The impact of conspicuity on fleets
Issue: Autumn 2009
(Insurance) Picture the scene, it is rush hour on a dark damp winter's evening. It is cold, wet and foggy. The traffic is still hurtling by regardless at high speed. A HGV commercial vehicle driver has a collision with a novice car driver who pulls out without due care and attention, the HGV driver manages to control the vehicle to mount the roadside instead of jack knifing and both drivers are safe. The HGV vehicle, however, is damaged and needs recovering. But that's just the beginning of the story...
By Emmanuel Pitiot
As traffic passes, the HGV driver is met with horn sounds and passing rush hour traffic speeding by as the rescue and recovery vehicle is on route to recover the commercial vehicle. The driver suddenly feels vulnerable, having already averted disaster he is now faced with another life threatening situation, and he thinks “can these vehicles passing by me at great speeds actually see me?”
Thankfully the rescue and recovery vehicle soon arrives and positions itself directly behind the damaged HGV. The rescue and recovery vehicle has reflective livery film on and the passing rush hour traffic can see the vehicle in plenty of time and are avoiding going too close to the damaged HGV. The HGV driver being recovered is soon on his way, off the busy road, to a safer place.
The above scenario is an everyday occurrence on the roads in the UK. Twenty four hours per day, 365 days per year, rescue recovery vehicles are attending incidents involving commercial vehicles up and down the busy roads of the UK. The impact of recovering commercial vehicles is compounded by size, sometimes taking up lots of room on key busy roads causing congestion and chaos. Logistically this can be a nightmare for rescue and recovery operators who themselves have to not only ensure the rescue and recovery of the commercial vehicle and passengers, they also have to make sure that the recovery scene is safe, so as to limit the possibility of further chaos.
One of the big issues surrounding rescue and recovery is visibility, and it is the case that failing to acknowledge the importance of conspicuity on both the recovering vehicle and the commercial vehicle being recovered could lead to serious accidents. Since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 was introduced in April 2008 many fleet managers and procurement departments are now responsible if there is a fatality involving a rescue and recovery vehicle, if it can be shown that there was a lack of duty of care, and in this example, inadequate reflective materials being used. 
According to Lyons Davidson Solicitors, “the use of reflective materials goes to the heart of health and safety, their very design is to afford protection to any individual coming into contact with them in a hazardous environment.” Further highlighting what difference the new manslaughter act will have on vehicle livery including rescue and recovery vehicles, Lyons Davidson comments: “It can accordingly be seen that during the procurement process, an organisation must give due regards to a number of issues connected with the selection and eventual usage of reflective materials.
In the event of an accident the organisation will have to produce to the investigating authority, whether that is the Police or HSE, an audit trail evidencing the process adopted for selection and purchase of those reflective materials.” Accidents increase when wet weather is upon us and year on year with more traffic on the roads there are increasing amounts of incidents that rescue and recovery operators have to deal with. The first line response to a breakdown is inevitably the rescue and recovery vehicle, which have to attend to recover whatever the weather conditions. It is in bad conditions, when visibility is poor, that potentially life threatening situations can occur, and should anything awful happen whilst a rescue and recovery vehicle is attending the scene, then as Lyons Davidson solicitors have stated, an audit trail of the reflective materials used may be imminent.
By using the right conspicuity vehicle livery film visibility can be dramatically increased and accidents and incidents reduced. In the UK there are various legislations in place or imminent, such as the ECE104 mandate for HGV vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, expected January 2010 (visit: www.ece104.com for further details) which demands adequate reflective materials for these vehicles to ensure they are safe and seen.
Indeed, why wait for an incident or the regulation to be implemented when research by the US Department of Transport has found that vehicles featuring retro-reflective tape experience a staggering 41% fewer night-time accidents. Therefore not only can the use of such tape improve driver safety and potentially save lives, but it can also make drivers feel safer as they go about their work.
Emmanuel Pitiot is European Manager, Vehicle Conspicuity at Reflexite.
For further information, contact Reflexite on Tel: 01865 396959, E-mail info@reflexite.com or visit www.reflexite.co.uk
Published: 05/10/2009
