UK documentary, ‘Motorway Cops’ deals with the danger that HGVs can present to the ordinary motorist.

For many years, Reflexite, manufacturer of retro-reflective safety solutions has been stressing the importance of visibility safety on the UK roads. Recently proposed legislation changes such as the ECE104 mandate likely to be introduced in the UK in January 2010 for vehicles over 7.5 tones to have adequate visibility marking tape, specifically for material on the sides and on the rear of the vehicles, echoes the importance of visibility. The drive for the need to make these vehicles safe and seen was reinforced in the Motorway Cops documentary which recently aired on the BBC.

The BBC documentary heralded stark warnings about the importance of visibility for HGV vehicles in order to avert danger. The police officers in the Motorway Cops documentary have to deal with the ever present danger that 44 tonne lorries can present to the ordinary motorist.

In one tragic accident shown on the documentary involving an incident which took place at night, a lorry jack-knifes on an unlit section of the M6 motorway making visibility difficult. The consequences of this are a domino effect appearing to cause two cars to plough full-speed into the underside of the jack-knifed lorry’s trailer. The roofs of both cars get taken off in the impact and one man is sadly dead. There are three survivors but we are left not fully understanding the extent of their injuries both physically and psychologically.

It is this tragedy that really drills home the importance of visibility safety on the roads, especially for such big powerful vehicles. Whilst the programme draws attention to the fact the in general Britain's motorways are pretty safe, the caveat is when it comes to high speed and large HGV’s and it can sometimes all go wrong, and the consequences can be catastrophic.

Towards the end of the program the police state that the trailer, with no electrics nor lighting, could not be seen stationary, and that more cars hit it from the rear because they could not see it. This suggests that there is now more than ever as need for legislation as such as the forthcoming ECE104 mandate for these large vehicles, indeed it is widely recognized throughout Europe and the world that marking contours of vehicles with retro-reflective materials, saves lives.

For further information about the proposed ECE104 mandate and compliant livery marking tapes for this application such as Reflexite® VC104+ tape please go to www.ece104.com or call 01865 396959 or email info@reflexite.com.