HGV Rush Hour Ban - The Debate

This morning the House of Commons posed the question,

“Should there be a rush-hour city centre HGV ban, to improve cyclist safety?”

The move to a rush-hour HGV ban has recently been proposed as part of London Cycling Campaign’s “End Lorry Danger” campaign, and to debate the question was LCC Campaigns Manager Charlie Lloyd, and Head of Freight Transport Association, Christopher Snelling.

Both gentlemen held compelling arguments for and against the ban, a radical though certainly not illogical proposal owing to the fact that HGVs account or more than half of cyclist fatalities on London.  In fact this year in 2015, 7 out of the 8 cyclist fatalities have been due to collisions with lorries.

LCC cited that nearly 40% of cyclist deaths (following collisions with lorries) happened during the morning rush hour - 8.00am-9.30am and, although questioned as to whether a ban would simply displace these tragedies to other times of the day, upheld the belief that the blunt instrument of a rush hour ban would not only reduce the danger posed to cyclists, but might also remove some HGV journeys off the road entirely as operators look to different means to transport their roads, for example by boat or rail.

This argument was countered by the FTA’s belief that a rush hour ban could in fact pose an increased danger to cyclists, as the ban could see operators switching to smaller vans exempt from the proposed ban, which would see twice as many vehicles on the road, affecting congestion, danger to vulnerable road users and air quality.

Indeed, I’ve thought about the rush-hour conundrum a great deal and wonder whether a ban simply, extends the rush hour, or perhaps puts more HGVs on the road at less congested times of the day which could impact their speed.

Snelling also pointed out that 47% of HGVs in rush hour traffic were construction trade, and that - because these vehicles have to operate in daylight hours - a rush-hour ban could cause a huge economic shift for the industry, as the working day hours are potentially forced to decrease.

Instead the way forward, as cited by the Freight Transport Association, is to improve enforcement of the current HGV rules with a view to get ‘rogue HGVs’ off our roads, and to further embrace new vehicle design, driver/cyclist training, better cycle infrastructure and retrofit technology.  Christopher Snelling said,

“Technology is going to get us much closer (than a rush hour ban) to zero cyclist fatalities.”

Agreed, though of course technology as a stand alone is not a cure-all to the problem and it’s important to consider every single option available to prevent a lives being needlessly cut short in road accidents.

It did get me to thinking, if the proposed ban were to go ahead would low cab vehicles be exempt from this ruling?  If so, wouldn’t that create a great incentive for operators to invest in them?  Because surely a cab with a 90% better visibility than a high cab is going to positively impact road safety, and the sooner we see more of these on the road, the better?  Would a rush-hour ban provide the catalyst for a upsurge in low-cab investment?

I think the debate raised more questions for me than answers(!), and hopefully it’s something that the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group can raise again later on this year.  Would love to hear others thoughts on this, from both the cycling and lorry communities.  Rush hour HGV ban - for or against?