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This article was published on June 4th, 2014
The construction industry and government have worked together to create a new Standard for Construction Logistics in order to improve road safety in London.
Construction vehicles are currently only 4% of the capitals traffic but tragically inflict 53% of the cycling fatalities. Figures from the Met Office also reveal that more than half of HGVs have been caught breaking safety rules and so a new lorry standard has been widely welcomed.
Former HGV driver, Charlie Lloyd, is a haulage industry expert on road danger and a campaigns officer for the London Cycling Campaign, he said: “Worst of all is the tipper companies, which tend to be smaller. A lot of them are owner drivers, or subcontractors to subcontractors.
“If the driver is the person who owns the lorry, or his brother owns the lorry, and they’ve mortgaged the house to buy the lorry, they’re under huge pressure to take an extra load that day, or two extra loads. It’s a problem the police are aware of but they can realistically only look at it after there’s been a crash. They don’t have the resources to stop lorries and check records against invoices.”
The new standard, whilst not compulsory, will put the onus on companies to provide better driver training, safer vehicles and allow for potential liability claims should companies not comply.
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