The largest vehicles on our roads are often most dangerous to those walking and cycling, partly due to the often restricted vision of their drivers. We’re pushing for safer lorries with better cab design and safety features.
Our campaigning has reduced lorry danger, with:
Lorries are involved in half of cyclist fatalities and a fifth of pedestrian fatalities. The primary danger to cyclists is where the lorry is turning left and the driver doesn’t spot a cyclist to the front and left. The primary danger to pedestrians is when the vehicle is moving off and the driver doesn’t see a pedestrian crossing just below his or her windscreen.
Traditional lorry cab with reduced vision
Direct vision model allowing driver to see other road users
Many lorries operating in London have blind spots requiring drivers to constantly check six small mirrors for other road users in busy, narrow streets. Direct Vision lorries have cabs like buses used in airports and refuse trucks. We want all urban lorries to look more like this, rather than vehicles designed for motorway use with very high driver cabs which obstruct the driver’s view of a pedestrian or cyclist below.
Our campaigning work on Direct Vision lorries has led to a world’s first driver vision standard for lorry design and permit scheme to remove the lorries with most restricted vision from our roads. In turn this has also led to EU-wide vision standards for new lorries and lorry models coming in from 2026.
LCC's Campaign To End Lorry Danger
HGVs are responsible for more than half of cyclist deaths in London, despite only making up 4% of motor traffic - we've worked tirelessly to End Lorry Danger by only allowing Direct Vision lorries on our streets. This year the most dangerous lorries were finally banned from London's roads.
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