The problem of lorries turning right : an analysis based on crashes in 2003 and the new European guidelines beginning in 2007. In spite of the mandatory introduction of blind area mirrors and blind area cameras per 1 January 2003, there are relatively many casualties in crashes involving lorries turning right. Requested by the Ministry of Transport, SWOV has analyzed the crashes of this type that took place in 2003. Results of a crash analysis of the 1998-2000 period were used as the before measurement. Summonses were used in both analyses. It is strongly suspected from numbers of casualties in 2004 and 2005 that the mandatory introduction of blind area facilities in 2003 have only had a temporary effect. The fact that in the Netherlands in 2002 and 2003 there was a large reduction in the number of deaths among cyclists from crashes in which a lorry turned right, can be attributed to the large scale publicity given and attention paid to the blind area problem. This led to lorry drivers and cyclists being more alert. The most important results of the crash analyses are: - The general pattern of crashes is that a lorry turning right does not give right of way to a cyclist continuing straight ahead; the cyclist takes right of way, whether conscious of there being a lorry present or not; - It mainly concerns lorries turning right after having stopped (e.g. for traffic lights); - The most common point of contact in a lorry-bicycle crash is on the front corner on the right-hand side of the lorry. The visibility of this most common point of contact is not included in the current EU requirements for the field of vision, nor in the requirements in the Netherlands per 1 January 2003. New EU requirements as of 1 January 2007 will indeed lead to a wider field of vision, but this is no guarantee that this field of vision can be used properly when turning right. That is why SWOV supports the conducting of a demonstration project that the Ministry of Transport has announced in its letter to parliament. This project involves a large scale testing in practice of the obligatory front mirrors and cameras. SWOV also advocates registering all data and findings objectively during this project, in the situation before as well as afterwards. Such a study provides knowledge about the mirror configuration (whether of not in combination with cameras) for new lorries after January 2007 as well as for existing ones. Besides these recommendations that refer to the field of vision, other measures can also reduce the danger of lorries turning right, such as: - preventing lorries and cyclists entering the junction area simultaneously by installing a separate green light; - installing traffic mirrors at junctions; - electronic detection of cyclists; - information for vulnerable road users; - larger front and side windscreens for lorries; - forbidding heavy traffic in city centres.
Samenvatting