Truck maker on mission to help EU slash road deaths

By Anna McLauchlin

Date: 29/09/05

Improvements to techno-logical standards are insufficient to reduce the number of deaths on Europe's roads, the head of Swedish truck maker Scania is warning.

All the technology in world will be ineffective unless drivers of heavy goods vehicles are trained to use it, said Leif ...stling, president and chief executive of Scania.

The group will announce at a conference to be held in Brussels next week (5 October) that it is setting up training schemes for drivers to help member states implement new EU standards for professional drivers.

Of the 40,000 deaths on EU roads each year, around 4,000 are attributed to lorry and truck accidents. While there are many EU technical standards that apply to the vehicles themselves, drivers are often unaware of the technology that can make their driving safer.

Under new EU rules, which should have been implemented in all member states in July, lorry and bus drivers must complete a basic training programme, and existing drivers will have to sign up for a periodic training 'update'.

"We have realised that up to 95% of accidents are down to the behaviour of the driver," said ...stling. "We have to make the driver aware, when he is braking for example, that he has a 45-tonne mass behind him and that he has to apply a certain knowledge so that he doesn't misjudge the situation."

According to ...stling, part of the reason for the lack of training is down to the 'macho image' of truck drivers.

"Once you have your driving licence and have been driving for years, you believe that you know everything," he said. "It's a matter of taking the time and getting organised to update your personal knowledge."

Training would also boost the take up of future technology features such as 'drowsy driver detection' and 'intelligent speed systems' that use GPS to determine how fast a lorry should travel in a certain area, he said.

"We introduced driving fatigue technology years ago, and some drivers like it and some don't," he said.

"Part of our training is trying to make drivers understand that even if they can't see the use for something, they will regret it if they don't."

...stling said that Scania supports the use of 'alcolocks', which prevents the engine from starting if it detects that the driver has drunk too much. The Swedish government plans to make alcolocks mandatory in trucks by 2010 but as yet there are no EU rules.

He said that he would also back more effective protection all around the truck - known as underrun protection - that stops cars disappearing under the vehicle in case of a collision.

The European Transport Safety Council, a non-governmental organisation, estimates that fitting energy absorbing protection on the front of trucks could save up to 1,000 lives every year.

But ...stling warned that whatever technology demands the Commission made on the truck industry, it had to give a realistic timeframe for their implementation. He highlighted EU rules on tachographs - used to calculate how long a driver has been driving for - whose implementation date has twice had to be postponed because the industry was not ready.

"We are not against introducing new technology but the industry needs time to test it and to market it so that there will be proper development in the supplier industry," he said.

MEPs and representatives of the automobile industry will discuss the effect of EU legislation at a hearing on the Commission's CARS 21 initiative at the European Parliament today (6 October).

CARS 21 is a working group set up by Günter Verheugen, the enterprise commissioner, charged with making recommendations on how the EU can improve the competitiveness of the industry. Road safety is one of the key issues.

The Swedish truck maker Scania was planning to announce, at a conference to be held in Brussels on 5 October 2005, that it was setting up training schemes for drivers to help Member States implement new EU standards for professional drivers. Under new EU rules, which should have been implemented in all member states in July 2005, lorry and bus drivers must complete a basic training programme, and existing drivers have to sign up for a periodic training 'update'. Article takes a look at recent EU and industry initiatives to increase road safety of lorries.

European Transport Safety Council: Homepage http://www.etsc.be/home.php

Scania: Homepage http://www.scania.com/

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