HEAVY TRUCKS will have to be fitted with new safety mirrors from January 1st in a European Union-inspired move to cut deaths among pedestrians and cyclists who have been killed by truck drivers who simply could not see them.
Currently, because of the current style of mirrors fitted to many cabs, truck drivers are unsighted to their left and down, so often they fail to spot pedestrians who walk off a pavement at the last minute, or a cyclist on their inside.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey is to introduce regulations from January 1st to comply with an EU directive that will require all trucks registered since 2000 to be properly equipped. New trucks have been sold since 2007 with the new mirrors.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has been working on the detail of the regulations for some time. These were signed into law by Mr Dempsey last month and published on the Dáil order paper yesterday.
"Fitting such mirrors will contribute to reducing fatalities and serious injuries among road-users, particularly cyclists and pedestrians.
"We are delighted that Mr Dempsey is in a position to sign these new regulations into law," said RSA chief executive Noel Brett.
In 2006, nine cyclists and 73 pedestrians were killed on Irish roads, and a small but significant number of those died when they were hit by trucks, usually in urban areas.
Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association welcomed the measure, which, he said, truckers had been urging the Government to implement for the last two years.