London safer lorry scheme comes into effect in bid to protect cyclists

FFS - Just extend the powers of the HSE to the road network. Someone get hurt that road get shut down until declared safe.

Who cares about these or if it's in London only?

You can ban HGVs at certain times and put on all the safety features you like. Until people realise how dangerous they are fighting for every foot of road space instead of conceding space to allow everyone to finish their journey, things are not going to get better quickly.

A pistol laying on a table is not dangerous.
A pistol in someone's hand pointing at you is potentially lethal.

On the BBC site they have a video of a cyclist changing places with a lorry driver. You know, she can't see a cyclist outside and can't believe how poor the visibility is. Message? Take care cyclists.

Somehow the message of "how the hell did we end up with such a patently dangerously flawed vehicle on busy roads" goes a bit missing...................

Great news on the new legislation, and about time too.

Have to say I do have some sympathy with the spokesperson suggesting Police should spend more time enforcing the existing laws, but what they fail to point out is that the cost of the new safety kit is borne by the companies wishing to conduct business (and make profit) in London. That sounds fairer than asking Police to spend some of their money checking that people are operating within the law.

would like to think could be extended to the rest of the UK and hopefully enforcement might be more efficient?

"The City of London Police Commercial Vehicle Unit, which was set up in May with funding from TfL, found that in its first month of operation, 95 of the 136 lorries stopped had to be taken off the road for non-compliance or safety reasons."

that's less than 5 "lorries" stopped per day

I'd ask for my money back

I sincerely hope this makes a difference

Moving in the right direction at least. Just don't rely on it to keep you safe. Always assume the dude in charge of the big truck doesn't know you're there and is probably on the phone to his depot getting brow-beaten for being late.

Hampstead_bandit, did you get it on cam? I reckon the Met and/or employer would follow that up. Blatant disregard of the law.

What about the lorry drivers busy talking on their hand held cell phones whilst in heavy traffic.

It's f*cking frightening how many HGV drivers I see every day during my commute across London, who will be driving and using their cell phone.

This morning by Aldgate, a guy in a big tipper going through the junction onto Commercial road making the turn whilst his right hand had the phone clamped to his head.

Some 'zero tolerance' Police enforcement with severe financial penalties / instant driving ban and HGV driver education is rapidly needed in London.

Well it's a start.

This comment got my back up:

"We are ahead of any other part of the UK in closing the legal loopholes that allowed many HGVs to operate without basic safety equipment."

They're not loopholes. They're oversights that should have been fixed twenty years ago.