Following on from the recent post about safety features for trucks to protect cyclist, pedestrians and motorists, it was merely guess work as to what these might entail, so i am going to enlighten you by quoting what was in a newspaper i read recently, it was Metro newspaper and dated Tuesday Sept 30th…so here goes:
TFL recently commissioned Loughborough design school to research how changes to HGV cab designs can lead to real improvements in road safety. The project was joint funded by TFL and Transport & Environment, a campaign group arguing for smarter, greener transport in Europe.Poor driver vision and lorry blind spots are a major cause of fatal accidents involving HGVs. Current cab design means the average cyclist is invisible to an HGV driver up to 1.9m from the base of the cab. Loughborough Design School has shown more Direct Vision of other road users can be achieved through better design. This includes a slightly curved and elongated nose on the vehicle, a smaller dashboard, larger glazed areas in the passenger doors and corner of the cab and a slightly lower cab. These changes could potentially save hundreds of lives and reduce costs to the operator, as a more aerodynamically designed cab leads to better fuel economy. Leon Daniels, managing director of Surface Transport at TFL said ¬ Technology has moved in leaps and bounds since the 1980s, but HGV drivers are still in cabs that have seen very little improvement in direct vision for decades`. Thanks to our funding, a leading UK academic institution has demonstrated to Europe how the vehicle manufacturing industry can continue to oprogress. Improved and increased direct vision will benefit all. Safety will be improved, efficiencies will be made and lives will be saved.
I think its an interference by a body ( that i have never heard of ) trying to be clever with their ideas that they know nothing about. They have probably never been inside a truck, and is more than likely has stood at the side of the road merely looking at different marques. The experts in this industry are of course the drivers themselves, and no organisation see fit to ask us what can be done about more safety. If you look back to the 80`s the Volvo F89 had a small window on the nearside/offside to get a better view of the lower part of the cab, as with the n/s upside down mirror, perhaps that could be brought back into the fold, also make it a serious offence for cyclists to head to the front of the queue as they do now, and another serious offence is for them to jump or totally disregard traffic signals, this can be achieved via a registration system and rear number plates to be fitted, therefore allowing cctv to report any illegal actions. What are your views and/or ideas on this.
Cyclists are ENCOURAGED by Mr Daniels’ organisation (it used to be London Transport and ran a big fleet of red buses before they were flogged off and the LT management had to find something else to do, so it became Transport for London) to pass traffic queues on the left and push to the front at lights by kerbside cycle lanes and advanced stopped lines…both of which place cyclists in truck blind spots.
The inquests on a number of cycle v truck fatalities in London have been clear in attributing the accident to poor road design rather than a fault by either the driver or the cyclist.
Rather than amend their roads policy, TfL now want London’s truck fleet replaced by vehicles which don’t exist yet.
As former bus operators, they are used to commissioning vehicles built to their design…like the AEC Routemaster was. They don’t seem to realise that the truck industry isn’t quite the same. For a start, truck operators don’t have seemingly limitless public subsidy or an effective monopoly and captive market to operate their vehicles in.
IMO the advanced stop lines should be closed to cyclists and reserved for motorcycles, which can get away from and be out of the way of other vehicles as soon as the lights go green.
The current situation just sees cyclists passing and being passed by the same vehicles over and over again…bound to end in disaster.
Perhaps they can install a metal beam on the N/S of the vehicle. Whenever the handbrake is applied it swings out and blocks any cyclist from creeping up the nearside.
The cab design requires few tweaks (maybe the NS door glass)
Spend the money on educating cyclists. Do FORS registered companies have to send their drivers out on a ride with a TFL person? Maybe in return, cyclists should have to go out with a HGV driver to see it from the other side.
Ian58:
More visibility and should also help put an end to tailgating.
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Looking at that photo reminded me of the guys that delivered the bus chassis to the coach builders. Dressed like biggles. Do they still transport them this way? Haven’t seen it for a long time though.
Does this thing from Loughborough remind anyone of the old Leyland 7.5 tonner that had a drop away window on the passenger side just below the main window - think it was an option on the freighter too
dafpower:
Does this thing from Loughborough remind anyone of the old Leyland 7.5 tonner that had a drop away window on the passenger side just below the main window - think it was an option on the freighter too
There are numerous plans out there all of them seeming to be about making trucks more city environment friendly.At the expense of compromising driver forward visibility and/or crash protection,in the form of lower seating positions and more glass less metal,in the out of town/motorway environment.
dafpower:
Does this thing from Loughborough remind anyone of the old Leyland 7.5 tonner that had a drop away window on the passenger side just below the main window - think it was an option on the freighter too
Maybe I’m a little cynical but when I was a cyclist I never ever failed to see an artic. But I knew that the driver couldn’t always see me therefore I NEVER PUT MYSELF IN A POSITION whereby I would get squished. As an artic driver I have to try and see the dumb arse scootering up my inside whilst there are a million other things going on.
Lots of extra glass etc.
No consideration for those of us who have to sleep in the cab of course.
Modern sleepers without rear windows and side glass are so much better imho.
I know some companies still spec their vehicles with side glass etc but I’d be having serious words with the boss if mine ever did.
Those safety features are all very well-intentioned but they forget one basic thing; you can have as many mirrors, cameras and gadgets as you like but the driver has still only got one pair of eyes.
Add a mirror, you also add another blind spot. Yes we should be doing our utmost to keep an eye out for cyclists (and I’m sure we do) but there’s also the inescapable fact that, as the Americans put it so well, you can’t fix stupid.
I really don’t understand why cyclists want to risk their lives by passing large vehicles down the left anyway,they should just wait like all of us.If I see a cyclist approaching I just pull right over to the kerb and block their way,depends on the road obviously,at least they are in my mirror at all times.
I remember the glass window in the Roadrunner cab,I think it was just above the n/s headlight assembly.Renault have a version where the window is in the door.
When I used to drive a Roadrunner,I used to cover the window up with paper,as my bag was kept in the footwell,therefore out of sight.
