FOREIGN lorry drivers should be compelled to take a language and road safety test before being allowed on Kent's busy motorways, according to a mother and daughter involved in a terrifying crash with a Turkish juggernaut on the M25.

The lives of Julia Breed and her daughter Louise, from Pembury, have never been the same since their car was shunted by the giant truck near Godstone nearly two years ago.They relive the nightmare every day and want the authorities to act before there are more accidents involving left-hand drive lorries.

They decided to tell their story after reading a report in last week's Kent Messenger about hauliers complaining of the rising menace of overseas vehicles.

Mrs Breed, 62, said: "Drivers should not be allowed to drive in another country if they don't know the laws of the land as far as driving is concerned. If they can't read notices and warning signs, they shouldn't be on our roads.”

She was driving trainee air hostess Louise, 25, home from Heathrow at 6pm on January 25, 2000. Their car was in the second lane when a road sign flashed: Congestion Ahead Stay in Lane.

On the inside lane was a large Turkish lorry. Louise said: "I glanced across and saw the indicator flashing. He just pulled out and came on top of us. The driver didn't speak English. I screamed at him and was going to go for him when I collapsed."

Mrs Breed said: "I really thought our time was up. My daughter was screaming. I thought the lorry would come on top and squash her. He turned us around completely and the car came to a stop. I dragged Louise out of the car."

Their car was a write-off but they had survived. Police sent the driver home to Turkey but did not take any action because no one had been killed or seriously injured. Mrs Breed said they told her the accident probably happened because of the driver's blind spot.

Louise has never worked as an air hostess again and was so traumatised she needed the help of a psychologist for several months. "I couldn't go on motorways for a very long time," she said. "When I walked past lorries, it made me feel ill just to look at them. I still have nightmares." Mrs Breed called off plans to buy a business in Cumbria and stayed in Kent to care for her daughter.

Hugh Thompson, managing director of Seymour Transport, Larkfield, backed Mrs Breed's call for a language and safety test and said he would mention it at the next meeting of local haulage chiefs.

But he thought it had little chance implementation. Foreign drivers were not necessarily worse than British ones but "they are not in tune with the intricacies of British driving". He said: "Our roads are much more clogged and there is a lot more local traffic on motorways whereas on the Continent local people tend to drive on minor roads."

He called on the police to prosecute more foreign drivers, saying they "got away with murder." He also urged the authorities to consider pictorial signs to overcome the language problem.