Arguments mount against ‘mega trucks’

With continuing uncertainty over whether a new type of ‘mega truck’, which weighs more than a fully-laden airliner, will not be allowed on European streets a new film explains the risks of such vehicles.

The European Transport Commissioner, Antonio Tajani last year rejected plans for the introduction of the longer, heavier vehicles sometimes referred to as ‘mega trucks’, but a final decision on introducing mega trucks has not yet been made on a European level.

The 60-ton mega-trucks measure more than 25 metres in length and are heavier than 52 family cars, or a Boeing 737-300 airliner.

Too big, too heavy, too dangerous

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) is part of a pan-European coalition of organisations against the widespread introduction of the mega trucks.

Director of the ETA, Andrew Davis, explained that the mega trucks represent an unacceptable risk to other road users: “One in five fatal road collisions involves a heavy goods vehicle and these mega-trucks are like articulated lorries on steroids – they are simply too big, too heavy and too dangerous for British roads.”