Life-Saving Changes to HGV Design

Watch this video to learn how research by Loughborough University is redefining the standard for HGV design. The new standard focuses on improving visibility for the driver — potentially saving hundreds of lives each year.

“With the design of the Volta Zero we had the chance to start from a blank sheet of paper," said Ian Collins  , Chief Product Officer at Volta Trucks. "We wanted to produce an electric vehicle, but we also wanted to address the safety issues that we see every day when HGVs are operating in built-up environments."

Transcript

00:00:00 the direct Vision standard is a method by which we can measure the ability of a vehicle to allow a driver to see the things around that vehicle which might be cyclists or pedestrians through direct Vision Through the Windows and there is a wide range in performance differences between really high long-haul type trucks which would have very poor direct vision and the kind of

00:00:24 vehicle that we have behind us which has excellent direct Vision so the directvision standard has now been running in London for more than a year the European Union expressed interest in that work and so we've worked with the United Nations economic commission for Europe to redevelop the standard that's been applied in London but to have some extra features but basically that

00:00:49 standard will Now operate for any hdv sold in Europe from 2026 and we've set really quite stringent minimum requirements for the direct Vision standard which means that you will see differences in truck designs in the next five to ten years so of course those changes their costs for the industry recognize that but we want changes to be made to ensure people can cycle and work

00:01:14 safely in cities and and this is why the contribution to researchers Dr Steve summer scale and Russell Marshall were so important with the design of the volt zero we had the opportunity to start from a blank sheet of paper so we took the opportunity not just to produce an electric truck but to completely reimagine the design of a truck

00:01:35 addressing some of the major safety issues we took direct Vision very much as a design objective from the start and optimized that all the way through the design of the vehicle to really emphasize the compatibility of this vehicle with its home environment in City Delivery I've sat in all kinds of trucks all over the world and it's really quite stunning in terms of the

00:02:01 ability to see everything that you need to see around you when when at a junction so I'm very impressed with the design with the the lower cab you get greater visibility to pedestrian cyclists we've got multiple cameras we've got a 360 camera as well and also the extended glass as well you know we've got much wider view the benefits of these features allows me to see

00:02:21 cyclists and pedestrians much much easier we believe that Dr summer skill and his dedicated teams hike while research on the direct version standard for hgvs will ultimately contribute to saving lives it's difficult detailed work but well worth it as we know how important direct Vision to the front and side of the driver's cab is and that it is better than mirror aided Vision on

00:02:46 its own these are real people that are that are being you know run over by these vehicles in particular scenarios and any life lost is unacceptable in my view but it is something that we're very proud of that the direct Vision standard being applied in London and then for the whole of Europe should save hundreds of lives per year or certainly hundreds of people from being killed or seriously

00:03:10 injured