Charlotte Haye 10th June 2020

The Most Common Causes of HGV Accidents (And How To Avoid Them)

As an HGV driver, there is a lot of things to worry about but road traffic accidents are at the top of pretty much everyone’s list. After all, a high percentage of road accidents involved in lorries are fatal, mainly due to the sheer weight of the vehicle itself. An HGV travelling at 50 mph is capable of tearing through a house (which happened in Barnsley in 2018, when a woman was killed after a stolen lorry crashed and took out a sizeable portion of her house). Given the size of the vehicles involved and the risk they pose, HGV drivers need to be acutely aware of the reason these accidents happen and know what they can do to prevent being part of one. So in this blog, we wanted to talk about the main causes of HGV accidents in this country, and give you some tips on how to avoid being involved in one.

Health Problems

HGV drivers are required to go through a rigorous medical examination before they are granted a license, and to repeat those examinations every 5 years in order to keep that license. This is because while a driver who has a health incident behind the wheel of an ordinary car could be bad, one who is behind the wheel of an HGV could be devastating. In 2013, a major accident in Scotland cost Catherine Bonner her life, and severely injured her husband Jim McColl, because the driver of an HGV had a seizure, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into their house. But we know your health can deteriorate over time, which is why it’s crucial to not only take good care of yourself but inform your GP (and if necessary the DVLA) or any changes to your health, to ensure you are still fit to drive a lorry.

Tips to avoid medical accidents:

Have regular check-ups with your GP to ensure you are healthy and to catch any underlying problems early.
Assess your overall health on a weekly basis, and keep a note of any changes.
Make sure you exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and keep mentally active to keep your mind and body in peak health.

Road Rage

Anyone who has driven a vehicle of any type knows how frustrating it can be at times. But driving a vehicle that’s very heavy and slow to respond, not to mention taking up a huge amount of space on the road, can be even more so. Add into that the way some motorists treat HGVs on the road, and you have a recipe for road rage. But road rage can lead to you making stupid decisions and taking unnecessary risks, all too often ending up in an accident that at best will be very expensive, and at worst could endanger lives. It’s important to remember that you hold the safety of other road users in your hands, and it’s not worth risking an accident for what is a temporary moment of anger. Keeping a cool head in frustrating situations is an important quality in an HGV driver and one you should practice where you can.

Tips for avoiding road rage accidents:

Make sure you’re sleeping properly. Chronic lack of sleep has been proven to impair your ability to think and make decisions.
Plan your routes to make sure you’re not under any pressure to make your deliveries on time.
This has been proven to lower stress levels and help keep a clear mind and a healthy mental state.

Speeding

Everyone who drives a car has probably been guilty of speeding at least once, even if you weren’t caught. But as an HGV driver, you must stay within the speed limits. This isn’t just because it’s the law either – the fast you’re going in an HGV, the less time you have to manoeuvre in an emergency. Speeding is an easy way to lose control of your vehicle, often with catastrophic results. HGVs are large, heavy vehicles and need time to respond to your wheel movements, and you need to factor that in when deciding your speed. Always stick to the speed limits, and be mindful of weather conditions that could affect your braking or turning speeds. Things like rain or snow can have a huge impact on how your vehicle responds to your commands, and your speed needs to reflect that added risk. This will not only keep you safe but the public too, who could be hurt if you lost control.

Tips to avoid speeding accidents:

Never go over the speed limit for large goods vehicles
Always check the weather forecast before a journey, and leave enough time to ensure you’re not under any time pressure for your deliveries
Check the condition of your tires before setting out. If they don’t have a good amount of treat, they won’t be able to dissipate water as well in heavy rain, which will impact your stopping times and control.

Bridges

Be honest, we’ve all seen the photos of HGVs stuck under bridges. The driver might have thought they could squeeze through, but in the end, the sheer height of the HGV was too much, and they became wedged under the bridge, often blocking the road and causing a lot of structural damage in the process. This, sadly, is still one of the most common HGV accidents in the logistics industry, with over 2000 reports of lorries crashing into bridges reported by rail networks alone. The annual cost of repairing bridges after HGV crashes is estimated to be around £23 million per year. Not only does this cause damage to the bridge and any infrastructure around it (like the rail lines), but it also causes major damage to the vehicle itself. Since the top of a lorry isn’t as strong as the bottom, crashing into a bridge completely compromises the structural integrity of the lorry.

Tips to avoid bridge accidents:

Use a sat nav that has been specifically made for HGVs, as these are programmed to avoid low bridges.
Know the height and width of the vehicle you’re driving. If you regularly change vehicles, make sure it is written down before you begin your journey.
If you’re not sure your HGV will fit, don’t even attempt to cross or go under a bridge.
At Easy as HGV, the safety of drivers and other road users is one of our main focuses when training new drivers. We regularly cover the common causes of accidents in our training courses and make sure all new drivers know not only what causes accidents on the road, but what they can do to avoid them. This makes them some of the safest and most conscientious drivers on the road – and exactly what prospective employers are looking for in a driver. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with us today.

Charlotte Haye

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