Chief among actions and proposals relevant to the transport industry are: increasing penalty points for in-vehicle mobile phone use from three to six penalty points for HGV drivers; and consulting on legislative changes to improve urban cycle safety.
On the latter point, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Andrew Jones (pictured) is proposing that HGV sideguards and rear under-run devices must remain permanently fitted.
The FTA (Freight Transport Association) has reacted positively to the measures, with head of national and regional policy Christopher Snelling commenting: “Overall, this appears to be a sensible range of measures that should further improve the UK’s comparatively good road safety record.”
Turning to the measure concerning HGV sideguards and rear underrun protection, he says: “Assuming that there’s some allowance in the detail for any HGV where it is essential to that vehicle’s work – as with the London Safer Lorry Scheme – this should not prove a problem for the haulage industry.”
However, on increasing penalty points for lorry drivers caught using a mobile phone while driving, he states: “Use of a mobile phone while driving is clearly dangerous and illegal. We would note that, while penalty points can act as a deterrent, such measures have more impact if there is a genuine chance of being caught.”
And he adds: “Consequently we feel increased targeted enforcement against high risk HGV operators in key areas such as London is more important than this change.”
FTA is also welcoming funding announced for Bikeability training for school children, and expresses the hope that this would incorporate messages about how to be safe around HGVs.