Europe urged for an extra 80cm in length
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By David Wilcox LEGISLATORS ARE being urged to add 80cm to the Europewide truck length limit, taking artics from 16.5m to 17.3m.
The call comes from Brusselsbased sustainable transport pressure group, Transport & Environment (T&E), responding to a European Commission (EC) consultation on revising EC directive 96/53 covering lorry weights and dimensions.
Whereas the UK is embarking on a trial of longer trailers, T&E wants Europe to devote the extra 80cm to the cab, keeping trailer length unchanged. It would allow longer, sloping fronts on trucks, incorporating an energy-absorbing
crumple zone that would save lives and reduce aerodynamic drag, cutting CO2 emissions.
The Department for Transport has considered a similar approach but rejected it in favour of longer trailers, saying manufacturers would not modify cabs for the UK.
FKA, a German research institute commissioned by T&E to come up with the design, calculates that the sloping front on tractors would reduce aerodynamic drag of a 40-tonne GCW artic by 12%, cutting fuel consumption by 3.2%. This would slice about €1,500 (£1,250) off the annual fuel bill, according to T&E. FKA estimates its design would halve the number of truck accident fatalities, saving 3,500 lives a year in Europe.