Trucks are often seen as every cyclist’s worst nightmare. Monday, 27^th February is the deadline to hand in replies to a European Commission consultation on Megatrucks. The Commission is looking to update change the legislation on the size and weights of lorries crossing European borders, explains ECF Policy Officer, Ceri Woolsgrove.

Currently the maximum length of lorries that are allowed to cross European borders is limited to 16,5 metres for articulated vehicles and 18,75 metres for combination lorries, and weighing up to 40 tonnes. But there is pressure from the Road Haulage industry to increase the length of the lorries up to 25,25 metres and weighing up to 60 tonnes.

Would this be a problem?

Well we already know that HGV lorries are disproportionately involved in serious accidents with other road users. They make up about 3% of the EU vehicle fleet, but give rise to about 14 % of fatal collisions, amounting to more than 4 000 annual fatalities. We have grave concerns that this would increase if the Commission were to allow larger lorries to cross borders and to mix with normal traffic:

• There have been studies that show that blind spots would increase
• that the handling in straight lines would be compromised
• there would be greater use of the road for turning and manoeuvring
• There would be more use of pavements and cycle lanes when dealing with increased manoeuvrability
• Given the larger mass, accidents would be more serious

Resulting lower costs within the road haulage industry would also mean a possible shift from rail to road transport in general. This could lead to more lorries on the road and more environmental problems from an industry already struggling to contain its emissions.

The good news is that the Commission has said that it will not be looking at longer trailers specifically in its consultation and review of the legislation and will look at the cab only. However the review will be looking at more tightly defining what megatrucks are allowed to do at the moment, and this is of concern.

Currently there is confusion as to where these lorries are allowed cross border. They routinely cross borders between Denmark and Sweden, and trials are going ahead between Flemish Belgium and the Netherlands. We think that exceptions and trials need to be tightly defined and controlled and we hope that the legislation is updated to reflect this before a Northern European corridor is opened up skewing the market and forcing a Europe wide acceptance of longer, heavier lorries throughout Europe.

We also think that the review of the legislation could be an opportunity to look at revising the size and shape of the cab to make it more streamline, efficient and also safer. With a slightly larger cab we may be able to alter the direct vision of the driver, eliminate more blind spots and make the front safer from impacts.

About the Author

Ceri Woolsgrove is the ECF Policy Officer for Road Safety & Technical Issues. He is from the UK and has worked extensively in London, Brighton, Liverpool (UK), Hang Zhou (China) and now in Brussels. His previous employment was for an organisation representing the transport industry in Brussels. Ceri has a Master’s degree in Globalization and International Policy Analysis from the University of Bath, and Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex

• More details can be seen on the no megatrucks Alliance website here http://www.nomegatrucks.eu/
• Consultation details can be found on the Commission website here http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road/consultations/2012-02-27-weights-and-dimensions_en.htm
• ECF Factsheets and summary are available here http://ecf.com/road-safety/mega-trucks/