Between 1988 and 1990 there were roughly 2480 fatal accidents involving heavy goods vehicles (over 3500 kg gross weight) in Great Britain The Police files from 1585 of these accidents have been analysed and the main findings are presented in this paper. The accident sample contains details of heavy goods vehicle accidents involving pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, pedal cycles, light goods vehicles and other heavy goods vehicles, as well as some single vehicle accidents. The effects of many possible design improvements have been assessed, including accident avoidance features such as anti-lock brakes, and severity reduction measures such as sideguards, from and near underrun guards, improved cab strength and use of seat belts. Throughout the analyses the effects of each countermeasure have been assessed in terms of the numbers of fatalities within the sample that might have been prevented. The likely annual fatality saving of each measure for Great Britain as a whole has also been estimated.