How's My Driving Blog

Thousands of lorries to be banned from London

Earlier this year London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced that tens of thousands of lorries with poor visibility will be banned from London’s roads within the next four years in a bid to better protect cyclists and pedestrians. Lorries are involved in more than half the cycling deaths on London’s roads, and more than a fifth of pedestrian deaths, despite making up only 4% of motor traffic. Overall, lorries were connected to 58% of cycling deaths in 2014 and 2015, and 22.5% of pedestrian deaths.

It is planned that construction trucks and other LGVs will be rated on a star-based safety scale from zero to five, based on the amount of vision the driver has. By January 2020, those with a zero rating will be banned from driving in the city and by 2024, only trucks rated three stars or above will be allowed in the city.

Khan said: “Our ground breaking direct vision standard will be the first of its kind in the world, directly addressing the issue of lethal driver blind spots. I’m also proud that TfL will lead by example and will not use any zero-star lorries in its supply chain from the new financial year.”

Some fear this new system may cause issues with London’s construction economy, as without some vehicles, will the capital’s construction businesses grind to a halt? Or will this force organisations to design lorries with significantly better surrounding visibility, thus improving road safety generally?

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