Trucks and road safety
New EU rules will make lorries safer and not open the door to controversial gigaliners
The European Parliament today voted to approve new EU rules on truck weights and dimensions. The Greens welcomed the final legislation, which will provide for safer lorry cab design. After the vote, Green transport spokesperson Keith Taylor (UK) said:
"These new rules on truck dimensions are far from perfect but they will make our roads safer and are a major improvement based on what was initially proposed by the European Commission, both from an environmental and road safety perspective.
"The European Parliament managed to insist on the introduction of a new and safer lorry-cab design under the new rules. This important measure will save lives on the roads, notably of cyclists. Unfortunately, due to lobbying from the big truck manufacturers, this vital measure will be delayed until 2021.
"Crucially, the move by the EU Commission to use this review to open the door to the cross-border transport of so-called mega trucks or gigaliners was thwarted. These controversial trucks raise major road safety concerns and will divert freight from rail transport, despite the obvious environmental arguments for rail. We will have to be vigilant to ensure the Commission does not try to force this change through again."
