The Freight Transport Association has agreed government needs to incentivise the use of safer lorry design, following David Cameron's announcement last week he would ask the Transport Secretary to look at improving HGV safety.
In response to the PM's meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG) last week during which Cameron said he would ask the Transport Secretary to look into measures to improve cyclist safety, including possible HGV bans in city centres, Christopher Snelling, Head of Urban Logistics at trade association, the FTA, said government should provide incentives for companies to use safer lorries.
This is in agreement with campaigners who have said safer lorries should be a contractual requirement for all companies working on government contracts like HS2. However, Snelling disagreed with the concept of a city centre lorry ban.
Snelling said: “Even a medium-sized lorry would have to be replaced with 10 vans – which means overall safety would not be improved, let alone the emissions and congestion consequences. It has to be remembered that we don’t choose to deliver at peak times on a whim – our customers need goods at the start of the working day.”
Snelling said he has written to the PM about cycle safety and "is having ongoing discussions with the Transport Secretary and Department for Transport officials over the best ways to improve safety for all road users while preserving efficiency."
Snelling's suggestions are: increased, targeted enforcement of rogue HGV operators, "improved road infrastructure, such as surfaces and junctions", increased compliance of the Construction Safety and Cyclist Safety Standard (CLOS), and incentives from government to make lorries with better visibility "more available and more commercially viable", as well as what he describes as progressive improvement of safety standards from the DfT.
However Snelling claims lorry safety has improved, despite the overwhelming majority of cyclists in London being killed by lorries.
As well as pressing for stronger enforcement of unscrupulous haulage operators the national cycling charity, CTC, said government needs to incentivise safer lorry use. It praised lorry manufacturer Mercedes for making 'great inroads' with its Mercedes Econic (pictured), which has glass doors like a refuse truck, removing the lethal nearside blind spot involved in left turning collisions.
The CTC's Sam Jones told road.cc: "Whether it's HS2 or the redesign of the A303, or any big public funded project, the government should be looking to ensure that the Heavy Goods Vehicles used are cycle safe, and making that into its bid process." That, he said, would "make companies spend the money on new fleets, because if they want the contract they have got to make sure they have got the right vehicles".
"If central government is doing that it is only a matter of time before local government does that too," he said.
Cameron agreed to meet with the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group following concerns raised by Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw during PMQs after the death of 26-year-old Oxbridge graduate, Ying Tao, at Bank junction in London.
The PM agreed to open channels for a more in-depth meeting with Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, to discuss some form of lorry ban, and improved designs for construction vehicles and better enforcement of lorry safety regulations.
The OP does admit to what they did wrong, which is to use Paypal 'Friends & Family' (which doesn't provide buyer protection) to pay someone who...
Umm, two people riding a bike and not breaking any laws or someone driving one handed whilst using a mobile phone to film with the other. I know...
Do I not like that... thanks, it's been changed!
I'm sure your dying words will be about lancs police failure to take action !...
Revert to reinforced concrete bollards with black plastic covers then let idiot drivers plough into them. They love parking on narrow streets to...
Will be interesting to see how this plays out now that Highways England has publicly stated that there are now "significant dangers" to holding...
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looks like you need some sort of mini surfboard to protect yourself https://twitter.com/AmericanFietser/status/1544458680917180422
How the AF did they manage to get their car up there???
Not really. Or, at least, not exactly the same thing. I wasn't commenting on fast vs slow, which would fit into your analogy better....