Briefing

Ending lorries’ deadly track record: a matter of (direct) vision

September 22, 2014

Lorries are involved in 4,200 fatal accidents in Europe every year. Many of the fatalities are vulnerable road users such as cyclists or pedestrians. Poor driver vision and lorry blind spots are a major cause of accidents. Unlike passenger cars, there are no direct vision requirements for lorries and regulators have instead focused on mirrors to reduce blind spots.

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This briefing summarises a study by a research team from the Design School at Loughborough University for Transport for London (TfL) and Transport & Environment (T&E) on how lorry direct vision could be improved. Taking account of the proposed law changes, it analyses and develops an existing 80cm longer cab concept with a curved nose. The ‘direct vision concept’ has a smaller dashboard, expanded glazed areas in the passenger door and the right corner of the cab, and a slightly lower driver position. Combined, these small design changes would increase the driver’s field of view by 50%, reduce deadly blind spots and potentially save hundreds of lives.

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