London Assembly members have unanimously agreed a motion to ban HGVs in the capital during rush hour.

The call formed part of a package of measures the assembly would like to see implemented by the mayor, the government and the freight sector to reduce the number of HGV-related cyclist fatalities.

During a plenary session at City Hall yesterday (4 November), assembly member Darren Johnson, who proposed the motion, said: “Far too many people have died under the wheels of an HGV in London. We know the safety measures which would make cyclists safer and there is a growing cross-party determination that we need to end the unnecessary deaths and injuries on our roads.”

He added that new, segregated Cycle Superhighways will separate cyclists on some roads in the capital, but that action is now needed to protect them on the rest of London’s roads by having HGVs travel at different times of the day.

Seconding the motion, Andrew Boff, added: “Seven out of the eight cycling deaths this year have been caused by collisions with an HGV. This is a shocking statistic and a clear indication that action is needed.”

Boff said it was now essential that a full impact assessment was conducted to ensure that banning lorries during peak hours would not simply displace collisions to another time of the day, and to prove to the mayor that it would not impact businesses too greatly.

Other proposals in the assembly’s motion included the adoption of Clocs standards across the entire construction sector, including direct vision lorry cabs, with the mayor called upon to make this compulsory by the end of his term of office on all Greater London Authority contracts.

Also, the roll-out of a confidential reporting system to enable HGV drivers to flag up bad practice, irrespective of whether their employer wants to take part in the scheme. Such a system is already in place across the railway industry and London Underground, as well as being recently introduced across London's bus sector.

Finally, the LA wants to see comprehensive enforcement to crack down on rogue operators, with regular reporting from the London Freight Enforcement Partnership against an aim to reduce commercial vehicle casualties.

  • The London Assembly is an elected body with a key role of holding the mayor to account on behalf of Londoners by directly questioning his activities, strategies and decisions across all areas of policy. As well as examining the mayor’s actions and decisions, assembly members act as champions for Londoners by investigating issues that are important to the capital. Assembly investigations are carried out by cross-party committees often looking at long-term issues facing London.