International

Mega-trucks 25 metres (almost 28 yards) long and weighing 60 tonnes are simply too big for Europe’s infrastructure, says SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer. “This sort of monster truck might be all very well in Australia, but I can’t see them being safe on Dutch roads.” Meijer today lodged a written question over the issue with the European Commission.

12.000 of these lorries are expected to be on Dutch roads within a few years. “Extremely dangerous!” pronounces Meijer. “No wonder that so many organizations are objecting to these monster trucks. The fire service fears – and quite correctly, in my view – that insurmountable problems will arise in the case of an accident involving such a truck. You wouldn’t be able to get it off the road in order to prevent injuries.”

The cost of road transport could, it’s true, be reduced, but any advantage is at best mixed. “It would further weaken the competitive position of rail and water, the use of which we’re supposed to be trying to increase,” says Meijer. “Moreover, it’s easy to work out that these trucks would lead to adaptations of the road network wherever these vehicles encountered problems, which mean more money being spent on asphalt.”

He wants the Commission to state whether member states will be allowed to exclude these trucks if they are allowed on to the roads in neighbouring countries.