The Vulnerable Road Users act that we passed a little over two years ago required MassDOT to implement various improvements to large trucks — sideguards, crossover mirrors, etc. — to reduce the probability of harming vulnerable road users. I appreciate very much that MassDOT has, in fact, been moving forward with these improvements.
Please see the attached presentation from MassDOT. These changes will save lives.
Representative Owens and I have filed legislation that will extend these improvements beyond state vehicles to municipal and utility vehicles.
Thank you! This will save lives!
I agree that these are good measures. I hope there will also be prohibitions against double-parking on narrow roads (such as along the newly designed North Beacon St in Brighton where the bike lanes already don’t leave any room for more than one lane in each direction and nowhere to pull over to get out of the way of ambulances and fire/police vehicles). I don’t know what the solution is there, since people presumably will need things like furniture and large appliances to be delivered by sometimes very large trucks, but it felt very unsafe the last time I found myself blocked by a large truck along there and couldn’t see oncoming traffic without exposing myself to being hit head-on.
This is helpful. Seeing various big convex mirrors on the rigs will help remind truckers of the unnatural condition of vehicles (bikes, kick scooters etc) passing on the right and hopefully see them.
A bigger component of bike safety may be to have better signs where protected off-road bike/multi use lanes terminate at a sidewalk and roadway such as at the recent-ish accident on Harvard St. by Harvard Stadium where a bike cruised in front of a truck. AND this legislation brings attention for both truck and car operators and especially bike operators to be vigilant not put themselves into a “right hook,” situation.