Lorry crash survivor welcomes HGV star ratings

A woman who was left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being hit by a lorry on the motorway has welcomed a safety star system for heavy goods vehicles.

Dee Cobb, from Nuneaton, was travelling on the M6 in September 2018 when a lorry hit her car and "spun" her around, after it tried to overtake her in the middle lane.

"All the side [of my car] was dented and we couldn't open the windows. He'd taken all the left hand side of the vehicle out," she said.

HGVs are now to be given a star rating similar to ones cars are subjected to.

Ms Cobb needed counselling which she said "helped a little bit" but she spent a long time away from work as her job involved driving around the country.

"I'm shaking now actually and I feel quite emotional. I had to have post-traumatic stress meetings every week for a few month," she said.

"I had to have physiotherapy for quite a while because of the whiplash - it's just horrendous.

"It's been a few years ago now, but it still affects me. It was in 2018, yet it seems like yesterday to be quite honest."

A scoring system, with five stars as the safest and one representing the least safe, have been used to monitor standards in cars since 1997.

Now EuroNCAP is extending the scheme to heavy goods vehicles, which are often not fitted with safety features that are commonplace on cars.

They include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which can stop a vehicle even if the driver fails to notice an obstruction ahead.

Six brands of heavy goods vehicles have been tested by the independent safety assessment body. Volvo scored five stars.

Ms Cobb welcomed the news of the scheme being extended to lorries, saying it's "not just for the lorries but for the other people on the road".

"There are families on the road," she added.

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