State action on truck mirrors 'can save lives'
A European directive on the proposed safety measure is in the pipeline.
The EU, a new survey shows, believes 1,300 road deaths could be prevented over the next 16 years if the heavy goods vehicle measure is introduced.
Similar schemes are in place in Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, and pressure is increasing on other countries to follow suit.
Road hauliers' spokesman Jimmy Quinn said the retrofitting of blind-spot mirrors was something the Government should introduce immediately.
"It is simple, practical and cheap. The cost of such mirrors is minimal in the overall context of an €80,000 truck. If it saves one incident such as bending a panel on a car, never mind preventing an accident, it will have paid for itself."
He claimed a large number of HGV drivers had already voluntarily fitted blind-sport mirrors on their vehicles, after recent publicity highlighted a large number of fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists.
"Unfortunately, it is the truck that doesn't have the mirrors which is more likely to be involved in an accident," suggested Mr Quinn.
The IRHA, he said, was disappointed at the lack of Government reaction to its suggestion that the fitting of such mirrors should be made a mandatory part of the annual Department of Environment test for trucks.
Transport Minister Martin Cullen said yesterday that the issue was "under consideration".
The EU initiative was prompted by official estimates that 400 people are killed on European roads yearly as a result of truck accidents.
Under a separate EU Directive, all new trucks with a weight of more than 3.5 tonnes will be legally required to be equipped with the 'cyclops' mirror from January 1 next.
An EU transport spokesperson said: "While the legislation is clearly beneficial, existing trucks are not covered by it. Given the lifetime of HGVs, the effect of the new legislation is therefore quite limited for a long period of time."
In Ireland, the National Safety Council has estimated that eight pedestrians are killed each year because of a blind-spot on HGVs.
"For the overwhelming majority of existing trucks, costs of retrofit will be between €100 and €150 per truck the cost of one stop at a petrol station," said the EU transport spokesperson.
The European Commission claims retrofitting will also prove a major success under a cost-benefit analysis. It estimates the total retrofitting of Europe's HGV fleet with blind-spot mirrors could cost up to €600 million, but would provide savings of €1.7 billion.
EU transport experts are concerned that current replacement levels of trucks for newer models is slow across Europe.
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