How safe is that lorry? HGVs given star ratings

Star ratings for safety are being awarded to lorries for the first time, with the best and worst heavy goods vehicles named.

The scores, with five stars as the safest and one representing the least safe, have been driving up standards in cars since 1997.

Previously, sales of cars such as the Rover Metro (one star) and Fiat Panda (one of only two cars to receive no stars) collapsed after they scored very badly.

Now EuroNCAP is extending the scheme to heavy goods vehicles, which are often not fitted with safety features that are commonplace on cars.

They include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which can stop a vehicle even if the driver fails to notice an obstruction ahead.

Assisted lane keeping on motorways, and collision avoidance for cyclists and pedestrians when a lorry turns at a junction, exist but are not widely fitted.

AEB could have prevented a horrific crash on the A34 near Newbury. Truck driver Thomasz Kroker was scrolling through music on his phone instead of looking at the road.

He collided with stationary traffic, killing a mother and three children. Kroker was jailed in 2016 for 10 years.

Meera Naran’s 8-year-old son Dev was killed when the car he was travelling in was hit from behind by a lorry on the M6 motorway.

Mrs Naran, from Leicester, believes the crash would not have happened if the lorry had been fitted with AEB.

“This is such a milestone in road safety,” she said. “Manufacturers need to understand the social and moral responsibility they have to ensure their vehicles are safe.”

Matthew Avery, director of strategy at EuroNCAP, said lorries represent only 3% of vehicles on the road, but are involved in 15% of fatal crashes.

"This is not just about driving up the safety of lorries; it's about protecting all the other road users as well, whether they are car drivers or passengers, cyclists or pedestrians."

He said half of all lorry drivers killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts, and many lorries do not have the seat belt warnings that are standard in all new cars.

Six brands of heavy goods vehicles have been tested by the independent safety assessment body. Volvo scored five stars.

But a 2024 Iveco truck scored only one star, a rating well below the other manufacturers. EuroNCAP said it lacked the safety equipment fitted as standard by other brands.

Mr Avery explained: “300 cyclists are killed and seriously injured every year.

"Half of all the cyclist fatalities in London occur because of crashes with trucks, often caught under the wheels of the truck as it turns.

"We want to see manufacturers fitting technology that can automatically brake the vehicle and prevent those crashes.”

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