Pinsamt -> Safety organisations have sent a joint letter to the Transport Minister demanding progress on a law which would allow safer EU lorry design. France and Sweden are looking to have the legislation delayed by several years as it would open up Renault and Volvo to greater competition. Campaigners say such a move would mean hundreds more lives being needlessly lost. ... “Current EU rules on weights and dimensions of HGVs have indirectly restricted the length of cabins to 2.35m which explains why European lorries have such blunt brick-shaped cabin fronts which affect the aerodynamics of lorries, making them inefficient and dangerous in the event of a frontal crash. “Today’s cab design forces the driver to sit on top of the engine in such a high position that much of what happens around the cab is invisible to them – the so-called fatal blind spots. “Redesigning lorry cabs to reduce blind spots could save hundreds of cyclists’ and pedestrians’ lives every year, according to a study by Loughborough University which found this ‘direct vision’ lorry concept would increase the driver’s field of view in front and to the sides of the lorry by 50 per cent compared to today’s lorries.” ... Volvo, for one, have only recently launched new model ranges and so changes would be costly to implement and could also result in competitors gaining a head start. A Volvo spokesman said: “Redesigning the cab is quite complex and costly, and you have to bear in mind that product cycles in our business are 15, maybe 20 years long.” road.cc/content/news/134132-transport-and-safety-experts-demand-eu-go-ahead-safer-lorry-designs
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 12:09:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015