Boris Johnson has used the safer design of lorry cabs and the implications for cyclists as an example of why he thinks Britain should leave the EU. Johnson told ITV’s The Late Debate that a proposal to ensure safer cabs so that drivers could better see cyclists is being blocked at a European level.
Johnson believes that Britain should leave the European Union, telling The Times: “The fundamental problem is that we have given away control of our destiny in too many areas.”
As an example of this, he cited changes to European legislation which would ensure lorries are safer for vulnerable road users. France, where truck manufacturer Renault is based, and Sweden, home to Volvo and Scania, have been among member states seeking to delay the revised regulations.
“There is such a proposal to have safer cabs so that drivers can see vulnerable road users but it’s currently blocked in the transport ministers’ council by France and by other countries because they’re protecting the interests of their manufacturers,” he said.
The new design regulations will permit larger windows and rounded cabs which would help prevent people from being dragged under the vehicle in the event of a collision.
20 thoughts on “Boris Johnson makes safety of cyclists an EU referendum issue”
http://www.standard.co.uk
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/mayor-britain-is-blocking-eu-lorry-rules-that-can-save-cyclists-9092902.html
thought i should mention this…
So which is it, is it the EU or is it westminster? Can’t really have it both ways!
So Boris, could truck
So Boris, could truck companies actually manufacturer new safer models just for the UK, before they are released within the EU in ~5 years time?
Anyway, retrofit lower door windows, and trucks based on a refuse truck platform are available now.
I love my bike wrote:
Re: manufacturers, I don’t think they could – EU law will actually prevent the designs Boris is talking about until 2021. It’s an unintended consequence. And who would buy them if they’re not standard or mandated?
Better design and modifications are already possible though, as you say.
Also, if the Tories hadn’t
Also, if the Tories hadn’t destroyed manufacturing in this country, maybe we’d still be making our own lorries, and wouldn’t be so reliant on foreign manufacturers.
Never mind pushing for
Never mind pushing for changes in lorries and trucks just ban them from the roads between say 7am and 7pm. All transport must be done overnight when there are very few other “at risk” road users and drop the price to carry cargo on trains.
There is a very good article in the Telegraph about this and how other European countries make it work.
Unfortunately for London there is whats called the “Lorry Control Scheme” which bans certain lorries overnight because of the noise they make !
So making noise overnight is more important than saving lives !
As i say there are lots of cheaper, quicker ways of doing this than fighting through Europe to get manufacturers to change the way they make their lorries and trucks.
So Boris would ban all
So Boris would ban all foreign lorries that don’t meet the British standards from UK roads? This is a massive lie.
There is a skip lorry depot not too far from my house that means skip lorries start driving up my street at around 7:30 in the morning . If they were all night I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep. I didn’t know there was such legislation, but I imagine letting people get some sleep does save lives.
DrJDog wrote:
The control scheme is for controlling the movement of heavy goods vehicles over 18 tonnes maximum gross weight at night and at weekend – http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/london-lorry-control#sthash.iC2WFAT5.dpuf
so i dont think your skip company would be covered if its for 18 tonnes and above.
DrJDog wrote:
Couldn’t help noticing a massive foreign registered artic waiting next to a construction site around the corner from my office this morning. LHD, no ‘extra mirrors’, I wonder whether the driver is used to central London traffic…
stumps wrote:
I think this was suggested once before on another news item last year: a lot of the early bird cycle commuters who are on the roads before 7 am said that it would make their lives more dangerous. It was likely to simply massivly increase the number of large vehicles on the road just before 7 am and just after 7pm – the haulage companies are unlikely to spread their trucks out evenly through the night because they’d have to pay more overtime…
brooksby wrote:
I think this was suggested once before on another news item last year: a lot of the early bird cycle commuters who are on the roads before 7 am said that it would make their lives more dangerous. It was likely to simply massivly increase the number of large vehicles on the road just before 7 am and just after 7pm – the haulage companies are unlikely to spread their trucks out evenly through the night because they’d have to pay more overtime… — stumps
At the moment there is a night time HGV ban in central London from 9pm to 7am weekdays so right now there is a cavalry charge of HGVs after 7am at the same time as the peak number of cyclists.
I’m not sure wht your point is – are you saying it is safer to have HGVs on the road before 7am when there are actually quite few people cycling compared to, between 8am to 9am when there are the maximum number of people cycling?
Id always thought that ukip
Id always thought that ukip and friends were pro cyclist – now I have proof…
Disingenuous crap from
Disingenuous crap from Johnson, cherry-picking his evidence to ‘prove’ that if you like cycling you have to vote leave. He decided to promote Brexit first, then went looking for an issue to show why it’s a good idea; if he wanted to stay in the EU, he could have found a cycling reason for staying in.
So is he suggesting we’d have
So is he suggesting we’d have a better chance of convincing European lorry manufacturers, and more influence over the French (!) if we leave the same club? That’s just stupid.
dafyddp wrote:
Under our own rule we can legislate to ban unsafe vehicles. Under EU rule we have to go to the EU and try to convince 27 other nations that it’s a good idea. We have had no success in doing that so far. Unsurprisingly some of those nations manufacture said unsafe vehicles and don’t want to change them.
earth wrote:
Well as the link above points out it was the UK government that was one of those who choose to object to the ban. The commission and the European parliament have voted in favour of controls.
The other point, you can ban what you like but if there is no replacement then what? We don’t produce trucks.
earth wrote:
If we had the same deal as Norway and Switzerland, which some Brexiters have held up as examples, we’d have the EU rules and no say. As it is, we’ve helped make the change possible, albeit a bit later (2021) than many would like.
I suspect many of the pro-Brexit camp are keen to reduce safety and environmental standards too, rather than better the EU’s efforts. Careful what you wish for.
All a distraction from the
All a distraction from the fact that lorries wouldn’t be an issue with protected infra, and you can’t blame the EU for that.
ron611087 wrote:
Its the dutch and danes with all there cyclepath using up far more of their quota than they should, abusing the system. If only we left the EU we could take back control of our cycleways and would not have to give access to them.
Surely this is a
Surely this is a manufacturing opportunity for the UK who can then export lorries of a safer standard to the rest of the world?
kitkat wrote:
You need a market – there would be unlikely to be much of one without the regulatory push which is coming in five years: https://ecf.com/what-we-do/road-safety/safer-lorriestrucks-cyclists. Existing manufacturers will be preparing for that.