Safer designs for a range of heavy goods vehicles were on show yesterday (26 Feb) at an event in London as part of the freight industry’s efforts to improve road safety and better protect cyclists and pedestrians.
More than a dozen new-look HGVs were showcased at the Construction Logistics and Cycle Safety (CLOCS) event at ExCel. The event, which was supported by Transport for London (TfL), featured manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, DAF Trucks, Scania, Volvo and MAN demonstrating new vehicles designed to reduce blind spots.
CLOCS was created in 2013 following a TfL commissioned review into the causes of, and the prevention of, collisions between cyclists and the construction sector’s transport. More than 80 organisations from across the industry are members of the programme.
TfL says in the first two years of CLOCS breakthroughs have been made on lorry design and a common national standard for construction logistics has been created and implemented nationally.
Sir Peter Hendy CBE, London’s transport commissioner, who attended the event, said: “The new vehicles, with massively reduced blind-spots, show what can be done if people join together for a common good to solve a simple problem.
“We will continue our work to improve freight road safety in all aspects, be it collaboration, regulation, enforcement and lobbying, to create a Capital fit for freight, and freight fit for the Capital.”
The vehicles on display will be trialled and evaluated by operators and manufacturers in the coming months.
I like the look of the new cabs and hope that they do the job intended. It’s still going to be the responsibility of the driver and the cyclists around the vehicle which will determine just how successful they will be. That is if they ever see the light of day. As I understand it they are not yet by legislation compulsory for a few years yet, if they ever will be made so. (Is it just this country that is wanting them changed or is it a European thing?)
Then we will still have the older cabs still being used so that is not going to help with all vehicles on the same roads surrounded by cyclists.
Maybe it will be only a limited success. Will we never know, how could it be quantified statistically? Will it matter that we can’t? Will the believed saving of one life be considered sufficient justification without stats? Possibly so.
Bob Craven Lancs….Space is safe Camapainger
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But what effect will CLOCS have? Especially as central through routes are being given over to massively expensive cycle highways, which in themselves disadvantage large freight movements (as well as others) and make the capital unfit for same. This presents a set of factors which will make any before and after comparison inconclusive.
Derek Reynolds, Salop.
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