London Councils has issued a public consultation regarding changing the conditions of the London Lorry Control Scheme to require all heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) operating under the Scheme to fit sideguards and Class V and VI mirrors.
Commenting on this, Christopher Snelling, FTA's Head of Urban Logistics and Regional Policy, said:
"FTA takes the view that adding additional requirements to vehicles delivering at night is not the appropriate way to improve safety for cyclists in the Capital. Instead London Councils, and the boroughs it consists of, should have looked at updating the Control Scheme, and planning and environmental health requirements, in order to allow quiet deliveries out-of-hours. This would enable as many lorries as possible to operate outside the peak hours when most cyclists are on the roads.
"This is an example of regulatory creep. A scheme introduced to deal with one issue - noise - is now being used to deal with another - safety. Transport for London still intends to regulate in this area and the Department for Transport is also reviewing requirements. How many bodies need to regulate on one issue?
"The way to improve safety is to take intelligent, targeted measures that can reduce the number of incidents and their severity. For HGVs, this means focusing on low quality operators who fail to follow current legal safety requirements."
FTA reiterated its support for the recent increased enforcement effort against targeted, high risk HGVs by the Metropolitan Police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on London's streets.