The BMF (British Motorcyclists Federation) have announced on their Facebook page that they have been joined by Mr Edward Foreman as their Technical Specialist.
Graeme Hay the BMFs Government Relations Executive said, “I had the great pleasure of meeting with Mr Edward Foreman on Tuesday, at Bourton-on-the-water.
Ted, as he prefers to be known has a substantial career in Vehicle regulations, Type approval etc.
He has agreed to join us as a BMF technical specialist looking way, way into the future on forthcoming vehicle regulations from the UNECE and EU.
Ted will not only be looking at motorcycle issues but also car, bus and truck.
This is because he is aware of how regulations for other vehicle types can have potentially detrimental consequences for us, the more vulnerable road users.
Just think of those huge, sloping “a” pillars on recent cars – a blind-spot creator if ever there was one.
It was a beautiful day and so Ted brought his latest purchase – a new Royal Enfield GT Continental down from Staffordshire for the run.
It is a real little beauty and so well suited to our unimproved older A roads and B roads too. Welcome aboard, Ted.”
So this an interesting “appointment”, lets hope Ted can slide into the position and can adapt to and knows the ways and ups and downs of voluntary organisations, we wish him the best of luck.
Original Source – BMF – Facebook – Click Here
Information
Read our article – Strong Global Lobby! – Do you know that outside of Europe, motorcycle lobbying, along with Riders Rights, is alive and kicking and that there is a focus on global lobbying at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe – UNECE? – Click Here
It seems strange that the example of, “huge sloping “a” pillars on recent cars – a blind-spot creator if ever there was one” which are seen as a, “potentially detrimental consequences for us (motorcyclists), the more vulnerable road users.” is used as an example of Vehicle regulations, Type Aapproval to look way, way into the future on forthcoming vehicle regulations from the UNECE and EU.
The reason is that the issue of A-pillar design was identified in the UK Governements “The Government’s Motorcycling Strategy – February 2005“:
“An associated issue of increasing concern for the safety of all vulnerable road users is the possible effect on accident causation from an increase in the width of windscreen pillars on newer cars. These thicker pillars (so called ‘A’pillars) reflect improvements made by car manufacturers for car occupant safety. But the concern is that aspillar thickness increases, the view from the driving position reduces, enlarging the blind spot. This can be a particular problem at junctions and where traffic streams merge, potentially making motorcyclists and cyclists temporarily “invisible” to the car driver.”
“We are currently researching the potential accident risk from increasing ‘A’ pillar thickness on newer cars. Once this work is completed we will consider whether amendments to current international regulations are necessary and develop an action plan to address the issue.”
“Action (xix): we will complete our on-going research on ‘A’ pillars, consider the implications for regulations and, if necessary, address the issues through the European Commission or the UN-ECE in Geneva.”
The “Road Safety Research Report No. 85 Car Drivers’ Skills and Attitudes to Motorcycle Safety: A Review – 2008” discusses A Pillars.
MAG UK (2006a)believe that an EU directive on pillar design contains loopholes that manufacturers are actively exploiting. In particular they referred to the practice of strengthening pillars with an additional small non-opening quarter-light and extra support strut, which would theoretically be likely to restrict vision to a much greater degree than that highlighted by the Road Research Laboratory over 40 years ago. Both Bike (2004) and MAG UK (2006a) quote former Rover/British Leyland chief engineer Spen King, who believes that current EU regulations, which allow 6 degrees of view obscuration from a car’s ‘A’ pillar, are enough to allow a car in side profile to be potentially out of view at a distance of 50 metres.
So where this 40 year problem on A Pillar design is at the moment, if anything has been done by manufacturers, vehicle regulations from the UNECE and EU, we do not know.
Maybe there is something in the wind that the BMF know, or the example of “A” Pillars was an easy example to pull out of a hat!