Will a peak hour lorry ban protect London’s cyclists?
After a number of collisions and fatalities involving cyclists and lorries (eight mortalities this year alone), a fresh bid has been launched by Transport for London (TfL) to improve the safety of both Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and the Capital’s roads.
Restrictive lorry measures imposed across London
The Mayor and TfL have launched the ‘Safer Lorry Scheme’ which ensures only Lorries with basic safety equipment fitted (including a specific class of mirrors and side guards to protect cyclists from being dragged under the wheels during a collision) will be allowed on London’s roads. The scheme will come into effect on 1st September 2015. TfL has set up a new Freight Compliance Unit to work alongside the Office of the Transport Commissioner which will seek to ensure there is a coordinated, intelligence-led approach to removing any non-compliant HGV vehicles, drivers and operators from London’s roads.
Strengthening and supporting the need for these new measures to alleviate danger for London’s cyclists, are figures released by TfL on Monday 22nd June 2015 – revealing that almost three in four Lorries stopped by police in the city do not comply with legislation relating to compliance and safety.
However, sustainable transport charity Sustrans, has warned that even when Lorries and their operators do adhere to the law, HGVs still present a danger to London:
“It is important and challenging to move freight in this city, but the level of non-compliance with quite basic safety standards is shocking… Even when HGVs are fully compliant with current safety regulations they are still dangerous vehicles to share the roads with. Restrictions on how and where HGVs operate in the capital, as well as enforcement of safety standards and junctions designed to be safe for all users, are urgently required” (Matt Winfield, Deputy Director, Sustrans).
What else can be done?
The call for further action (in addition to the Safer Lorry Scheme) does not merely come from the charity sector. There has been a number of recent protests held over London’s cycle deaths, and Labour MP and London mayoral hopeful David Lammy has promised to consult on banning goods deliveries in peak hours if elected to City Hall. An extreme measure, but one which has seemingly worked for other European cities, such as Paris – the French capital saw zero cycling deaths in 2012.
Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, also raised the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions this week, calling for a ban on "killer lorries" in towns and cities at peak times. The prime minister said investments have been made to enhance safety, but the number of fatalities was "still very high and extremely depressing" and agreed to meet with the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group to discuss this “important issue” in conjunction with the Mayor.
Will it work?
Freight operators and business will not be keen on a ban on peak hour HGVs, especially as there are already night time restrictions on all but the most strategic routes through the Capital meaning they cannot deliver between Monday - Friday 9pm-7am (including Saturday morning) and Saturday 1pm-7am Monday morning. Introducing peak hour restrictions would potentially limit HGVs to accessing certain areas during traditional working hours. While this may improve cycle safety for commuters it may also lead to an extension to peak hours and increase traffic on roads throughout the day leading to other issues. Careful consideration will need to be given to how best to improve safety for road users whilst not having a detrimental impact on the business community.
Before banning any vehicle types careful consideration needs to be given to the cause of each of the accidents. While there have been a number of deaths on roads involving lorries and cyclists, it needs to be remembered that it may not always be the fault of the driver. As someone who commutes by bike in London every day I encounter unsafe cyclists on every journey who take unnecessary risks at junctions and while undertaking and overtaking vehicles. This behaviour is not going to go away by banning HGVs and it is human behaviour, not certain vehicle types, that is the main problem. As a transport planner I have read thousands of accident reports over the years and driver or rider error is the overwhelming cause of accidents on roads, accounting for over 90% (if not more) of all accidents.
Without the benefit of all details relating to each individual accident it is impossible to apportion blame to anybody and I am certainly not seeking to do that here, but I am sceptical as to whether banning a whole group of road users at certain times is the solution. To really improve cycle safety a holistic approach to resolving the problem is required as opposed to removing what appears to be one of the main protagonists. The safer lorry scheme is a step in the right direction, but junction improvements could also be introduced in many cases to improve safety for cyclists.
Undoubtedly, the subject of how to improve London’s road safety will continue to be a topic of passion and importance in the upcoming year. Londoner’s will be impatient to hear how the capital can further ensure the safety of its most vulnerable road users.