Irish demand more mirrors
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Irish Transport Minister suppports IRHA in its campaign for blind-spot
mirrors. David Harris reports.
THE IRISH Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has welcomed the call by Junior Transport Minister Ivor Callely for all Irish hauliers to retrofit their vehicles with blindspot mirrors.
The IRHA has been campaigning for truck importers to fit these mirrors to all vehicles for several years but says "not all have risen to the challenge".
Jimmy Quinn, the IRH A's spokesman, says that Ireland is in particular need of blind-spot mirrors because it has few motorways and many of its large trucks have to operate on small rural and urban roads.
He adds:"We can't help that but what we can do is make sure that we do everything we can to minimise accidents.
"We feel that the government has hamstrung themselves on this by waiting for EU approval.There is no reason why there shouldn't be regulations enforced locally on things like this."
The IRHA called on truck importers to fit the mirrors automatically but received a positive response from only two of them.
Quinn says: "They then got some had publicity and complained that we had named them. I think it is about time that everybody started taking responsibility for serious safety issues like this.