BRAVO! NEW YORK CITY
TRUCKS TO GET SAFETY SIDE GUARDS. A FIRST
STEP TO START SAVING PEOPLES’ LIVES FROM UNDERRIDING RISKS
February 9, 2015
NEW YORK, NY:
A number of city trucks will get safety guards to keep
bicyclists and pedestrians from getting caught under their wheels, Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced Monday.
As part of his Vision Zero street safety program, 240 city
trucks -- salt spreaders, container trucks and dump trucks -- will be fitted
with side guards between the rear and front wheels.
The test run for the equipment could be expanded to 4,734
trucks in the city's fleet of 27,000 vehicles, according to the mayor's office.
"Installing side guards on our city trucks will help
prevent fatal collisions," de Blasio said.
Truck drivers last year were involved in 23 crashes.
And this year, according to the New York Police Department,
one pedestrian and one bicyclist died in crashes with trucks.
The first round of installation will cover 18 trucks from
the Parks Department, Department of Environmental Protection and the Department
of Citywide Administrative Services by the end of February, according to the
mayor's office.
City trucks in Boston and Portland, Maine, feature these
side guards, which will cost New York about $3,000 each to purchase and install
on both sides of a truck, totaling $750,000 for the first set, according to the
mayor's office.
"We look forward to seeing this first wave demonstrate
the life-saving potential of truck guards so we can see them expanded to even
more vehicles in the city's fleet and beyond," said Paul Steely White,
executive director of Transportation Alternatives