks. A Department of Transport working party, set up to tackle the problem of bridge-bashing, has identified 3,400 rail-over-road bridges which are less than 5.03m high. The DTp says: "Bridge crashes can cause not only road casualties, but also death and injury to rail users in cases where the track is dislodged by the strike."
The working party last week unveiled a package of measures to reduce the extent of the problem. These include improved road signing, structural changes to increase the clearance at certain vulnerable trunk road bridges and installation of warning devices on certain vehicles to show when lifting gear is raised.
In an attempt to make bridge-bashing an offence, the package also includes a radical proposal to advise licensing authorities to take licence applications into account when admi nistering collisions with bridges.
The Freight Transport Association agrees that the problem is not easy to solve. Don McIntyre, controller of planning and traffic services at the FTA, says: "Bridge-bashing is a matter of grave concern and statistics indicate how serious the problem is. We will carefully study the DTp's proposed measures before commenting on the possibility of bridgebashing being brought into consideration by licensing authorities when deciding on licence approvals."
On average 23 bridge strikes a month were recorded last year and the DTp says this figure represents a substantial reduction on the rate of 15 years ago.