HGV Safety Controls – Why are they so important to your safety?

Written by Andrea Easton, Fleet Ex

When it comes to being in charge of a heavy goods vehicle, nothing can be more important than safety. These vast, heavy vehicles can do untold damage in the wrong circumstances, and so it is important to ensure that as many measures as possible are taken to protect both the driver and other road users at all times.

HGVs can be responsible for some massive accidents which have the potential to have devastating consequences for the individuals involved and the reputation of the business. That can often mean installing certain safety controls in order to help prevent tragic accidents from occurring. So, what safety controls are there and what do they do?

Speed limiters

A speed limiter may not be entirely unfamiliar to you, as many modern cars also have these fitted to them as well. HGVs must adhere to the laws of the road including speed limits, and in some cases, they are even required to travel at a lower speed limit than the rest of the vehicles around them.

For example, goods vehicles of more than 7.5 tonnes can only travel at 60mph on a motorway instead of the usual 70mph, to help make sure that this is stuck to, speed limiters have been fitted to many HGV engines, ensuring that they cannot go above a particular speed by restricting the fuel supply to the engine, and this is usually indicated by a sticker on the back of the truck that has the number of the maximum speed inside a red circle.

An HGV is a very heavy thing and so it can take a long time for it to stop in an emergency. If it is travelling above the speed limit, then this could be too long to prevent an accident and so speed limiters prevent the vehicle from being able to travel at dangerous speeds. That is why it is now a legal requirement to have a speed limiter fitted to any vehicle which exceeds 3.5 tonnes.

Driving time

One of the biggest killers of any driver is tiredness. Falling asleep at the wheel can be lethal, and HGV drivers are at the greatest risk of this because of the number of hours that they spend on the roads. This is why strict laws have been put in place to limit the amount of time a driver can spend in the cab.

Currently, a driver is not permitted to drive for more than nine hours in a day, although this can be extended to 10 hours twice a week. They are also not allowed to drive for more than 56 hours in a week or 90 hours in any consecutive two weeks. These rules also change if you are driving at night.

To prevent this from being ignored, all driving hours are recorded in a tachograph which can monitor driving times and breaks both for the benefit of the driver and the employer, as well as the police who may want to see this in the event of an accident.

Driving technology

Andrea Easton, Head of Finance and Operations at Fleet Ex commented, “Many HGVs now have more technology fitted to them than you would find in the average home. These are all geared around safety and can help to keep the driver safe and make their jobs easier. Rear view and reversing cameras can all help to increase the visibility around the truck when performing manoeuvres, as can mirror monitors which can help to reduce blind spots, whilst vehicle radars and GPS tracking can all help the employer to keep a track of a vehicle and spot hazards as well as identifying if there has been an accident or theft.”

Many drivers will tell you that one of their biggest hazards is other drivers, and so most trucks are now fitted with digital video recorders that can capture everything that goes on around them on the road. This can be used as evidence in the event of an accident and can also be a deterrent towards anyone misbehaving when they know that they will be caught on camera.

RFID technology is now also being fitted to many HGVs which can help alert the driver that a vulnerable road user, such as a cyclist is within range, allowing them to take action to avoid them. If the vehicle continues to enter a dangerous space, then further warnings will be issued to help keep them safe.

There are also driving aids which can help to keep an HGV safe, including lane departure systems and auto braking, which is all capable of stepping an and assisting the driver, often before a human being has had a chance to react. An HGV will also contain many of the standard safety features that you might see on your own car including everything from seatbelts to handsfree technology and braking distance monitors to make sure that all of the HGVs on our roads today are as safe as they possibly can be.

Training

The biggest safety feature in any truck is the driver themselves, which is why ensuring g that they have had adequate training is so important. They are capable of spotting potential incidents long before they happen and can also be responsible for checking their truck before a journey to make sure that it is safe and fit for purpose. They have learnt to handle a vehicle of this size in all sorts of situations and weather conditions and can therefore ensure it reaches its destination safely.

Safety controls can often be seen as overt interference from health and safety, but when it comes to handling an HGV, there is no such thing as being too safe. These controls have been put into place to make sure that a machine capable of killing other human beings is in safe hands and kept on the roads. It can present huge potential harm to other motorists, not to mention the driver themselves, and so it is vital that as much protection as possible has been put into place in order to mitigate any risks.