Road Safety Bill [HL]

Lord Hanningfield moved Amendment No. 51: After Clause 14, insert the following new clause— "RETRO-REFLECTIVE MARKINGS In the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52), after section 80 (approval marks) insert— "80A RETRO-REFLECTIVE MARKINGS The Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument require the fitting of retro-reflective tape complying with ECE 104 to international category vehicles N2 and N3 and on goods trailers under the international classification 03 and 04 newly registered in the United Kingdom."" The noble Lord said: The aim of this amendment is to increase the safety of heavy goods vehicles with the fitting of retro-reflective markings principally along the side of HGV trailer units. With your indulgence, I shall take a moment to explain the reasoning behind the need for such a clause. Goods vehicles represent 1.4 per cent of all licensed motor vehicles in the UK, yet 15 per cent of all fatal casualties in road accidents in 2003 were the result of an accident involving an HGV. Occupants of commercial vehicles account for only 8 per cent of all casualties on trunk roads, yet accidents involving these vehicles account for 26 per cent of the total. The contribution of HGVs to road fatalities is therefore disproportionate to the number of such vehicles in use. Action needs to be taken to help prevent accidents involving HGVs and reduce the number of people killed and injured. Forty-two per cent of all fatalities from road accidents occur in darkness, even though the Department of Transport admits that traffic is lighter at night-time. In the UK in 2001, there were more than 9,000 collisions where an HGV was struck by another vehicle. In 34 per cent of these cases the HGV was struck on its side. Recent research has found that 37 per cent of all side collisions with trucks at night occurred because they were seen too late. The same study also found that adding retro-reflective contour markings reduced accidents involving trucks and passenger cars under poor-visibility conditions by 95 per cent. The US Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that the introduction of retro-reflective tape has reduced side-impact collisions with HGVs by around 17 per cent. There needs to be a greater role for passive lighting, such as reflective strips, to address this problem. Passive retro-reflective lighting works without the need of any kind of power, as light from headlights from approaching vehicles is simply reflected back to drivers. Current UK regulations state that all HGVs in the UK must be fitted with rear retro-reflective markings that meet certain prescribed standards. However, the UK does not currently require retro-reflective markings to be fitted to the side of such vehicles. The problem of side-impact collisions with HGVs is therefore not addressed. Already, some of the large distribution groups, such as Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer, have voluntarily adopted such markings on their long and heavy vehicles, and we are seeing a growing number of European countries adopting similar measures. The overall cost of such a step would be minimal compared to the cost associated with accidents on UK roads. A study conducted by the department this year found a significant cost benefit for fitting retro-reflective line markings to the rear and side of HGVs newly registered in the UK. The most effective way of implementing such a scheme in the first instance would be to require all newly built vehicles to comply. This would avoid imposing a heavy financial burden on fleet operators in retro-fitting all vehicles at the same time. In conclusion, reducing side impacts with HGVs by enhancing visibility would significantly reduce the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. I beg to move.