I’ve just read about the lorry drivers not wearing seat belts (Oxford Mail, May 29).

I’m a lorry driver and the only time a seat belt will be of any use is if I’m struck from behind.

Scania presented a case to the EU Traffic Commission in Brussels showing how seat belts could work on HGVs.

It was rejected because the overall length of the vehicles would need to be extended by 600mm meaning that all trucks would have a crumple zone like you get in cars.

The only protection the lorry I drive gives is from the wind and rain.

In a crash at 5mph, the dashboard will be back against my legs (hopefully the safety devices in the cab will have worked) so I will just have to throw the steering column out of the window and then follow it (most probably do more harm than the impact).

It’s easy to sit in an office and dictate what should happen. Maybe coroner Nicholas Gardner should actually look at the construction of these vehicles and take somebody from the Health & Safety Executive with him to see if that extra 600mm added to the front of HGVs would be worth it.

CHRIS MINCHIN, Akeman Street, Combe