Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 15 November (HL11194), what proposals they have to require the retrofitting of basic safety equipment, including sideguards, to heavy goods vehicles.

Most heavy goods vehicles are already required to be fitted with sideguards when new. The Department has previously considered legislating to require sideguards to be retrofitted to specific heavy goods vehicles, but an impact assessment determined that such a policy intervention would incur disproportionate cost.

Work is now focused on amending the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to ensure that, where sideguards are required on new vehicles, they are retained and maintained throughout the vehicle’s working life. I anticipate these new proposals will be published during 2019.