TTT / Dave, I will try to reply to this in the best of my HGV Experience, thre HGV It self is as safe as the person that is driving it, to start, some have a driving lesson on a Monday & by Frid they THINK THE are a Trucker " My rsss" they go with an empty Unit ? Trailer for the duration of their training & have no idea how the GHV Responds with a load on, If a Tank, you have sway, if carrying Livestock, you have Side Movement ( Sway) Steel, not many Headboards on trailers have Steel Head boards to protect the Driver if the Driver Has to Slap on because some clown has missed his / her turning, Im have seen the Glory Boys in their BIG Lorries with 20 Bloody head lights on the roof that look like a Xmas tree & a blow up in the Passenger seat, ( I was / Never one of these) the HGV is lethal but its as safe as the person that drives it, NLO PERSON that has not got at least 1 years Experience should drive an Artic 44Tonnes, I had beern driving 40+ years & still learning with things you carried, regards the GHVs from abroad, just remember, when on a motorway & you are under their line of vision ( Near their Off / Side Drivers wheel) he /she can not see you, that truck may have a STEP MIRROR above the Drivers / Passengers Door, but It is a blind spot & a danger area, a tip for some on Motorway Driving, apart from the Obvious Name of the Company on the Taut ( Curtain Sider) as you approach the truck look at their Number Plate, that more that often tells you that that HGV Is a Left Hand Drive, that could be the drivers 1st time over to the UK so be warned, Slapping on / Cutting in front of a HGV Can cause death, I've seen it, I have seen Steel go through a Driver Cab all because some Basds Missed their turning, I have seen HGVs turn over because some one has dropped his /her tea in their cars / Vans, I will stick up for the Drivers as I was there myself, Many time Trying to get out in the Overtaking lane only to be held back by some idiot that thinks the outside lane was his /. her lane only, to say "Keep the HGVs to the Inside Lane is Silly" Why, the Motorways are now blocked up because of the 56MPH Rule, when we were at 60 the traffic was flowing & flowing well, "Vision" In that cab Our vision was 20+cars ahead of the Private Motorist & coild see what was going on ahead ( Forward Planning) If I ever seen anything up ahead that was reducing the flow I would put on my "Hazards" that give some the warning something they could not see was happening, The things we could see from the cabs would open your eyes regards persons in passing cars, men / Women W------G, the same giving a B---W Jobs, I am not joking by what I have said, until the public are trained on the Likes Of Motorways Accidents will be cause, Not Happen, they are caused to happen, Regards the Safety of the HGV + Trailer, the load Movement is up to the Driver, Steel, there is not much you can do about that moving, steel is one of the worst loads you can carry, 2 things stop that load going forward, Chains that hold it down & the timbers the load is sitting on, on the Bed of the Trailer, other loads like Food / Timber / are strapped within & hardly ever move, there is Glass Bottles on pallets, a very bad load, we used to carry them fro Hitchin to Preston, the load sways like hell due the height of the bottles to the base of the Pallet & is only Shrink Wrapped ( Waste Of Time) an artic / 8 Wheeler on a long down hill decent has an Exhaust brake, is device chokes the engine to a degree that it helps to slow the HGV down, but if that HGV has 44Tonnes or the likes on its back the driver relies on his brakes, & yes, as big & as Safe as a HGV appears it can have brake fade, this can happen with continues use of the brakes instead of using the gears this is when experience comes in, a lot of SO CALLED HGV drivers that you see on Tippers are driver that has not long passed their test due to Company's will not Employ them due to lack of experience.