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ROAD SAFETY * UK - FTA says new road mirrors will cut HGV cyclist deaths
London,UK -Road Transport, by Chris Tindall -8 July 2010: -- The Freight Transport Association says it is convinced that the use of 'Trixi' safety mirrors at road junctions in London will improve cyclists' safety when they ride alongside HGVs... Transport for London (TfL) and mayor Boris Johnson unveiled the first mirror in Tooting last week, and 37 more are due to be installed across the capital's cycle superhighway routes for a six-month trial... TfL says they give lorry drivers better visibility of cyclists at junctions and should reduce the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in collisions with HGVs... The trial coincides with a poster campaign highlighting the potential dangers cyclists put themselves in when they ride up the left hand side of HGVs at junctions... (Photo from farm3.static.flickr)
* UK - Time to watch the weight
London,uk -Road Transport, by Guy Sheppard -7 July 2010: -- With fines of up to £5,000 for each offence, there should be sufficient incentive for drivers and operators to comply with overloading regulations. Yet since VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) began issuing graduated fixed penalties in May last year, excess weight has been the most common offence, along with faulty brakes... And research published last month by the Department for Transport (DfT) found that 7% of 44-tonners were recorded as being overloaded by weigh-in-motion equipment... Drivers and operators are both liable to prosecution if a vehicle is overloaded on gross weight or axle weight. One cause for confusion is that the design weight of each vehicle and its axles, shown on the manufacturer's plate, sometimes differs from the legal maximum for these, shown by the DfT or 'Ministry' plate... Fixed penalties issued by police and VOSA are set at £60 for overloads of less than 10%, £120 for overloads of between 10% and 15% and £200 for overloads of at least 15%... Sentencing guidelines for magistrates state that in cases where the overload is no more than 10%, fines should range between 25% and 75% of "relevant weekly income" for drivers and between 125% and 175% for owner companies... The guidelines also state that the fine should be increased by 10% for every 1% increase above a 10% overload...
Labels: road safety
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