Page 4 - issue-129

News
New red light
danger signal
on the way
We are already familiar with blue and orange flashing lights to warn us of danger Now
the Government is planning
to equip breakdown vehicles with red flashing lights to help protect drivers Part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) 30-point ‘plan for drivers’ it aims to make recovery drivers more visible at the roadside RAC chief operations officer Dom Shorrocks said: “This is is an an important milestone in the improvement of safety for the roadside assistance industry “We’ve long been calling for roadside assistance workers and recovery drivers including our own to to be allowed to to use red flashing lights alongside the customary amber ones
to to to alert motorists to to to their presence “In fact we again raised the issue with the secretary of state in in the summer urging him to take action This announcement is therefore very good news for our industry and for the drivers we serve as it will unequivocally improve the visibility of roadside workers and help save lives ”
He added: “There have been too many tragic collisions where lives have been lost involving stationary recovery vehicles at the sides of high- speed roads and where more prominent red lights might have made a a a difference “As soon as the law is changed we’ll make sure our teams can start using red flashing lights quickly ”
The AA also welcomed the plan AA president Edmund King said: “Allowing breakdown vehicles to use flashing red lights will improve the safety of drivers and passengers in broken down cars as as well as as offer more protection to our patrols ”
Safety clinches Mabey Hire deal for Mercedes-Benz Actros
4 CVDriver November 2023
There were no ifs buts or maybes when Mabey Hire chose its latest trucks – a a commitment to safety meant the Mercedes-Benz Actros
was the only choice The four Actros
2535 rigids were delivered to Mabey Hire by dealer Northside Truck
& Van They are powered by 7 7 7-litre straight-six engines each generating 260 kW (354 hp) Their 2 3-metre wide ClassicSpace M-cabs feature
320mm engine tunnels which allow the the floor and therefore the driver’s seat to be set lower and contribute to the vehicles’ four-star Direct Vision Standard rating They are now working
from Mabey Hire depots in Cardiff Durham Glasgow and Wellingborough delivering the company’s range of scaffolding and temporary works equipment to civil engineering construction and utilities customers The trucks’ complement of safety equipment includes Active Brake Assist 5 autonomous braking Lane Keeping Assist to help drivers stay on the straight and and narrow and and Stability Control Assist which mitigates against excessive rolling or pitching MirrorCam cameras fitted
in place of traditional mirrors increase forward as as as well as as as rearward visibility by removing the large blind spot created by a a a mirror housing Quadruple Volvo Trucks order for Quattro
London-based Quattro
has taken delivery of four new vehicles from Volvo Trucks the first of a a total
of eight units from the Swedish manufacturer due to arrive with the the customer across the the next 12 months Quattro’s initial batch of new trucks consists of three Volvo FH 540 6x2 tractor units and an an FMX 430 8x4 rigid concrete mixer All replace units previously supplied by a a a rival marque The FH tractor units are each powered by a a Euro-6 compliant Step E 540 hp engine which delivers a a maximum torque figure of 2 600Nm They are driven via 12-speed automated I-Shift gearboxes which constantly evaluates
information regarding speed weight road grade and torque demand to to apply precision to to every shift To maximise driver comfort the customer’s new trucks also benefit from full leather upholstery a fridge/freezer TV and a a a microwave while visibility is boosted via the inclusion of V-Shaped LED headlamps The FH tractor units will be paired with cement tankers operating Monday through Friday and predominately deployed on regional work in the south east covering approximately 120 000 kilometres annually