Drivers struck the same bridge 33 times over the course of the year, causing £10,526 in unnecessary train delays and cancellation costs, and a study by Network Rail suggests that improved route planning could avoid 22% of these costly incidents.

But with the increasing prevalence of cyclists and micro-mobility users in the UK’s busy urban environments, low bridges are not the only hazards that drivers need to be aware of.  

Operators are also receiving signs that road safety is becoming an increasing concern for transport policy makers. With the Mayor of London’s ‘Vision Zero’ action plan and the coming Direct Vision Standard 2024 guidance update, UK hauliers are under ever-increasing pressure to make sure that their drivers – and vehicles – are equipped and trained to maximise their own safety, and to operate in a way that helps protect the road users around them. 

Put simply, a bridge strike occurs when a vehicle collides with a bridge because the clearance height of the bridge is lower than the height of the vehicle attempting to pass underneath it.

This seemingly straightforward issue is fraught with complexity and consequence, making it a persistent challenge despite its preventable nature.

Despite their severe impact, bridge strikes are alarmingly common. In the UK, for instance, there are around 1,800 bridge strikes annually, highlighting a significant area of concern for transport safety and infrastructure maintenance.

The regularity of these incidents underscores a crucial point: bridge strikes are largely preventable. Better awareness of vehicle dimensions, attentive compliance with road signage, and adequate route planning are fundamental measures that can drastically reduce the occurrence of these dangerous incidents.

Drivers can encounter unmoving “static” hazards such as weight restrictions, width restrictions, and low bridges – these are hazards that can be avoided with better informed route planning.  

As train companies can now pass the cost of repairs and passenger compensation on to the operator considered responsible for a bridge strike, hitting a low bridge can bring steep financial penalties of as much as £800,000… and that doesn’t include additional costs associated with vehicle repair or replacement, or having to find emergency cover for an injured driver. 

“Dynamic” hazards such as potholes, adverse weather conditions, road debris and Vulnerable Road Users (i.e. pedestrians and cyclists) aren’t as predictable, and will vary depending on your driver’s location, the traffic level and the time of day. And with a recent DfT report finding that the average financial cost of a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) and HGV collision can be as much as £105,000, bringing dynamic hazards under control can be essential for both your bottom line and your fleet’s public image – no operator wants a costly court case following a fatal collision to be their ‘going viral’ moment. 

Adding safety hardware to your fleet like onboard cameras, blind spot signage, and audible warnings when turning will ensure that your vehicles comply with existing laws, but they are more powerful when complemented by software that provides an advanced, versatile and future-proofed approach to hazard detection that your drivers can use directly from their chosen mobile device.  

This is where the award winning Driver Hazard Warning app from Microlise can help, now enhanced with Flare Aware for a more comprehensive approach to hazard detection that can help your drivers, even when internet connectivity is poor. 

The app runs in the background until it is needed, and provides drivers with short audio and visual warning as a hazard is approached, based on direction of travel and potential hazards in the path of the vehicle’s predicted route – and in the driver’s immediate proximity.  

When a driver inputs a vehicle profile, (or when it has been automatically supplied by the Microlise system via our SmartPOD app) appropriate tolerances are built in, and the app will only highlight relevant hazards, minimising ‘false positives’. Drivers can also configure specific vehicle dimensions to ensure they will only be alerted to relevant hazards. 

With the addition of dynamic hazard alerts from Flare Aware, your drivers can integrate with the biggest micro-mobility road user app in the UK to gain an additional level of insight into their surroundings, even with reduced visibility and a cluttered urban environment. Flare partners with popular micro-mobility companies like Lime, Bolt, Beryl, Tier and Voi (and even food delivery apps like JustEat) to make their riders visible to your drivers in real time, with proximity alerts to make accidents easier to predict and avoid, along with a host of other benefits, including: 

• Most Probable Path 

The app predicts the most probable path the vehicle will take to ensure the frequency of unwanted alerts is reduced as much as possible. 

• Alert Volume Control 

Audio alerts are given to the driver for all hazards, regardless of the mobile device’s volume settings. If the device volume is set any lower than 25%, then audio alerts will be read aloud at 100% volume, ensuring your driver is always aware of the hazards around them. 

• Offline Support 

An active internet connection is only required for dynamic hazards, and drivers will receive a warning when they lose or regain connection for these. Static hazards can also still trigger alerts, even if a driver loses their internet connection. 

• Analysis Reporting 

Customers can view or export a report of all the hazard warnings their vehicles have received over a desired period of time, using this data to inform decisions about future routes. 

• Interactive with Microlise SmartPOD 

When integrated with our ePOD app, vehicle profile information can be imported automatically and tailored to your fleet, and your drivers can be alerted to an emergency change of plans with our two-way message functionality. 

Want to find out more? Reach out to your account manager, or contact us today to book a demonstration. <LINK>