The 'high-risk' warning systems and HGV restrictions needed on Glasgow bin lorry tragedy's 10th anniversary

A charity that promotes everyday walking has called for tightened restrictions around the use of heavy goods vehicles in busy pedestrian areas, warning that preventative measures could help prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries on Scotland’s streets.

Living Streets Scotland said it was “crucial” that further action was taken to protect pedestrians, stressing the move would not only benefit those walking, but businesses too.

The charity wants to see a range of safety measures adopted by local authorities, such as the requirement for lorries to use cameras and warning systems in “high-risk” areas such as busy high streets.

The charity also says traders should be encouraged to consolidate their waste contracts in city centres so as to reduce the number of pick-ups by council refuse teams.

The proposals coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy, which claimed the lives of six people and left 15 others injured.

The tragedy occurred after driver Harry Clarke collapsed at the wheel of a Glasgow City Council bin truck, causing it to mount a pavement in Queen Street at a time when the city centre was busy with Christmas shoppers.

The tragedy occured a few days before Christmas in 2014. Picture: PA | PA

In the space of less than 20 seconds, the vehicle careered onwards, accelerating to speeds of more than 26 miles per hour, before coming to a rest against the Millennium Hotel building in Glasgow’s George Square.

Inside the cabin, Mr Clarke’s colleague, Matthew Telford, shouted: ‘You're killing people, Harry.”

Those killed as the 26-tonne vehicle ran out of control were Jack Sweeney, 68, his wife, Lorraine Sweeney, 69, and their 18-year-old granddaughter, Erin McQuade, from Dumbarton, along with Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, and Stephenie Tait, 28 and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow.

‘Crucial that action is taken’

Anne Doherty, acting co-director of Living Streets Scotland, said the anniversary of the tragedy offered a chance to reflect on what more needed to be done to keep people safe.

“A decade on from the Glasgow tragedy, we’re still waiting for councils to follow road safety recommendations and protect people on Scotland’s streets,” she said.

“For the people who died, that represents ten Christmases they could have enjoyed with their loved ones - and it’s crucial that action is taken before more people are injured or lose their lives.

Anne Doherty, acting co-director of Living Streets Scotland | Living Streets Scotland

“To make pedestrians safer, we are calling for lorries to be restricted in busy pedestrian areas to avoid further deaths and injuries. It makes no sense to have large, extremely heavy vehicles operating in busy high streets during peak shopping periods like Christmas, and events like the Edinburgh Festival.”

The charity’s other proposals include 20mph speed limits in city centres, reducing to 5mph in pedestrian areas, and a review of loading times in the busiest streets to avoid peak shopping periods.

The organisation has also proposed more evening and early morning deliveries at Christmas and other busy periods; and training for traders and delivery firms in lorry manoeuvring and marshalling on streets to reduce the chance of crashes.

Ms Doherty explained: “Limiting traffic is good for business, too. High streets where people walk without being surrounded by traffic and fumes are safer, more attractive and more economically vibrant.

“Living Streets’ pedestrian pound research shows that footfall increases by 20 to 35 per cent when streets are made better for people walking.”

Changes following tragedy

In the wake of the 2014 tragedy in Glasgow, Crown lawyers decided not to prosecute Mr Clarke on the basis there was “insufficient evidence in law” to bring proceedings. The families of those who lost their lives later tried to raise a private prosecution against him, but senior judges did not allow the prosecution to proceed.

Harry Clarke, the Glasgow bin lorry driver who collapsed behind the wheel in a disaster which killed six people. | PA

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) overseen by Sheriff John Beckett revisited the incident in depth, and often in harrowing detail.

The opening day of its hearings brought gasps from the public gallery at Glasgow Sheriff Court as CCTV footage showed the lorry out of control, before members of the public ran to attend to the injured. Families of the victims left the courtroom while the images were shown.

Ultimately, the inquiry found that Mr Clarke had deliberately misled doctors about his medical history, and the tragedy could have been avoided if the driver had not lied about his history of blackouts.

The inquiry heard he had a history of health issues dating back to the 1970s, including a previous blackout in 2010 when at the wheel of a stationary bus, but had not disclosed his medical background to his employers or the DVLA.

Mr Clarke declined to answer all but a few basic questions when called to the inquiry, for fear of incriminating himself in a potential private prosecution.

But he has since spoken out about the “devastation” he felt over the tragedy, stating that “not a day goes by” where he did not think about the crash and those who had lost their lives.

Sheriff Beckett also made a series of recommendations spanning a range of issues such as how to record a driver’s fitness to drive, and the way in which the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s system of self-reporting is managed.

The bin lorry crashed into the side of the Millennium Hotel in George Square, where Queen Street Station has since been extended. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire | PA

His determination, issued in December 2015, also recommended the adoption of several new developments designed to prevent accidents.

Technological advances, he reasoned, may come to offer the most effective remedial measures to reduce harm when a driver suffers incapacitation from any cause.

He said that councils should seek to have advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) installed on all new refuse collection vehicles, with local authorities also urged to explore the possibility of having the systems retrofitted to large goods vehicles in their fleets.

In the future, he added, a type of pedestrian protection sensor, the kind of which is available on some cars, could provide a more reliable protection than AEBS, and there was scope for some form of facial recognition technology to be integrated with AEBS.

Inconsistent approaches to advanced braking systems

Nine years on, however, there are discrepancies in how the sheriff’s technology-focused recommendations have been adopted, particularly around the rollout of AEBS, which makes use of radar detection mounted to the front of the vehicle to activate the braking system when a potential collision is detected.

Figures provided by Glasgow City Council show out of a fleet of 211 HGVs, only 107 – just over 50 per cent – are fitted with AEBS, a decade on from the bin lorry tragedy.

The local authority said its fleet includes older vehicles that pre-date the implementation of the EC regulation on the use of AEBS on November 1, 2015.

A statement from the council said: “There is no viable method to retrofit these vehicles to include AEBS. All new HGV vehicles procured by the council will include AEBS as a matter of routine."

Elsewhere in the country, Aberdeen City Council operates 63 refuse collection vehicles, all of which are fitted with AEBS.

But at nearby Moray Council, officials have a total of 88 large goods and refuse vehicles, just 52 of which are fitted with the braking systems. The council has said some of the manufacturers of some of the older vehicles in question do not support retrofitting AEBS due to their “complex” wiring and braking systems.

Dundee City Council has 35 refuse collection vehicles, 25 of which are fitted with AEBS. The remaining fleet are anticipated to be fitted with the AEBS system by 2026 through a vehicle replacement programme.

A report prepared for the City of Edinburgh Council earlier this summer, meanwhile, found that out of the 210 heavy goods vehicles in its fleet, only 115 were equipped with AEBS technology.

The local authority said retrofitting was both cost prohibitive and, in many cases, simply not possible due to the construction of certain vehicles. But the council stressed that all of its refuse lorries were being replaced by vehicles with the technology installed.

Those who campaign for improved road safety say there is a clear need for a greater adoption of AEBS technology, coupled with even more direct measures, such as lower speed limits.

Rod King, the founder and chair of 20’s Plenty for Us, a community interest company that works with organisations and individuals trying to get a 20mph speed limit in their cities, towns and villages, said: “Heavy and large vehicles are some of the most unforgiving of vehicles when mistakes and malfunctions occur either in their drivers, their equipment or in other road users.

“The safe system approach, which is embedded into Scotland’s road framework to 2030, recognises that mistakes need to be corrected and mitigated before casualties occur.

“It is already best practice that wherever motor vehicles mix with pedestrians and cyclists then the maximum vehicle speed should be 20mph unless a higher speed is evidentially safe. Scotland’s acceptance of this by adopting a 20mph urban/village norm is to be commended.”

Mr King added: “Whilst HGV and buses benefit from AEBS technology, a speed under 20mph optimises their ability to be effective and protect people when mistakes are made.

“Hence AEBS and a default urban/village 20mph limit, together with better visibility systems, have the ability to play a huge part in reducing death and major injury from the heavy vehicle sector in those public spaces between buildings that we call streets.”