New technology being fitted to HGVs in London to prevent collisions with cyclists and pedestrians has been described as “phenomenal” and a “game changer” - while one injured cyclist believes it could have prevented the crash that almost claimed her life.
Victoria Lebrec, 34, who lost a leg after being critically injured by a left-turning lorry in Clerkenwell in 2014, welcomed the upgraded “direct vision” safety standards being introduced by Transport for London.
Ms Lebrec, who has campaigned for safer lorries since suffering her injuries, told The Standard: “Had the lorry that was involved in my crash been fitted with these safety measures, I am pretty certain that my crash wouldn’t have happened.”
She was at an event hosted by London civil engineering contractor FM Conway, at which its managers explained the benefits of the new “three star” technology that vehicles over 12 tonnes are required to fit. Operators that refuse to comply with the rules face fines of up to £550.
Last week The Standard revealed concerns that it will take until May 2025 until thousands of lorries are fitted with the latest safety equipment, after HGV operators were granted a six-month “grace period” to comply with the new rules.
Ms Lebrec said: “I think that the initiatives that FM Conway and Transport for London have put in place with the direct vision standard means that a lot of lives can be saved.
“If it had been down to me, there wouldn’t have been an extension with the grace period, and operators would have just had three months after today to make sure they had appointments to get the safety equipment fitted.
“But I’m hopeful that most of the responsible operators will already have had their lorries fitted with this safety equipment.”
The first phase of the direct vision standard (DVS) was introduced in 2019. TfL believes this has helped to deliver a 62 per cent reduction in the number of fatal collisions involving an HGV, compared to the 2017-19 baseline, as well as reductions in serious injuries.
However, six people were killed and 32 people were seriously injured in collisions involving HGVs in the capital in 2023.
The DVS measures how much an HGV driver can see directly through their cab windows, from zero stars to five stars.
Under the three-star requirement, vehicles without factory-fitted safety equipment have to fit an updated safety kit, known as the progressive safe system (PSS), to operate in Greater London.
The three-star system uses artificial intelligence and radar to detect pedestrians directly in front of stationary vehicles and cyclists alongside the “passenger side” of the vehicle.
Steve James, senior transport manager at FM Conway, said the new system was substantially better than the sensor-based system it is replacing.
In the old system, sensors were often triggered by street furniture, leading to drivers being wrongly alerted and becoming “desensitised” to the potential risks, he said.
The new system includes a “moving-off information system” attached to the lorry’s front grille. This is activated if a person is detected in a zone that extends for 180 degrees to the “passenger side” of the vehicle and for up to 2m in front of the vehicle.
If someone comes into the “danger zone” when the vehicle is stationary, then a visual alert appears on a screen in the driver’s cab.
If the driver starts to move off and someone is still in front or alongside the lorry then an audible alarm sounds.
In addition, there is a blind-spot information system on the passenger side of the vehicle. This tracks the front and rear near-side of the lorry, and operates in the same way – first with a visual warning and then an audible warning.
Mr James said: “The beauty of the system is that it will not alert the driver unless either party changes direction onto a collision course.
“So if the vehicle is turning left, for example, which is the highest collision incident rate, then it will alert the driver by an audible alarm.
“One of the problems with the previous system was that it would pick up on all street furniture, which would desensitise the driver.
“This identifies what is a human rather than a fixed object.”
Mr James added: “Imagine being a driver in an urban environment, and how many times that alarm would go off – it would drive you crazy.
“The fact that this only alerts you when there is a potential incident is phenomenal, brilliant – a game changer.”
Will Norman, the mayor’s walking and cycling commissioner, said about 165,000 lorries would have to be fitted with the safety kit by next May.
He said: “It’s a world first and it will save lives in the future.”
Lilli Matson, TfL’s chief health and safety officer, said: “Disproportionately, people have been injured by heavy vehicles – cyclists and pedestrians in particular.
“We know that’s often because, sadly, the driver didn’t see or have clear enough visibility of these people manoeuvring around them.
“These new systems are based on evidence that shows the driver, when they have greater visibility from the cab, can avoid collisions.”
Caroline Russell, a Green party member of the London Assembly, said: “It should be illegal to drive a lorry around London if you can’t see out of the vehicle. It’s right that TfL strengthens its direct vision standard, but to be blunt, it’s not just enough.”
Andrew Cox, managing director at FM Conway, said the firm was trying to “eliminate, isolate or engineer out” the risk posed by HGVs to cyclists and pedestrians.
“As a London contractor, we have seen the pain and suffering that transport, and particularly construction, vehicles can cause.
“It’s something we have always been passionate about and invested in – our vehicles and our people – to try and prevent life-changing and/or fatalities on the road.
“This is fantastic technology and I would love to see this across all the freight across the whole of the UK, if not Europe.”
He admitted upgrading HGVs posed a financial challenge to small and medium-size operators.
A new tipper lorry costs about £150,000. FM Conway has about 500 HGVs in a total fleet of 1,200 vehicles. “It’s a large investment for our business but we see the rewards, we see people going home safely,” Mr Cox said.
[NEW] London lorries safer forever thanks to 10+ years of @London_Cycling campaigning, as our trustee Dr Nedah Darabi explains.
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) October 28, 2024
⛔️ But it's not over. We checked every London council lorry contract, and some are incredibly poor.
⚠️ https://t.co/1cNi4uMuqm pic.twitter.com/Ol9d2VdrzJ
London Cycling Campaign welcomed the upgrading of the safety standards – but said a number of London councils were failing to play their part in improving HGV road safety.
It criticised Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Enfield, Lewisham and Sutton for “inaction” in failing to improve HGV driver training, vehicle safety and construction site standards.
Using freedom of information requests, publicly-available data and contact with councils, London Cycling Campaign found the five councils do not use planning consent or clauses attached to their own procurement contracts to require firms to meet HGV safety standards adopted by other boroughs.
