TfL launches HGV toolkit as action urged on fatalities

Transport for London (TfL) has launched a voluntary toolkit for construction fleet operators designed to improve safety on London streets, as pressure mounts for tougher interventions to save cyclists’ lives, writes Stephen Cousins.

The cycle safety toolkit, developed in conjunction with Barclays Cycle Superhighways and members of TfL’s Cycle Safety Working Group, includes eight tools to reduce the risk of commercial vehicles, including construction trucks and HGVs, being involved in a collision.

These include tips for drivers on tackling the most common causes of collisions, guidance on how to develop a clear road safety policy and encourage drivers to prioritise cycle safety, plus details on the types of technological safety improvements that can be made to vehicles and available driver training.

A total of 16 cyclists were killed on London’s roads in 2011, seven of which involved HGVs delivering to construction sites, according to a TfL report into construction logistics and cycle safety.

Earlier this month London mayor Boris Johnson strengthened calls for tougher restrictions on HGVs operating in London after Catharine Giles, an environmental scientist at University College London, was killed when she was hit by a tipper truck on Victoria Street in Westminster.

“In future we are going to be stipulating that no HGV can enter London unless it meets cycle safety standards,” he said. “One of the things that can be done is fitting of skirts to the sides of lorries and one of the big problems is that HGV drivers cannot see cyclists in the blind spot beside them.”

In March, the Mayor’s Office and TfL launched a plan to increase cycling in London, which outlines a range of safety measures, including potential legislative changes to make cycle safety equipment compulsory for all new HGVs.

It states that in future TfL and Crossrail will contractually require all vehicles, plus those of subcontractors, on their projects to conform to the highest specifications for cyclist safety equipment, and that all drivers are gold level accredited under TfL’s Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), which provides clear safety standards for vehicles and drivers.

TfL and the Greater London Authority will also lobby the Department for Transport, government and the EU for changes in the law to ensure that: 

• The principal contractor takes ownership of the road risk associated with a construction site.

• Guidance exempting vehicles from fitting side guards, mirrors and other safety devices is more stringent and less ambiguous.

•  All commercial vehicles used in urban areas are designed to give the driver the maximum visibility all around their vehicle. 

• Safety devices that reduce the likelihood of collisions with cyclists, such as proximity sensors and side cameras, are fitted to all new vehicles and retrofitted wherever practical.

TfL and the GLA also plan to develop a strategy to get HGVs off the roads at the busiest times of day, when they are most likely to come into conflict with cyclists, a move that proved very successful during the Olympic Games.