DAF, MAN, Mercedes-Benz and Scania are among the manufacturers showing new vehicles that better protect other road users as part of TfL’s Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety (CLOCS) programme. New designs for a range of vehicles are on show in the capital to demonstrate the freight industry’s commitment to improving road safety.
“Manufacturers and operators are working towards improving safety through the design of vehicles, by reducing blind spots and increasing drivers’ direct vision to provide maximum visibility of vulnerable road users,” said Nigel Base, Commercial Vehicle Development Manager for the SMMT.
The vehicles exhibited will be trialled and evaluated by operators and manufacturers in the coming months, and could be “potentially lifesaving”, says TfL.
London’s Transport Commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, said, “The new vehicles, with massively reduced blind spots, show what can be done if people join together for a common good to solve a simple problem.”
TfL is also introducing its Safer Lorry Scheme in September, which will see HGVs without the required safety equipment to protect cyclists and pedestrians banned from London’s roads.
“We will continue our work to improve freight road safety in all aspects, be it collaboration, regulation, enforcement and lobbying, to create a capital fit for freight and freight fit for the capital,” added Hendy.
