‘White van man’ is of course a stereotype, but the general roadworthiness of vans is of serious concern, whatever the colour, and it’s pretty obvious that things have to change.

Light Goods Vehicles, often known as ‘white van man’, are involved in twice as many accidents as HGVs and has an MOT failure rate of 50%. Furthermore, in VOSA checks, light goods vehicles are prohibited six out of ten times, and when weighed, these vehicles are overweight three quarters of the time.

These results not only demonstrate a threat to the safety of road users, but also an unfair advantage over white van man’s HGV counterparts. That low compliance rate is even worse considering that HGVs are subjected to a significantly higher level of regulation than light goods vehicles.