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Dutch trial results welcomed
Page 10
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A Dutch service trial of 25.25m trucks running at 60 tonnes has revealed several benefits, including increased safety. Chris Tindall reports.
BACKERS OF PLANS to introduce longer and heavier trucks to the UK have received a boost with the results of a Dutch service trial.
The 18-month trial found that the public are no more concerned about their safety when on the roads with the 2525m-long vehicles than they arc with other LG Vs. It also showed that traffic safety is actually enhanced by their use.
According to the report's conclusion, motorists have shown "substantial support" for the introduction of these 25.25m, 60-tonne vehicles and "arc able to name a sufficient number of advantages of [long and heavy trucks]".
The Netherlands Ministry of Transport commissioned the experiment with 300 vehicles on urban and rural roads It has found: *Traffic safety would not be put at risk by their introduction. Longer trucks reduce mileages and the number of deaths and injuries decreases proportionally.
• Between 7% and 31% of journeys made by trucks with loading capacities of more than 20 tonnes could be made by longer vehicles.
• These vehicles can reduce congestion by up to 1.4%.
• While the cost per mile increases by around 6.5% with the larger trucks, the lower number of journeys would cut the overall cost of road transport byas much as 3.4%.
The report into the trial says: "There is a small difference in perception in terms of danger and controllability between [longer trucks] and regular lorries concerning a specific manoeuvre -turning right. Turning right is considered to be the most dangerous situation for [these vehicles]."
It adds that if the Dutch government decides to allow the trucks on its roads permanently, a campaign to increase the public's knowledge of freight traffic would remove a number of misconceptions. And it warns against distinguishing between trucks and their longer, heavier counterparts because directing disproportionate attention towards them -could promote feelings of insecurity".
The results have been welcomed by Dick Denby, who has campaigned for similar UK trials for some time. He says: -The important revelation of the trials is the safety conclusion. The predicted reduction in road deaths and injuries has to be dominant in all considerations. I hope that the safety fears and anxieties which some have naturally harboured will now be seen as unfounded."
• Automotive consultant Roger Denniss is asking for operators interested in funding independent trials of low-profile tyres, in order to analyse their rolling resistance, to contact him.
Denniss and Denby want to form a consortium that looks into the fuel efficiency gains available through the use of certain tyres.
• Contact Roger Denniss on 01283 702269 or e-mail him at lorry.logie@virgin.net