Organisation: Loughborough University
Amount awarded: £100,088
Date of Publication: August 2024
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre: 18 September 2024
This pioneering research from Loughborough University, funded by The Road Safety Trust, has strengthened the legislation around the minimum direct vision requirements for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
UNECE Regulation 167 aims to maximise the area around a vehicle cab which can be directly seen through the windows of a HGV – known as direct vision. This is particularly important when it comes to reducing collisions between HGVs and vulnerable road users.
Researchers from Loughborough University found potential problems with the regulation, first introduced in 2022, where manufacturers could enhance frontal visibility without genuinely improving safety.
Their work comprised multiple studies, which were conducted to explore different methods of defining frontal visibility volumes and then test their effectiveness.
This led to the development of a more robust approach, which was put forward as an amendment to UNECE Regulation 167.
The final amendment includes a two-stage assessment of frontal visibility volumes, ensuring that vehicles meet both a general frontal visibility standard and specific visibility in the most critical zones directly in front of the vehicle.
The amendment was successfully passed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) earlier this year, ensuring that the regulation maintains its effectiveness in improving road safety for vulnerable road users.
For more information about this project visit The Road Safety Trust website:
https://www.roadsafetytrust.org.uk/funded-projects/loughborough-university-enterprise-limited