Blind spot lorries to be banned from London

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Geektastic

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#204448 1-Oct-2016 22:45

Another interesting development in road safety - text again from The Times - and I am sure any bike riders here will be wishing for the same initiative!

"More than 30,000 dangerous lorries with extensive blind spots are to be banned from London roads in a victory for the Times cycle safety campaign.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said that HGVs would be given a rating out of five for the visibility offered to drivers. Those scoring zero would be banned by 2020; those scoring below three would be banned by 2024.

HGVs make up about 5 per cent of traffic on the roads but account for more than half of cyclist fatalities and more than a fifth of pedestrian deaths, blamed on the large blind spots on their left flank and in front of the driver’s cab."

Stu

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#1644018 1-Oct-2016 22:50

That actually sounds like a move in the right direction.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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vexxxboy

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#1644041 2-Oct-2016 07:42

so how does all the freight and goods they carry get into London

Common sense is not as common as you think.

blackjack17

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#1644044 2-Oct-2016 07:54

vexxxboy:
so how does all the freight and goods they carry get into London

In trucks that don't have large blind spots

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Benoire

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#1644046 2-Oct-2016 08:21

London is also moving extensively towards depots outside of the major centres (e.g. no longer can HGVs deliver to Covent Garden), the HGVs (17.5m articulated, none of this b-train super large and terrible for public roads/pedestrians/cyclists/road pavement crap we have here) offload to small vans, transit for example, that do the final leg. London has extensive restrictions on delivery times for goods and servicing of shops and premises in order to not reduce the quality of the pedestrian realm within the centre (inside the inner ring road effectively). HGVs in the centres cause a significant amount of trouble when it comes to good street design but we're worse here due to the large size of the vehicles allowed.

cynnicallemon

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#1644064 2-Oct-2016 10:10

Mr Khan better not ban my Euro Truck Simulator from travelling through London else there will be trouble.

MikeB4

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#1644067 2-Oct-2016 10:15

with todays technology there should be no blind spots.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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Geektastic

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#1644069 2-Oct-2016 10:15

Benoire:

London is also moving extensively towards depots outside of the major centres (e.g. no longer can HGVs deliver to Covent Garden), the HGVs (17.5m articulated, none of this b-train super large and terrible for public roads/pedestrians/cyclists/road pavement crap we have here) offload to small vans, transit for example, that do the final leg. London has extensive restrictions on delivery times for goods and servicing of shops and premises in order to not reduce the quality of the pedestrian realm within the centre (inside the inner ring road effectively). HGVs in the centres cause a significant amount of trouble when it comes to good street design but we're worse here due to the large size of the vehicles allowed.

No doubt we're special snowflakes for whom such a solution could not possibly work....

cynnicallemon

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#1644070 2-Oct-2016 10:19

Geektastic:

Benoire:

London is also moving extensively towards depots outside of the major centres (e.g. no longer can HGVs deliver to Covent Garden), the HGVs (17.5m articulated, none of this b-train super large and terrible for public roads/pedestrians/cyclists/road pavement crap we have here) offload to small vans, transit for example, that do the final leg. London has extensive restrictions on delivery times for goods and servicing of shops and premises in order to not reduce the quality of the pedestrian realm within the centre (inside the inner ring road effectively). HGVs in the centres cause a significant amount of trouble when it comes to good street design but we're worse here due to the large size of the vehicles allowed.

No doubt we're special snowflakes for whom such a solution could not possibly work....

We both countries had a fairly adequate rail system which achieved similar results when shifting big loads around the country.

Benoire

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#1644073 2-Oct-2016 10:23

[No doubt we're special snowflakes for whom such a solution could not possibly work....]

Nope, not at all... It could work ok here to be honest, biggest issue is that the retail companies who benefit most from HGVs (Progressives etc.) are the ones most resistant... they're also the ones that often screw up planning by insisting that all of their huge car parks be by the street, rather than undercrofted or at the rear and reduce the amenity of the street as a result, even though electronic signs could easily indicate the number of spaces free. Anyway I digress! The ability to control freight movement through a city and region is vital to the people as it can reduce the incident of people vs lorries (and by people I mean those in cars, on foot, on bikes etc.), reduce wear and tear on the road pavements which are so bloody thin here that they rut far too quickly due to poor foundations, reduce severance to the various town centres they pass through. Really, what is required are dedicated freight routes, that are deisgned for freight in mind that are outside of town centres, residential environments and away from vulnerable road users... Doing such a thing would generally increase productivity as well as improving safety... But the freight lobbies are incredibly strong here that any restriction to their movement is met with extreme resistance.

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#1644127 2-Oct-2016 13:15

cynnicallemon:

Geektastic:

Benoire:

London is also moving extensively towards depots outside of the major centres (e.g. no longer can HGVs deliver to Covent Garden), the HGVs (17.5m articulated, none of this b-train super large and terrible for public roads/pedestrians/cyclists/road pavement crap we have here) offload to small vans, transit for example, that do the final leg. London has extensive restrictions on delivery times for goods and servicing of shops and premises in order to not reduce the quality of the pedestrian realm within the centre (inside the inner ring road effectively). HGVs in the centres cause a significant amount of trouble when it comes to good street design but we're worse here due to the large size of the vehicles allowed.

No doubt we're special snowflakes for whom such a solution could not possibly work....

We both countries had a fairly adequate rail system which achieved similar results when shifting big loads around the country.

How does that affect delivery in cities?

Benoire

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#1644130 2-Oct-2016 13:22

We have in Auckland, a decent number of west, isthmus and southern metro town centres that are adjacent to or within close proximity of rail lines that could have easily been used to bring goods in by train and then distribute locally, instead we increase the number of vehicle lanes across the region and freight everything by large truck and as a result our intersections are substantially larger than they really should be, which increases pedestrian crossing times and exposes them, as the most vulnerable road user, to further danger. This also exacerbates the cycling issue, hence London's stance.

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Geektastic

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#1644417 2-Oct-2016 22:14

Benoire:

[No doubt we're special snowflakes for whom such a solution could not possibly work....]

Nope, not at all... It could work ok here to be honest, biggest issue is that the retail companies who benefit most from HGVs (Progressives etc.) are the ones most resistant... they're also the ones that often screw up planning by insisting that all of their huge car parks be by the street, rather than undercrofted or at the rear and reduce the amenity of the street as a result, even though electronic signs could easily indicate the number of spaces free. Anyway I digress! The ability to control freight movement through a city and region is vital to the people as it can reduce the incident of people vs lorries (and by people I mean those in cars, on foot, on bikes etc.), reduce wear and tear on the road pavements which are so bloody thin here that they rut far too quickly due to poor foundations, reduce severance to the various town centres they pass through. Really, what is required are dedicated freight routes, that are deisgned for freight in mind that are outside of town centres, residential environments and away from vulnerable road users... Doing such a thing would generally increase productivity as well as improving safety... But the freight lobbies are incredibly strong here that any restriction to their movement is met with extreme resistance.

I've certainly come across a few towns that would benefit from a decent bypass.