Car & van drivers urged to Know the Zones when overtaking HGVs

National Highways has launched a new ‘Know the Zones’ safety campaign amid concerns about drivers’ awareness of truck blind spots when overtaking HGVs.

Car and van drivers can underestimate limitations HGV drivers face in seeing passing vehicles, National Highways said.

In a recent survey commissioned by the organisation, while nearly three quarters of people said they take extra care when overtaking an HGV, 36 per cent said they did not know how many blind spots an HGV had.

Thirty-six per cent also admitted feeling nervous when passing trucks.

In the campaign video, supported by the Road Haulage Association, Logistics UK and other HGV bodies, drivers are being urged to ‘know the zones’ where HGV drivers have limited visibility.

The campain is looking to educate other road users that HGV drivers have four areas of ‘limited visibility’ – at the front, rear and each side of their vehicle.

Lorries now have additional mirrors as standard which has improved driver visibility, but not completely eliminated blind spots.

“Our advice to motorists overtaking a HGV is simple: avoid tailgating the HGV when considering an overtaking manoeuvre and as the Highway Code states, do so quickly and safely to avoid staying in an area of limited visibility,” said Jeremy Phillips, head of road safety at National Highways.

Shannan Paterson has run Willenhall-based HGV Training Midlands school since she was just 21. She rose to fame when she was featured in the BBC documentary Queen of Trucks and is keen to highlight to all road users the dangers of driving too close behind and in front of lorries.

The 28-year-old said: “Driving a lorry is very different to driving a car. You can’t see anything behind you other than the trailer. Your only vision is in front of you and in the side mirrors.

“You don’t know if someone is immediately behind you, and they can’t see what is ahead of your HGV or if you are going to have to brake sharply for any reason.

“While if someone pulls in front of an HGV without leaving enough room, the lorry driver might not be able to see them at all in the blind spot below the cab and therefore won’t be able to judge their stopping distance properly.

“I fully support National Highways’ campaign and would encourage drivers to give HGVs space. You have to go through a lot of training to legally drive a lorry, but even professional drivers can’t know that someone is in one of their blind spots.”

The advice now being given to other road users is:

– Know the zones – HGVs have four zones around them where their visibility is limited – at the front, back and both sides. If you don’t know where they are, you could be sitting in one without even realising.
– Pass quickly and safely
– Where possible, don’t linger next to a HGV.

The National Highways campaign will be aired on radio, featured on TV on demand, online video, social media, billboards and posters.