EEC examines cabs
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THE EEC COMMISSION is making a new bid to draft Common Market Regulations on the layout and construction of lorry cabs, including the question of drivers' berths.
A meeting of Government and industry experts has been called in Brussels on November 14 and 15 and it may he possible to produce a first draft next year.
Nine years ago the Commission looked at the problem in a dilatory way — meetings were arranged and then cancelled at short notice — and the talks eventually petered out.
The Commission, in reply to a question to West German MEP Horst Seefeld, says its main consideration in drafting the rules will be road safety. hygiene, safety at work and the comfort of drivers.
Employers hope that if a deal can be readied on EECwide rules on the comfort of drivers' berths, Brussels will make concessions on rest periods.
At present, rime spent in the berth on two-driver lorries while the vehicle is moving does not count as daily rest.
Brussels will insist on minimum standards regarding noise, ventilation, vibration and the dimensions of the berth as well as the cab.
Seefeld was critical of plans to integrate, in future lorry design, the driver's cab under the load area.
This, he added, would lower the height of the driver's unit to only 1.15m "which means that the driver's field of vision will be more restricted than that of many car drivers".