Dear Sir or Madam, Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; I write to you to request the following information; In regards to the ‘Direct Vision Standard and Safety Permit for HGVs’ (Consultation Results last Updated 17 Jan 2019) please provide the following information; o A copy of the decision criteria that has provided the outcome for the types of equipment listed as suitable or as not suitable for the ' safe system' for the Direct Vision Standard and Safety Permit for HGVs’ (Consultation Results last Updated 17 Jan 2019) – this is a clear set of evaluation points that was taken into account during the process o A copy of the safety equipment evaluation scoring and results for each safety product o The audit process for the Blind spot elimination and minimisation solutions for the ‘safe system’? o Information of the name of the relevant bodies and stakeholders that were involved in the process o All evidence and reports covering the evaluation of products that reduce blind spots and blind spot-related sideswipe accidents. o A copy of the “Evaluation of HGV Safety Technology” report (2014) as the down load link does not work o A copy of the management monitoring process that oversees and ensures that Transport operators are purchasing systems that do actually minimise the blind spots to the stated, required level? Thank you.

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TfL Ref: 2758-1819

Thank you for your email received by us on 21 February 2019 asking for information about the Direct Vision Standard and Safety Permit for Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs).

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for the following:

In regards to the ‘Direct Vision Standard and Safety Permit for HGVs’ (Consultation Results last Updated 17 Jan 2019) please provide the following information;

o A copy of the decision criteria that has provided the outcome for the types of equipment listed as suitable or as not suitable for the ' safe system' for the Direct Vision Standard and Safety Permit for HGVs’ (Consultation Results last Updated 17 Jan 2019) – this is a clear set of evaluation points that was taken into account during the process

A Safe System Advisory Group formed of stakeholders from across the industry (as detailed in our response to Point 4) have been consulted to help define the required safe system criteria (see attached Terms of Reference). A full list of considerations were defined (see Safe System Advisory Group minutes 14.08.18) and fed into the scope of independent research to identify the effectiveness of safety equipment and recommended specification for each item (see Apollo Vehicle Safety research report).

Please also refer to the following support files in the attached zip file:

Safe System Advisory Group minutes 14.08.18

HGV Safety Permit Scheme Terms of Reference

HGV safety permit evidence of effectiveness report (Apollo Vehicle Safety, 2018)

o A copy of the safety equipment evaluation scoring and results for each safety product

The independent research as shown in the attached Apollo Vehicle Safety research report into the effectiveness of safe system requirement, outlines the methodology and evidence framework for each candidate technical requirement.

o The audit process for the Blind spot elimination and minimisation solutions for the ‘safe system’?

The process for applying for an HGV safety permit for 0-star rated vehicles can be found in Section 4 of the DVS Phase 2b consultation document via: www.tfl.gov.uk/direct-vision-standards. The process for enforcement of the scheme against vehicles found to be in breach of the permit conditions is provided in Section 5 of the same document.

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

o Information of the name of the relevant bodies and stakeholders that were involved in the process

Details of all those that were invited/attended the safe system advisory group meetings consisted of technology providers, cyclists, pedestrians, HGV operators and drivers who were also surveyed as part of the independent evidence of effectiveness research, as listed in the Apollo Vehicle Safety research report. These survey results were reported anonymously.

Please also refer to the following in the attached support file:

DVS Safe System Advisory group - list of attendees.

o All evidence and reports covering the evaluation of products that reduce blind spots and blind spot-related sideswipe accidents.

In developing the HGV safety permit evidence of effectiveness report, Apollo Vehicle Safety carried out an extensive literature review, which is attached. A full list of references can be found in this report.

Additional research, commissioned by TfL, directly related to the development of the HGV safety permit scheme have also been provided.

The attached support files listed below provide further information:

HGV safety permit evidence of effectiveness report (Apollo Vehicle Safety, 2018)

Understanding direct and indirect driver vision in Heavy Goods Vehicles (Loughborough Design School, 2015)

Driver distractions report (Future Thinking, 2013)

Road Safety Benefits of Direct vs Indirect Vision in HGV Cabs (Arup, 2016)

o A copy of the “Evaluation of HGV Safety Technology” report (2014) as the down load link does not work

This is in the attached draft report ‘Evaluation of HGV safety technology’. This was not finalised and has since been superseded by more up to date research.

Please also refer to the following document in the attached zip file:

Evaluation of HGV Safety Technology: Technical Report (TRL, 2014) - DRAFT

o A copy of the management monitoring process that oversees and ensures that Transport operators are purchasing systems that do actually minimise the blind spots to the stated, required level?

The process for applying for an HGV safety permit for 0-star rated vehicles is featured in Section 4 of the DVS Phase 2b consultation document via the aforementioned link: www.tfl.gov.uk/direct-vision-standards.The process for enforcement of the scheme against vehicles found to be in breach of the permit conditions is in Section 5 of the same document. Again, in accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed from the attached zip file, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

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