Skip to main content

MEPs push for safer, more environmentally-friendly trucks

New truck cab designs should make it easier for drivers to spot pedestrians and cyclists, thanks to draft rule changes backed by the EU Parliament. Other changes would enable designers to exceed current maximum weight and length limits in order to fit alternative-fuel engines and to streamline cabs to cut emissions. The draft rules would allow truck cabins to be made longer if designed to cut emissions, such as by improving aerodynamics; or to prevent accidents, by reducing blind spots or making the cab
April 17, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
New truck cab designs should make it easier for drivers to spot pedestrians and cyclists, thanks to draft rule changes backed by the EU Parliament. Other changes would enable designers to exceed current maximum weight and length limits in order to fit alternative-fuel engines and to streamline cabs to cut emissions.

The draft rules would allow truck cabins to be made longer if designed to cut emissions, such as by improving aerodynamics; or to prevent accidents, by reducing blind spots or making the cab more rounded to push people clear.

Aerodynamic flaps up to 50 cm wide would be allowed at the rear of the truck to reduce drag and emissions. To encourage the use of less polluting motors, many of which are heavier and hence less commercially attractive than traditional ones, trucks and buses with low-carbon alternatives could exceed the current maximum weight by up to one tonne, depending on the weight of the alternative system.

The draft rules would also allow trucks for use in combined road-rail or road-ship transport operations to be made 15 cm longer, to make it easier to load standard 45-foot containers.

"The draft rules would allow designers to put better trucks on the road that improve road safety and reduce environmental damage. On the issue of ‘megatrucks’ Parliament has always asked the 1690 European Commission for a proper impact assessment. By deleting the parts of the legislative proposal on cross-border circulation for longer vehicles, we reinforce this position. The Commission will be asked to review the situation and report back to the Parliament and the Council by 2016", said lead MEP Jörg Leichtfried).
UTC

Related Content

  • March 14, 2025
    VisionTrack VRU systems set for New York school buses
    Vulnerable road user technology uses AI-powered cameras
  • January 26, 2012
    Debating road user charging systems
    Are pre-launch trials of charging systems the way to improve public acceptance? Or is the real key a more robust political attitude? Here, leading system suppliers discuss the issue. The use of distance-based Road User Charging (RUC) is now well established, at least for heavy goods vehicles on strategic roads. However demand management for all vehicles, whether a distance-based charge or some form of cordon scheme, has yet to make significant progress. This is in spite of the logic and equity of RUC being
  • March 2, 2016
    European Truck Platooning Challenge winds up at Intertraffic
    As holder of the EU Presidency in 2016, the Netherlands has organised the 2016 European Truck Platooning Challenge and it is no coincidence that it will involve Intertraffic Amsterdam. Truck platooning, where two or more trucks travel in convoy very close to each other, provides many benefits. The first truck does the driving while the ones following are connected by a wireless electronic communications system, like the carriages of a train.
  • August 25, 2015
    New junction on London’s Cycle Superhighway offers safety measures for cyclists
    Britain’s first junction designed to avoid cyclists being hit by left-turning traffic is unveiled today, the beginning of a new wave of such junctions on London’s busiest main roads. Cyclists and turning motor traffic will move in separate phases, with left-turning vehicles held back to allow cyclists to move without risk, and cyclists held when vehicles are turning left. There will also be a new ‘two-stage right turn’ to let cyclists make right turns in safety. For straight-ahead traffic, early-release