I see Labour has jumped on the HGV/bicycle bandwagon, with ill-informed shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh asking truck operators to sign up to a voluntary charter. I say voluntary, but if they win the 2015 election it will become compulsory.
By June next year she wants ALL trucks (not just those operating in London), retrofitted with additional safety equipment. I’ve listed her demands below with a rough idea of what they will cost to buy and fit to your average 18-tonner.
Reversing alarm (£130); rear-view camera (£450); flashing lights and beacons (£650); daytime running lights (£350); class VI (Cyclops) mirror (£25); rear warning signs for cyclists (£3); tipper sheeting (N/A). By December 2017 she wants side underrun guards (N/A); blind spot elimination devices (£450); an audible warning for cyclists (£130). That comes to about £2,200 per truck. An artic would cost disproportionately more because of the additional wiring and the fact that there are two trailers for every tractor unit, and tipper operators can add £500 for side underrun bars and £2,000 for a sheeting system (assuming they don’t already have one).
My particular favourite are the beacons, although I’m slightly confused as to how they will stop a cyclist from entering your blindspot. Presumably the beacons would have to be turned on whenever a truck is moving — so you’ll be able to see our motorway network from space (except the M20 of course because you can bet your life that foreign hauliers would be exempt). With every truck flashing orange, good luck spotting recovery vehicles on the hard shoulder. And what will those beacons do for fuel economy? In busy urban areas I suspect local residents will have to fit black-out blinds in order to get to sleep at night. Maybe the UK haulage industry could pay for these too!
This weeks issue also features an interview with a company who’s driver killed a cyclist. Inquest said it was the cyclist’s fault — but the 36-year old driver developed cancer and died before he got to hear the verdict. It’s a very powerful story
All that so a driver can compensate for a cyclist acting stupidly and inferring that its the drivers that must change and have extra stuff fitted to keep numpty cyclists safe - tackling the issue from the wrong end me thinks
Do trucks put themselves next to cyclists or do cyclists put themselves next to trucks? - the answer to that is probably the key to resolving this issue
Looks like she’s really jumping on the bandwagon without a clue what she’s talking about, somebody’s obviously given her a CDC catalogue.
How exactly are flashing beacons going to make a 16.5m x 2.55m truck more visible and as has been pointed out how are people going to differentiate between vehicles.
Can you imaging trying to pick out cyclists at night with all these flashing lights diverting your attention.
Daytime running lights and I believe the mirror are things that are coming in as vehicle are replaced with newer models.
Many vehicles already have reversing alarms, and many people take very little notice of them because there are so many in a busy urban environment.
Blind spot devices and warning in the cab, might be worth considering for that last chance to avoid somebody.
Reversing cameras, many sites already insist on these and no doubt a good thing on site. Maybe for cyclist and pedestrian safety there’d be more effective on smaller parcel delivery vehicles having to reverse in and out of crowded areas.
However what I’ve found from reversing in an urban area, it doesn’t really matter how visible you are and how obvious it is you are reversing. People will still get behind the vehicle, regardless of what mode of transport they are using, they’ll do it even if you have a banksman, it seems to be the aggragance that what they’re doing is more important and how dare you impede thier progress and its worse in London.
But camera or not it still seems to be the truck driver who has to be responsible for avoiding others stupidity.
But all the blame and answers can’t continually be laid at the door of the haulage industry. Other road users and street planners must also look at thier actions and how they can make the roads safer.
Labour are currently the bandwagon party, and in my opinion unelectable. I’m not a fan of the Tories either but Labour would be a total disaster. So I’m gonna try to not listen to their second rate bunch of shadow ministers for time being.
Funny, but a year ago i would have predicted a Labour landslide victory at the next election (God help us) despite the frantic lunatics involved, not so sure any more, increasingly surreal like watching a bunch of poorly controlled string puppets where the puppeteer’s been on the ■■■■ and can’t find his script.
Politicians as always will say anything to get a vote (just like Osborne with todays glorious predictions of recovery, yeah right), this is just another little storm in a teacup to garner a few votes (which would likely have come their way anyway) from the undecided and usually dependent on subsidy/benefit fraternity.
Can’t wait to see these lorries festooned with flashing lights, will a half wit cyclist with the brain of a moth notice the lorry he’s just about to jam in beside purely because its lit up with flashing lights, didn’t he notice the 6 axles and the sheer size of the bloody thing before and think to himself me 80kg flesh and bone on 2 wobbly wheels, lorry up to 44tons all steel on umpteen axles, whats likely to lose if we connect?
As kr79 has said you can be in opposition, make all the noise you want and then conveniently forget about it when you get to power. The Conservatives have proved that every time they have been elected.
As for CM? Well… I stopped reading it when they printed the article written by a driver which was more or less a character assassination of his (or her…) colleagues. So thanks for reprinting what Will Shiers has to say Rikki, I wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.
It doesn’t matter what you fit to a truck if there’s an idiot riding like an idiot on his treader then there’s going to be no point
Same as if you’ve got an idiot driving like an idiot in his tipper lorry ( other lorrys Re avalable) its still going to end with Somone laying on a slab in the morgue
I find the only way to to drive in London is v v defensively and be 110% focused
I already have majority of the above, If you go onto a Crossrail site in london you should have warning beacons, side and rear view camera, side sensors (reversing sensors fitted to the side), signs saying caution keep away and other cyclist related signage, and “Caution this vehicle is turning left” speaker and a white noise reversing sounder. Crossrail are very specific as to what you need fitted and where it is placed and couple that to my truck being bright yellow I still get cyclists trying to attach themselves to my truck. So Ms Creagh’s ideals will just cause financial hardship for an already struggling industry and have no safety benifit, to quote a line from a famous film “Stupid is as stupid does”.
so, if all the owners fit this equipment to their vehicles at great expense, and cyclists still end up under the wheels, who are they going to blame then?
they won’t be able to blame the drivers, as they have all this extra crap all over their vehicles to avoid the idiots on the bikes
it is about time that the government and the cyclist groups realised that it is, in fact, the cyclists themselves that need to stand up and take account of their actions
In the recent spatevof acidents in london at least two of the trucks had all the stuff on as both companys do a lot of crossrail work.
Others might of too.
Does anybody know how many of these accidents they find the truck driver at fault and how many they find its was due to the cyclists actions.
Of course in a lot of these incidents it’s probably a combination of factors, but the causes don’t seem to get the publicity that the incident gets unless it seems they can prosecute the driver.
Its the coroner who decides who is or is not to blame or if any blame is attributed at all.
I am unsure if they have national statistics for the results of cyclist/motor collisions.
switchlogic:
Labour are currently the bandwagon party, and in my opinion unelectable. I’m not a fan of the Tories either but Labour would be a total disaster. So I’m gonna try to not listen to their second rate bunch of shadow ministers for time being.
Excellent post, totally agree. I’m just glad this woman didn’t injure herself jumping on the bandwagon as it is currently moving at quite a speed!
Fwiw, most fatal accidents involving cyclists & lorries have been construction vehicles (i.e. tippers/mixers). Most of the equipment on the OP’s list is standard fit anyway. Not sure what kind of effect it would have, except make cyclists believe themselves even more invincible and legally in the right?
So what happens when people who live by main roads complain they can’t sleep etc because of all the flashing beacons 24/7 ■■?..Or are they going to be like reversing alarms not allowed after 11 at night ■■?
What is wrong with good old common sense ,ie don’t cycle up the side of a vehicle turning left .Why should truckers pay for the incompetence of others .Maybe someone should put forward a motion that cyclists have to sit a test like all other road users and have the appropriate insurance etc and their bikes have to go to ( for example) Halfords for a yearly check.When you where a kid did you really bother about your brakes not working,that’s what your shoes where for Did you worry about your tyres■■?
Bicycles should be fitted as standard with mirrors,a rear view camera and monitor for the blind spot behind them,their lights should always be on,a flashing beacon on their helmet ,wheels should be covered and and underrun in case they have an accident with a pedestrian ,don’t want to get caught in the spokes etc…and an audible warning so they can be heard .obviously someone with impaired eyesight may not see them haring towards them…
So the govt answer is to get others to spend what will be millions to cater for the incompetent ,when training the incompetent would be easier and cheaper ,and safer in the long run…Throwing money at a problem (in this case other peoples) won’t solve it ,those who are incompetent will still be incompetent…Doesn’t a driver in an urban environment have enough to cope with …People have to be held accountable for their actions be it pedestrian ,cyclist ,driver…No one should be allowed to think they are innocent under all circumstances
Some years ago I hit the brakes with full force in order to avoid a car, which was coming in the opposite direction, from hitting me head-on. I remonstrated with the driver who said that she didn’t see my vehicle. When I pointed out that my vehicle was ten feet high, eight feet wide and painted bright yellow she burst into tears and said that such huge vehicles shouldn’t be allowed on the road.
I have recently taken the Crossrail Lorry Driver Induction Course, fair play it does open your eyes to the stupidity of drivers and cyclists and since then I have taken the view that yes cyclists need to be better educated but as professional drivers we need to take into account the poor decisions of others, all vehicles big or small, powered or not can never be thrown together in such chaos as a city setting without some incidents. Some of the kit fitted to trucks as a result of Crossrail is a good idea such as the signs and the turning/reversing beepers as that then immediately removes majority of blame from the driver, for instance if your turning left at a junction have your indicators on and your “Vehicle is turning left” sounder going off and a cyclist comes down your left hand side then you have given plenty of warning to the cyclist of your intentions and if he/she were to come into contact with you its their fault, obviously some blame to the driver for not seeing them in the mirror would come into it but anyone who has driven in London knows how a cyclist can be in one mirror in one instance and then the other the next. If any driver regularly goes to London whether Crossrail jobs or not if you have the chance to take the Crossrail induction I highly recommend it, AFAIK its a free course and gives you 7 hours towards your DCPC. http://www.crossrail.co.uk/construction/managing-the-effects-of-construction/lorry-driver-induction-training-the-route-to-safer-driving
me 80kg flesh and bone on 2 wobbly wheels, lorry up to 44tons all steel on umpteen axles, whats likely to lose if we connect? 
