New FORS Requirements Short selling the Public

Despite recent updates the Freight Operators’ Recognition Scheme (FORS) seems to have overlooked pedestrians and cyclists, says Steersafe.

FORS is missing a prime opportunity to demand zero-tolerance of driver blind-spots which are unacceptable on any work vehicle. Blind spots make compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act impossible because no vehicle with them can be safe to drive.

The old excuse that 360-degree driver visibility is impossible has been swept away by modern 360 technology which gives the driver a bird’s eye view of a wide footprint all round the vehicle on a single image. One glance reveals all, instantly. The inexperienced cyclist sneaking up on the near side of a long vehicle at the lights is now driver-visible. Young people’s lives will no longer be cut short.

Multiple mirrors, with their limited field of view, are of little help, or no help at all. Blind spots remain blind with the driver disorientated by multiple mirror images. Cameras are suggested to replace the mirrors but their image multiplicity alone would create an ergonomic nightmare and distract the driver who would ignore them.

The 360 systems are available from several suppliers already. FORS is conspicuous by its silence on this most dramatic breakthrough for vehicle safety. Why?

Editor’s Note: For further information contact Celeste Clarke at Century PR on 024 76 228881 or email celeste@centurypr.co.uk.