London mayor takes next steps towards dangerous lorry ban

Transport for London (TfL) has announced a new consultation on its forthcoming Direct Vision Standard (DVS) system, which will see some vehicles banned from the capital based on a ‘star rating’ denoting the driver’s level of direct vision from the cab.

The better a driver can see, the higher the star rating – with five stars representing ‘best in class’, indicated by such features as low-entry and remodelled cabs.

TfL said it was likely that the scheme would be “implemented by a series of coordinated Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) [which would create] a criminal offence”.

This approach, which is similar to the means by which the existing Safer Lorry Scheme was introduced, would allow enforcement by the police via fixed penalty notice, or a fine if convicted in a magistrate’s court.

“We are exploring options on penalty levels and enforcement with the government and these issues will be the subject of further later consultation,” TfL added.

TfL released new simulator research alongside the consultation, which it said proved that having direct vision from the cab of a truck, rather than relying on mirrors and monitors, had “a substantial impact on improving road safety for pedestrians and cyclists”.

“The study showed that drivers respond on average 0.7 seconds slower when checking blind spots and monitors, compared to directly through the windows,” said TfL.

This delay can result in a lorry travelling an extra 1.5 metres before seeing a nearby road user – enough to cause death or serious injury.”

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, plans to ban around 35,000 of the most dangerous HGVs – said to be responsible for around 70 per cent of cyclist fatalities involving HGVs in the last three years – from the capital by January 2020.

These will fall under the DVS ‘zero-star’ category; and TfL hopes many such vehicles will see upgrades before the restriction comes into place.

“The height of a vehicle is the design feature most likely to impact a vehicle’s star rating,” said TfL.

“The largest and highest vehicles, including some ‘off-road’ construction vehicles and long-haul articulated cabs designed to operate on motorways, are most likely to receive lower or zero star ratings.”

By 2024, it is proposed that only HGVs meeting a three-star rating or above will be allowed on London’s roads.

“We are now working with HGV manufacturers and others to be able to apply the rating to HGV models used in London,” said TfL.

One such manufacturer is Iveco, whose product director Martin Flach told Transport Operator: “The key to all this is getting a three-star rating for existing products. We have a kerbside door window available as an option on Eurocargo, and we need to make sure that a vehicle like that does not fall short of a three-star rating for the sake of a few millimetres.

“Our customers also need to ask themselves what they actually need for London. I’d contend that N3G cross-country vehicles without under-run protection are not actually needed by the construction industry in London.”

The star rating system is also expected to draw on research undertaken by Loughborough University, which used scanned computer models of various trucks to assess how large cyclist and pedestrian-concealing driver blind-spots around the cabs might be.

Unsurprisingly, dedicated high-datum construction chassis and long-haul tractors with flat-floor cabs turned out to be the worst, while those based on refuse-collection chassis with low-entry cabs (LEC) turned out to be best. (See here for details.)

TfL has carried out research among transport managers and truck drivers where demonstrator vehicles including either N3 (standard distribution height) or LEC vehicles were substituted for traditional N3G trucks on high-clearance chassis.

The trial vehicles were also fitted with a variety of vision and safety devices including kerbview windows, blind-spot cameras, and cycle sensors.  Participants were interviewed before, during and after their period with the trial vehicle.

Drivers were generally unimpressed by the LEC vehicles before they tried them – generally branding them as ‘dustcarts’ – but were won over by the superior vision and greater opportunities for eye contact with vulnerable road users which they offered.

Concerns raised over operating the LEC vehicles included poor on-site mobility where ground was uneven (even though the chassis could be raised to clear obstacles, the axles were still prone to ‘grounding’) and that the cab interiors were not properly laid out for the task in hand. Where tipper bodies were fitted, the tipped load could engulf the rear of the vehicle.

Managers operating the vehicles welcomed their user-friendly appearance but were alarmed at the price of parts and problems in sourcing them.

Drivers operating N3 trucks instead of their usual N3Gs were generally positive, but, in tipper applications, found the rear under-run bars would become covered in tipped material when unloading and had to be manually cleaned before the vehicle could leave the site.

Meanwhile, the aftermarket industry has been quick to respond to the DVS proposals with the introduction of kerb vision windows for near-side cab doors – in part because some industry experts are predicting that individual requirements from organisations such as CLOCS, FORS and major construction projects could drive operators into modifying existing vehicles before TfL’s requirements begin to bite.

That’s the view of Lee Allen, managing director of London commercial vehicle repairer Truck Align. The company has developed a simple kerb-view door window, which can be fitted on a drive-in, drive-out basis at the company’s premises in Dartford for £995 a vehicle.

“We were asked if we could fit a kerb-view window by a Scania operator, and we were unable to find a suitable product so developed our own,” Allen recounts.

With the Truck Align solution, the upper window is fixed – to keep out difficult-to-remove dirt and moisture which the firm says has been problematic on a rival product – and a single pane of glass is added to an aperture cut in the door-skin below it.

“Some drivers do object,” Allen recounts, “But there really isn’t that much need for trucks to have an opening nearside window. Most modern trucks have air-conditioning and electrical heating and adjustment on the mirrors.

“We’ve found that drivers are more than happy if they are given a suitable ‘squeegee on a stick’ for mirror cleaning and a break-glass hammer which they can use if they have to exit the cab through a window in an emergency.”

Each kit consists of the pane (which is E11 43 R marked and approved Tyneside Toughened glass), a new inner door trim, the window surround (painted in the operator’s livery), and retaining blocks and fasteners.

Current applications include DAF CF, XF and LF, Scania P, G and R, Volvo FH4, FM, FL and FE, MAN TGS, TGM, and TGX, and Mercedes-Benz Arocs and Actros models. Fitments for Renault trucks are in development, and Allen says that bespoke designs for models not listed can be manufactured in three to four weeks.

For operators who don’t want to lose the opening cab window, Mackworth Vehicle Conversions, a subsidiary of Imperial Group, has launched a kerb vision window fitment for selected DAF, Volvo and Renault vehicles which converts the main door window to a horizontal sliding action.

Mackworth’s visiting technicians provide a converted door as a temporary fitment while the customer’s original door is taken away and fitted with toughened safety glass, which conforms to IVA and NSSTA standards.

The E-marked glass will stop condensation from gathering while still being tough enough for everyday use.  The original door is reinforced to provide extra strength and to stop flex, reducing noise while driving, then an additional internal mirror is incorporated to further reduce visibility issues.

Changing the doors takes about an hour each time, while Mackworth claims a turnaround of 48 hours on the customer’s original door.

Price for the Mackworth conversion is £1,500 per vehicle.

The consultation on TfL’s proposals runs until 18 April. Operators who wish to take part, or read TfL’s supporting literature describing its case for the importance of direct vision, can do so here.