No More Lethal Lorries - Petition

I'm afraid I think the LCC are too timid in their campaigning and they should be pressing to get lorries banned from inner London completely between 6am and 8pm, and for all trucks that operate in London to have low cabs and low level glazing as bin wagons do.

Pussyfooting around the issue with calls for training and mirrors and sensors is ineffective against a construction industry which simply doesn't give a fuck.
We try to concentrate on the areas where we can make a difference. So we are campaigning for better lorry designs with low level cabs and bigger windows. With TfL we are talking to the Freight Transport Association and the lorry importers. Working on legislation is very slow work, especially if it involves EU design rules. It took us 7 years to get better mirrors, and another two to get those mirrors fitted to older lorries.

One way to short cut this is to put economic pressure on the industry. We have forced Crossrail to only use lorries that have extra mirrors and sensors to detect cyclists, all drivers working on their sites need to have had cycle awareness training or they don't get in. With CTC we opposed the Crossrail act in parliament to make this happen.

We are campaigning for on-bike cycle awareness training for all council drivers now because it is achievable. New rules mean that all drivers must have additional training every year - the cost of doing this is already covered. We can show that on-bike sessions make the training much more cost effective, it also provides extra benefits for the drivers. It is very different from spending 7 hours in a classroom in front of a screen. When done proplerly the drivers' fears and prejudices are explored and resolved - then they get on a bike in front of a revving lorry. It's learning by doing.

We need the petition signed to get the politicians behind this simple way to change the behaviour of a whole block of professional drivers.