"Sideswiping" incidents
| Published: 31st March 2008 13:34 |
Highways Agency (East Midlands)
(Highways Agency) East Midlands Highways Agency traffic officers back innovative road safety lens
Congestion-busting Highways Agency Traffic Officers are backing a scheme to help motorists avoid being involved in 'sideswiping' incidents.
From Monday 31 March, traffic officers in the East Midlands will carry a supply of magnifying window lenses in their vehicles to distribute, free of charge, to drivers of left-hand drive lorries.
Latest statistics show that there are up to 500,000 foreign drivers travelling on the UK motorway and trunk road network and many of these are
lorries.
These lorries have a blind spot along their passenger side and many motorists do not realise that drivers of left-hand drive lorries cannot easily see a car overtaking them on the right.
By fitting a special lens, called a Fresnel lens, to the windows of left hand drive lorries, the field of view is widened and vehicles can be seen in the drivers' blind spot. These lenses are just 450mm by 300mm and self adhesive.
A trial was carried out in the South East just over a year ago when 40,000 lenses were distributed at the Eurotunnel and French Ports. Data about sideswipe injuries was collected for three months prior to the trial, and then again for the three months after the lenses were distributed.
The results in the South East showed that the number of sideswipes dropped by about 59 per cent during the period, which is estimated to equal 300 incidents annually - a saving of about £2m to £5m to the economy each year.
James Lowth, Network Operations Manager for the traffic officer service in the East Midlands, said:
"The motorway and trunk road network in the East Midlands is a very busy freight route, with lorries joining the M1 from the A14 and ports, and also has one of the main north-south freight arteries in England - the M1.
"Our traffic officers are able to meet lorry drivers from across Europe regularly at truck stops and motorway service areas, so providing a supply of Fresnel lenses to give out to drivers who hadn't received one at the port made sense.
"Not only could it save millions of pounds of delay and congestion, but it could also ultimately save lives."
The lenses are supplied in an envelope with instructions printed on it in five languages.
Community Comment:
Add your comment:
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
