Our roads are to become even more hazardous as longer 'super-lorries' are set to become more common.
Road safety groups fear that these will cost lives with greater dangers for pedestrians, cyclists and road infrastructure.
Whitchurch already suffers from HGVs that mount pavements, knock over bollards, hit parked cars, break up surfaces and kerbs and have difficulty dealing with the tight corners.
This will only get far worse. The longer lorries will have increased blind spots, greater tail swings and potentially heavier weights all adding to greater risks for other road users, especially in urban areas and country lanes.
Leading Charity CycleUK has said:
"Given that lorries are already seven times more likely than cars to be involved in cyclist or pedestrian fatality, a longer lorry rollout represents a serious step backwards for safety."
We can call on our MP and Councillors to take action
One only needs to look at the Whitchurch town centre to see the amount of damage heavy vehicles cause, with the concerns recognised within the Whitchurch Neighbourhood Plan as requiring action.
We call on all our MP, Councillors and representatives to respond on how this unwelcome growth in large vehicles is to be dealt with in Whitchurch and on our country roads.
Heavy Lorries and excessive traffic is already a scourge on Whitchurch and has destroyed so much.Do we want that to become worse?
Kit Malthouse MP
kit.malthouse.mp@parliament.uk
Tom Thacker (HCC County Councillor for Whitchurch)
tom.thacker@hants.gov.uk
Hampshire County Council
Main HCC website
Main BDBC website