Good news! Fatalities from accidents on UK roads are in decline, and we\u2019re close to the lowest fatality rate in years. But many people still die on our roads every year, and statistics show that heavy goods vehicles are involved in too many of those accidents for comfort. This is particularly true on more rural, single track roads, which see numerous accidents (both HGV and non-HGV related) every year, and around 60-80 deaths. So this year, we want to help reduce this number by sharing with you 5 ways you, as a responsible HGV driver, can prevent accidents on the roads.<\/p>\n
Up in first place for the biggest cause of HGV related accidents is loss of driver control. Now a driver can lose control of a vehicle for a number of reasons, and not all of them are their fault. The weather plays a huge roll in this, from fog to ice, snow and even driving rain. All of this makes it difficult for tyres to grip the road and for drivers to see clearly. It\u2019s also a challenge for normal motorists, and this causes collisions with any other vehicle on the road \u2013 HGV or not. But some of the loss of control can be the driver\u2019s fault \u2013 from distraction to reacting badly to other drivers. Because a lot of the causes of this are out of your control, the best thing we can suggest is to keep your vehicle well maintained and serviced, since the little things like efficient brakes, wipers and lights could save your life.<\/p>\n
An HGV is a big, bulky vehicle. That means it\u2019s often difficult to know what\u2019s going on at all points in the vehicle, especially when your blind spots are about 5 times bigger than the average car. But failing to consider surroundings and use mirrors properly is one of the big causes of accidents in the HGV world \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t need to be. Making a point to observe your surroundings \u2013 especially in bad weather \u2013 is very important. You can also prioritise keeping your mirrors clean to improve visibility.<\/p>\n
The UK has some of Europe\u2019s busiest roads, and the drivers on them are far from the politest you will find. UK drivers tend to be a bit more aggressive, and it can be really tempting to respond to that aggression with more aggression, or passive-aggression. But recklessness isn\u2019t just aggression \u2013 it\u2019s also thing like driving with alcohol or drugs in your system, or not paying attention to the people around you. It\u2019s best to try and remain calm, and not respond to aggression on the road. Instead, treat idiots with a healthy dose of zen, and never drive with any illicit substances in your system.<\/p>\n
Have you ever been tempted to check your mobile phone during that endless stream of slow-moving traffic? Or fiddle with the radio while you\u2019re on the motorway on a long drive? It\u2019s something we all experience, and yet every year lives are lost in these few moments of carelessness. So don\u2019t give in! Keep your phone away from you in the cab, and make sure you are fully focussed on the road when you\u2019re driving. It\u2019s also worth mentioning that accidents are most common at night, after 11 pm, when drivers tend to hit the wall and get tired. So if you feel your eyelids drooping, pull over and take a break, have a nap, go for a walk or even just have a cup of coffee to make yourself more alert.<\/p>\n
And of course \u2013 the classic. Speeding. Did you know that four people were caught speeding every minute <\/em>last year? Speed limits aren\u2019t just pretty signs \u2013 they are there to keep everyone on the road safe, and allow you enough stopping time to avoid accidents. This is especially important on rural roads, where it might be tempting to shave a few minutes off your drive time by speeding up. But speed limits are the absolute maximum \u2013 <\/em>not the minimum or a target. <\/em>If you want to stay safe on the roads, especially in a vehicle as large as an HGV, you need to stick to the speed limits and not become another speeding (or fatality) statistic.<\/p>\n At The Surrey and Hampshire Training Centre, we take driver and vehicle safety very seriously. That\u2019s why we not only teach our drivers how to drive their HGV\u2019s, but how to maintain them properly, and how to be a safe and courteous driver on the road. Every death involving an HGV is too much in our books, and so we are doing everything we can to prevent them \u2013 by teaching you how to be the safest driver possible. For more information, just get in touch with the team today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good news! Fatalities from accidents on UK roads are in decline, and we\u2019re close to the lowest fatality rate in years. But many people still die on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-16 10:47:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surreyandhampshirehgvtraining.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}