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Man and Krone aerodynamic lorryEU safer lorry design rules in force from 2019 as France and Sweden fail to force 10-year delay
Changes to European legislation that will permit aerodynamic lorries that are safer for vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians will come into effect in 2019, and not 2025 as road safety campaigners had feared.
France, where truck manufacturer Renault is based, and Sweden, home to Volvo and Scania, were among member states that sought to delay implementing the revised regulations, overwhelmingly approved by the European Parliament earlier this year, for 10 years.
But yesterday, a “trialogue” session involving members of the European Commission, European Council and the European Parliament, resulted in the implementation of the revised regulations to take place in 2019, two years later than the earliest date they could have come into effect, reports Euractiv.
Lorries complying with the new design regulations, which will permit larger windows and have rounded cabs that will help prevent people being dragged under the vehicle in the event of a collision, can now operate on Europe’s roads six years earlier than could otherwise have been the case.
On Monday, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and British Cycling policy adviser Chris Boardman were joined by Kate Cairns, founder of the See Me Save Me campaign group, in urging transport minister Robert Goodwill and the UK government to fight for the changes to be implemented without delay.
South East England Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, who also wrote to Mr Goodwill, said: "These changes will mean the introduction of safer, greener lorries on our roads by 2019.
"I would have liked to see these changes implemented sooner, but we've successfully fought against the EU governments and industry who wanted an unacceptable 10 year delay.
"It's now over to manufacturers to ensure safer lorry designs for cyclists and pedestrians," she added.
The agreement reached yesterday now has to be approved by the European Council and Commission.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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12 comments
Safer lorries will be allowed
sounds backwards!
Why does road.cc keep using a photo of an experimental aerodynamic lorry in articles about safer lorries? The two ideals are unrelated, and the photo is especially misleading as it features a very severely reduced window area that is LESS safe than current designs.
Maybe they can include some tech to feed live video of the drivers antics to the Police so they can see them faffing with their phone / newspaper / road atlas / lunch while driving an articulated lorry through busy traffic? Those transparent door panels would help spot these sorts of shenanigans too.
Just sayin'.
A step forward, still doesn't resolved the problem of the idiot behind the wheel using the vehicle as a weapon.
Um, what kind of regulation on lorry design was going to affect that? Top weight of 0.5 kg and made entirely of foam rubber?
Mandatory collision avoidance sensors and GPS based speed limiters. Black box data recorders are also useful.
tarquin_foxglove:
Re-skirting on existing lorries.
That's a key point IMO. My understanding ss that it is possible to put guards on the front of lorries t reduce the chances of being dragged under the front wheels, much like side guards reduce the possibilities of being crushed by he rear ones.
Also, it is not so mush cabs being longer, but having windscreens (and possibly transparent door panels) which allow greater all round visibility.
There will be a future post on www.rdrf.org.uk on this.
The best account is here http://www.euractiv.com/sections/transport/eu-truck-safety-and-efficienc...
The timeline is:
2015: Formal adoption of new lorry dimension rules
2016: Commission proposal to develop safety rules for redesigned lorries
2019-2020: Finalisation of safety rules (co-decision + implementation)
2021-2022: End of 3 year moratorium, safer lorries will be allowed.
This is because Volvo produced their last model in 2012 and want to ait until 2022 before having new on sale - whatever their customers (the freight operators) want in terms of greater fuel efficiency. So much for competition. Volvo an Renault didn't want competitors to have a new model out before them.
And don't forget that this is not a mandatory standard, it is just allowing it. It will still take another ten years or so before all lorries are fully skirted (with reduced chances of pedestrians and cyclists going under the wheels) and with adequate visibility for drivers.
So roads need to be engineered better o reduce conflict potential and existing lories retro fitted with proper safety devise, pus enforcement and sentencing as per other drivers.
I'm sure I saw a fully skirted Sainsbury's trailer (being pulled by the usual style tractor) driving through Durham. It was so unusual that I tried to get a photo (how sad does that sound?!
) but is there anything stopping the trailer wheels being fully enclosed while they wait for legislation to make the cabs longer?
Well said. Plus companies & their directors need to be held accountable if their working practices/equipment allows employees/contractors to behave dangerously on the road & injure people.
Thanks, I was wondering why truck manufacturers would oppose this - much like cars, and, erm, bicycles, they're surely mature tech - replaced only when broken. A new set of standards is just the thing to keep everyone on the merry-go-round.
Yep, various stories saying 2022... www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30436153.
The FT reports that "Member states will meet later this month to formally approve the new rules but finalisation of the legislation will not come until 2019, followed by a three-year moratorium.
Campaign groups said it was highly unusual to have such a moratorium on voluntary regulations.”"
I thought it was 2022
How does your report square with this one http://etsc.eu/setback-for-safer-lorry-rules/ ?
2019 or 2022?