Heavy Goods Vehicles Introduced to Safety Star Ratings

For the first time, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are being assigned star ratings based on their safety performance, identifying both top-performing and lower-scoring models. These ratings, which designate five stars as the highest safety level and one star as the lowest, have been instrumental in enhancing car safety standards since 1997. In the past, poor scores led to a significant decline in sales for vehicles like the Rover Metro (one star) and the Fiat Panda (one of only two cars to receive no stars). EuroNCAP is now broadening this rating system to encompass heavy goods vehicles, which frequently lack safety technologies commonly found in passenger cars. These technologies include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), capable of stopping a vehicle even when the driver overlooks an upcoming obstruction. Features such as assisted lane keeping for motorways and collision avoidance systems for cyclists and pedestrians during lorry turns at junctions are available but not extensively installed. Autonomous emergency braking could have averted a severe collision on the A34 near Newbury. In that incident, truck driver Thomasz Kroker was distracted by his phone, scrolling through music, instead of observing the road. He subsequently crashed into stationary traffic, resulting in the deaths of a mother and three children. Kroker received a 10-year prison sentence in 2016. Meera Naran’s 8-year-old son, Dev, died when the car he was in was struck from behind by a lorry on the M6 motorway. Mrs. Naran, who resides in Leicester, is convinced that the accident would not have occurred had the lorry been equipped with AEB. She stated, “This is such a milestone in road safety. Manufacturers need to understand the social and moral responsibility they have to ensure their vehicles are safe.” Matthew Avery, EuroNCAP’s director of strategy, noted that while lorries constitute only 3% of vehicles on the road, they are implicated in 15% of fatal collisions. He emphasized, “This is not just about driving up the safety of lorries; it’s about protecting all the other road users as well, whether they are car drivers or passengers, cyclists or pedestrians.” Mr. Avery also mentioned that 50% of all lorry drivers who die in crashes were not using seat belts, and numerous lorries lack the seat belt warning systems that are standard features in all new cars. The independent safety assessment body has evaluated six brands of heavy goods vehicles. Volvo achieved a five-star rating. However, a 2024 Iveco truck received only one star, a score significantly lower than those of other manufacturers. EuroNCAP attributed this to the absence of safety equipment that is standard in other brands. Mr. Avery further elaborated: “300 cyclists are killed and seriously injured every year. Half of all the cyclist fatalities in London occur because of crashes with trucks, often caught under the wheels of the truck as it turns. We want to see manufacturers fitting technology that can automatically brake the vehicle and prevent those crashes.” Readers can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding its approach to external linking is available.