London's Mayor Proposes Ban of Semis in London by 2020

http://crcconnection.com/2016/10/03/london-mayor-plans-to-ban-thous...

London mayor Sadiq Khan has proposed banning those "off-road" lorries with the worst visibility from all roads in the capital by 2020, in an attempt to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.

Under the plans to be consulted on shortly, the most risky "off-road" HGVs - those with zero stars - will be banned from London's streets by January 2020. "Zero rated" construction lorries and cement mixers - the most deadly in terms of road deaths, because they have a blind spot nearly three times larger than other lorries - will be allowed to remain on the capital's streets until January 2020.

I think "HGV" is what we generally call a semi.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on October 3, 2016 at 11:03am

This is an attractive idea for a number of reasons. However, I think it would be very expensive for businesses, who would convince the mayor and aldermen not to do it in Chicago.

An issue related to this (but not particularly related to bikes) is that the ring road around Chicago is a toll road while the routes through the center of the city are not. That creates an insane incentive for semis and other drivers not stopping in Chicago to drive through the center of the city on their way through the area. It makes much more sense to use tolls as a congestion tax to encourage drivers to use the ring road.