Our coaching insider highlights the challenge facing the haulage industry in London following new proposals to introduce a Direct Vision Standard
As usual, London presents a unique set of operating circumstances for commercial vehicles, as it does for other vehicles, and what requirements are introduced to deal with that generally become the standard that sooner or later is applied in other major UK cities. It is fair to say that the powers that be in the likes of Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester will have copious meetings about proposed regulations that will have already been discussed at the capital’s City Hall.[wlm_nonmember][…]
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Coach operators are all fully aware of the changing requirements and usage imposed on London’s roads, such as the space handed over to non-revenue paying users – I’ll let you guess who – but what we have not (yet) had to adapt, as it seems likely that the ‘freight boys’ will have to, is the requirement to introduce the Direct Vision Standard cab.
On September 30, 2016 the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, launched the world’s first Direct Vision Standard (DVS) for HGVs (Heavy Good Vehicles), created to improve the safety of all road users, particularly vulnerable ones such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Using a star system, the DVS rates HGVs from zero (lowest) to five (highest) based on how much the driver can see directly through the cab windows as opposed to indirectly through cameras or mirrors.
The Direct Vision cab specification that has been created is very much like the low cabs with express doors associated with dustcarts. In the past for London operation, they enabled the crew to more easily jump in and out of their vehicles in the kind of cramped streets found in boroughs such as Westminster. Better vision was not the essential aspect of their design, but it has now become the focus for all lorries that have to work in the capital alongside the venerable cyclists of which the numbers continue to increase.
The likely requirement to give skip lorries and other heavy vehicles low cabs has created a challenge for many manufacturers because they have in the past budgeted for a European-wide life of potentially several decades for their product designs. This is built into research and development programmes with the cost often spread over time and different global applications. Manufacturers such as Renault, Volvo, Scania and Mercedes-Benz have products that have gone through a long process of evolution as they’re adapted to changing demands and brought up-to-date to comply with the latest safety and emission legislation.
The Mayor states that the Direct Vision cab is needed to fulfil a safety commitment – a ‘vision zero’ approach to road danger reduction. That means tackling the problem at its source to ensure London has the safest streets, people and vehicles.
Over the past three years, HGVs were involved in 20% of pedestrian fatalities and over 70% of cyclist fatalities, despite them only accounting for 4% of road miles in the capital. We are told that HGV blind spots are a major contributory factor in fatal collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians and that the DVS will help address this.
If what’s proposed is introduced, from 2020 all HGVs over 12 tonnes will have to hold a safety permit when entering or operating in London. Those rated one-star and above would automatically be granted a permit, while those rated zero would have to meet specific, recognised safety measures including checking sensors and having visual warnings, as well as incorporating comprehensive driver training before a permit is given.
The safety permit scheme will possibly evolve alongside technological advances. It is proposed, for example that from 2024 only those rated three-star and above, or those with an advanced safety system, would be allowed on London’s streets.
The first phase of consultation ended on April 18, 2017. The second is now open and ends on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. While there may well be safety benefits, if the DVS becomes mandatory, freight operators will again have to review their costings not just for Euro 6, but for a type of vehicle that will have its own unique residual values and disposal issues to consider. It is fairly reasonable to assume that such a design will also have a high drag factor that will increase mpg. Like coach operators, hauliers will also have to await the rubber stamping of ‘London law’ Euro 6 retro fit standards as well.
There may well be a deal of compromise in the final specification. Will there be a ‘Duple Dominant II’ effect, to deal with, for example? Coach operators of a certain age will recall ‘Express’ or ‘Grant’ doors which didn’t lock properly and as a result of potholes in the road and body flexing, the glass would pop out and shatter, sprinkling shards all over other users. Hopefully the DVS will be fully thought out, but it’s important that any lorry people out there ‘stand no truck’ and make their voices heard.[/wlm_ismember]
