Truck manufacturers are not doing enough to ensure the safety of drivers according to delegates at Motor Transport's Fraikin-sponsored round table debate last week. Ian Pizzey, commercial manager, network distribution, at the Royal Mail, says that at the very least there needs to be NCAP-style safety ratings for trucks so that operators can make an informed choice. He says it would have the added benefit of making the truck makers think more about protection for drivers: "An NCAP rating would push them down that avenue and force them to pay more attention to safety than they presently do," he said.
He added: "There's not enough pressure on manufacturers to fit [safety features]. We need to work together more closely to force them down certain avenues to give us what we need. "I think there is more that manufacturers could be doing in order to safeguard our drivers." His comments were echoed by John Finn, fleet director at Christian Salvesen, who bemoaned that fact that seat-belt warning lights were not yet standard fitment in trucks.
However, John Ball, chairman and managing director Fraikin says that truck buyers must shoulder at least some of the blame for the lack of consideration for driver safety because they have not put enough pressure on manufacturers. He said: "We are probably at fault because collectively we are buying thousands of trucks and vans per year and we need to emphasise to the manufacturers that safety is the biggest consideration.
"When we look at acquisitions we look at driver acceptability, MPG, whole life costs and so on, we just don't put health and safety on the agenda. That's where I feel collectively we have an opportunity - if we don't push the manufacturers then they aren't going to offer it." These comments have angered Mercedes-Benz, which experiences a "lamentably low take-up" of safety related products in the UK. A spokesman says: "In our declared search for accident-free driving, we have spent literally billions of Euros developing everything from ESP, Telligent Proximity Control, Lane Assist and Active Body Control, to the more mundane red seat belts. Sadly, only to see most of it sit on the shelf.
"On the crash test question, truck cabs must comply with ECE R29/2 impact tests and so are subject to an absolute measure of structural safety."
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