Safety and regulations restricting the hours of driving of goods vehicle drivers

The enhancement of safety is an explicit reason for regulations restricting hours of driving and work of heavy goods vehicle drivers; however the effectiveness of such regulations has been questioned. In some cases the regulations cannot be effective because they are neither enforced nor.adhered to. Recent evidence suggests that both long hours of work and driving at night may be associated with an increased risk of accident; and a small part of recent improvements in the heavy goods vehicle accident rate may be due to regulations governing, amongst other things, drivers' hours. However, some drivers may be increasingly at risk because of high mileages and driving at night.