HGV ban is not the solution to cyclist safety – FTA 25 November 2013

Following the recent headlines about fatal accidents involving cyclists, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) says that banning HGVs from roads during peak hours is not the answer.

A ban is "too simplistic" and does not recognise the essential role commercial vehicles play in supplying and servicing towns and cities, it says.

"The idea of banning HGVs from a city like London in peak hours is naive and not commercially viable," says Christopher Snelling, FTA's head of urban logistics policy. "It would mean massive economic implications for the shops, businesses and residents of the capital. It would also create new safety issues as one lorry is replaced by about eight – not to mention the increased congestion and air pollution that would result."

Some politicians and campaign groups have proposed a ban on lorries in London during the rush hour, citing Paris and Dublin as precedents. But FTA has discovered that the Paris ban exempts nearly all the types of trucks currently on London's roads and the Dublin ban is avoidable upon payment of a €10 toll. In these examples, he points out, "in practice very few vehicles are denied access to the city centres that need to be there".

The FTA does agree that more should be done to improve cyclist safety – but points to the fact that hauliers are already investing significant sums to upgrade their fleets and deliver driver training to improve road safety.

Snelling concluded: "One death is too many... But banning HGVs is a simplistic response with massive economic and transport impacts and an unquantified safety case. Any measures taken should be intelligent, targeted and evidence based if we are to improve safety whilst allowing our cities to function."

FTA is delivering cycling safety messages to the road haulage industry at its Transport Manager conferences across the UK this autumn, and is involved in launching new safety standards for construction traffic in London next month.

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Freight Transport Association Ltd

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