Transport for London announcing that the new safety permits for lorries entering or working in London are being issued as of 28 October 2019. Lorries not carrying permits, after October 2020 , will be subject to fines.

The permits , which include a rating of the direct vision (not via mirrors or cameras) from a lorry on a scale from 0 to 5, will be issued free of charge. Fleet operators will all have to apply for the permits and, unless their vehicles rate from 1 to 5 stars for direct vision, will have demonstrate that they have installed the required ‘mitigation measures’ including side guards, an alert system and a camera on their vehicle to reduce the greater than average danger posed by such large vehicles.

The new lorry safety scheme follows four consultations by TfL on proposals for its Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) Safety Permit scheme, including the permit application process, safe system requirements and enforcement of the scheme. TfL reports that a majority of the responses to the consultations supported the scheme which is based around a Direct Vision Standard.

LCC has long supported improved direct vision in lorries because the so-called ‘blind spots’ in lorries are repeatedly considered a primary cause of collisions of HGVs with cyclists and pedestrians. HGVs are involved in more than 50% of cyclist deaths in the capital and more than 20% of pedestrian fatalities. You can read more about the permit scheme here: tfl.gov.uk/direct-vision-standard. And more about direct vision here .https://lcc.org.uk/articles/direct-vision-solution-in-sight