On-the-spot inspections of lorries and HGV drivers are “vanishingly rare” on the roads despite police operations, according to a union.

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Unite said a freedom of information request showed there were 114,653 on-the-spot inspections in 2020/21 to check roadworthiness and if the driver was abiding by driving regulations, a third less than in 2016/17.

A Norfolk police crackdown on lorry driver traffic crime last year found nearly 200 offences in three days including insecure loads and drivers with no licence.

Eastern Daily Press: Neil Collins and his wife Alison escaped with minor injuries despite concrete blocks falling from lorry onto their Tesla car.Neil Collins and his wife Alison escaped with minor injuries despite concrete blocks falling from lorry onto their Tesla car. (Image: Neil Collins)

The potential consequences of lax precautions were highlighted when a load of concrete blocks fell off a lorry on the B1535 at Weston Longville onto a Tesla whose owner Neil Collins and his wife narrowly escaped serious injury.

The driver was fined £267 and given three penalty points.

Unite officer Adrian Jones said: “An unsafe lorry or a driver failing to follow the driving regulations has enormous safety implications for all road users.”

A Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency spokesman said: “New technology and techniques mean we can target the seriously non-compliant more effectively than in earlier years, and we focus on the most serious defects and offences.”