Helen Whately

Three people were killed and a man injured in the horrific accident on the A2 last week, and my thoughts are with their families and friends. We don’t know, and may never know, exactly what happened.

My understanding is the car crashed into a parked lorry. The driver of the lorry was arrested and has since been released.

The accident happened on a stretch of the A2 where there is a problem with lorries parking in lay-bys, on slip roads and mounting the pavement.

Whether this was a factor or not, the attention this accident is bringing to the problem of lorry parking should spur on the work to fix it.

We need more truck stops so drivers can stop when they need to and get a decent rest. Stop 24 at Folkestone and the Ashford truck stop are turning lorries away at night because they are full.

As well as more parking spaces we need tougher rules. While many drivers would rather have their break in a truck stop, I’m told that some – understandably – stop at the roadside to save money.

Lorry driver employers need to pay them an allowance to cover the cost of parking, on top of a living wage.

I have campaigned on lorry parking since 2015, pressing for more places and a ban on ‘fly-parking’.

I’ve been working closely with Kent County Council and there has been progress, including a trial of ‘clamp-first’ in Ashford and increased fines. So far this seems to be working well and deterring drivers from repeatedly parking in the wrong places. If this scheme is a success I hope this approach can be rolled out across Kent and beyond.

People have been warning for some time that the number of lorries parked in lay-bys and slip roads is dangerous. We need more lorry parks and effective enforcement to make sure when we have them, lorries use them.