Fifty years after introducing the first reversing alarm to the UK, Brigade Electronics is calling for vulnerable road users across the UK to benefit from the same protections as those in the capital.
Vehicle safety specialist Brigade Electronics is calling on Government to extend London’s Direct Vision Standard (DVS) nationwide, arguing that vulnerable road users outside the capital deserve the same protection currently afforded to those living and working in London.
The appeal comes amid continuing national debate around regional equality, infrastructure investment and ensuring that communities outside London receive the same attention as those in the Southeast.
According to Brigade Electronics, road safety should form part of that conversation. The company believes it is increasingly difficult to justify a situation where pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists in London benefit from a comprehensive safety framework for heavy goods vehicles, while vulnerable road users elsewhere in the country do not receive equivalent protection.
London’s Direct Vision Standard was first introduced in October 2020, giving the capital a six-year head start in improving HGV safety and protecting vulnerable road users. As the scheme approaches its sixth anniversary, Brigade Electronics believes the time has come to extend equivalent protections nationwide, ensuring that where someone lives does not determine the level of safety they can expect on the road.
London’s Direct Vision Standard requires HGVs over 12 tonnes operating in most of Greater London to meet minimum safety requirements designed to reduce blind spots and improve driver awareness of vulnerable road users. Vehicles that do not achieve the required rating must be fitted with additional safety equipment under the Progressive Safe System.
Outside London, GSR provides an important baseline for safety on new vehicles, but it does not replicate the breadth or flexibility of the DVS.
DVS can drive improvements across the existing vehicle parc, while the aftermarket can bring the latest safety technologies to market without being constrained by long OEM development and vehicle replacement cycles. This flexibility is increasingly important as technology evolves rapidly. For Brigade Electronics, this is not simply a regulatory discussion; it is the latest chapter in a road safety mission that stretches back almost 50 years.
Founded in 1976 by Chris Hanson-Abbott OBE, the company was born after its founder heard an unfamiliar beeping noise from a reversing truck while visiting Tokyo. Recognising the technology’s potential to prevent collisions and save lives, he introduced the first reversing alarm to Europe and embarked on a campaign to improve commercial vehicle safety standards.
At the time, reversing alarms faced significant scepticism and even regulatory opposition, yet Hanson-Abbott persisted, convinced that technology could play a vital role in preventing fatalities and serious injuries involving commercial vehicles. Today, reversing alarms are widely accepted across the transport and construction sectors and form part of the safety landscape that many operators take for granted.
Over the decades that followed, Brigade Electronics continued to pioneer commercial vehicle safety technologies, including camera monitoring systems, blind-spot detection, radar systems and AI-enabled vulnerable road user protection technologies. The company’s products are now used in more than 80 countries, while its mission remains unchanged: preventing collisions and saving lives.
Emily Hardy, International Marketing & Sales Regulations Manager at Brigade Electronics, believes the same principle that drove the company’s original campaign for reversing alarms should now underpin the debate around Direct Vision Standards:
“A national Direct Vision Standard would not simply create consistency for operators working across multiple cities. It would create consistency for every vulnerable road user, wherever they live.”
She added: “As a country, we rightly spend a great deal of time discussing regional investment, growth and opportunity. But safety should not become a postcode lottery. Whether somebody is cycling to work in Manchester, walking to school in Hull, crossing a road in Birmingham or travelling through central London, they should be entitled to the same level of protection.”
The company is keen to stress that any nationwide framework should support operators as well as vulnerable road users.
Rather than forcing businesses into costly fleet replacement programmes, Brigade Electronics is advocating a technology-neutral approach that recognises the capabilities of modern retrofit safety technologies alongside factory-fitted systems.
Recent developments in AI-powered pedestrian detection, camera monitoring systems, side sensors and warning technologies mean operators can significantly improve vehicle safety without waiting for natural fleet replacement cycles. According to Emily Hardy, recognising proven retrofit solutions would enable Government to improve road safety more quickly while reducing the financial burden on operators:
“The conversation should never become ‘new versus retrofit’. It should be about delivering the safest possible vehicle on the road.”
The company also points to the practical benefits of introducing a single national framework. Many operators already work across multiple regions and cities, navigating different local requirements and compliance expectations. A national standard would create clarity, consistency and confidence while encouraging wider adoption of proven safety technologies.
For Brigade Electronics, however, the issue ultimately comes back to people. Five decades after introducing the first reversing alarm to Europe, the company believes the same question still applies today: if technology exists to make roads safer, why should access to that protection depend on where somebody lives?
“Hanson-Abbott spent his career championing technologies that many people initially thought were unnecessary, but which went on to save countless lives,” said Emily Hardy. “Today, nobody questions whether reversing alarms, cameras or detection systems have a role to play in commercial vehicle safety. We believe future generations will look at vulnerable road user protection in exactly the same way. If a safety measure is worth providing in London, then surely it is worth providing in Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Liverpool and every other community across the UK.”
