The Hackney branch of the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has praised a new Transport for London (TfL) scheme put in place to protect cyclists from collisions with lorries and trucks.
The TfL Direct Vision Lorry (DVS) safety scheme came into operation all over London on Monday. All vehicles weighing more than 12 tonnes must get a free DVS permit, which assigns each lorry a star rating from zero to five, depending on how much the driver can see directly through their cab windows. Lorries that obtain a zero-star rating will be banned until the vehicle has a series of safety measures installed.
Jono Kenyon, lead of the Hackney branch of the LCC, told the Hackney Post that the move was welcome.
“Hackney historically has the highest levels of cycling of any borough in London, and we’ve seen cases where there’s been no ability for the driver to see what’s directly in front of their vehicle, and that’s just not acceptable in our view,” Kenyon said. “A young lady was killed recently by a skip lorry on Victoria Park road, and so improving those vehicles that are using Hackney road is imperative in our view.”
Will Norman, the Mayor of London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said checks for lorries “will save lives and reduce danger by reducing lethal HGV blind spots”.
Lead image by Irid Escent licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0., via Wikimedia Commons.
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