Side Mark HGVs Conspicuously and Reduce Accidents

New REMA sub-committee calls for mandatory compliance to ECE 104

date - The Retroreflective Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (REMA) has formed a new sub-committee that will focus on the vehicle conspicuity market. Its remit covers ‘daytime and night-time conspicuity of commercial and emergency vehicles’

Comprising members from all the major companies operating in the UK that manufacture retroreflective materials, the sub-committee is the first co-ordinated ‘voice’ of the industry.

As a priority objective, the new REMA vehicle conspicuity sub-committee will call for mandatory implementation in the UK of UN/ECE 104. ECE 104 calls for the placing of retroreflective markings on the side as well as the rear of heavy and long vehicles.

“The UK could easily transpose the provisions of ECE 104 into UK law,” commented Mike Mason, chairman of REMA. “The technical detail and guidelines are already in place: all that is required is for them to be made mandatory.” REMA believes the UK could transpose ECE 104 into existing national regulations, which would complement existing rules, including ECE 70.

HGVs represent just 1.5 percent of all road motor vehicles (RMVs) in the UK, yet they are involved in 10 percent of fatal accidents. “As the contribution of HGVs to road accidents is disproportionate to the number on our roads, action needs to be taken to help prevent accidents involving HGVs, thus reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured,” stressed Mike Mason. “Lowering the number of side impacts with HGVs through enhanced conspicuity would significantly reduce these accidents.”

The most effective way of implementing the Regulation would be to require all newly-built vehicles to comply. This would avoid imposing a heavy financial burden on fleet operators in retrofitting all their vehicles at once.

According to REMA the additional cost per truck of compliance with ECE 104 would be around £100 - an insignificant increase of just 0.1% on the price of a new HGV, which is in excess of £100,000.

The annual total cost of road accidents in the UK (including health care, police and emergency services) is around £17,420 million. Given the high proportion of accidents involving commercial vehicles, the proven benefits of increased side conspicuity, and the fact that compliance would be easy to implement, REMA calls for ECE 104 to be mandatory in the UK.

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Editor’s Notes:

ø Background to UN/ECE 104:

• Current mandatory regulations in the UK are in accordance with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) regulation number 70 (ECE 70). This states that all heavy and long vehicles in the UK must be fitted with rear retro-reflective markings that meet certain standards on reflectivity and durability.

• However, the UK does not currently require retroreflective markings to be fitted on the side of such vehicles; therefore the problem of side impact collisions with HGVs is

• In 1998 the UN/ECE published regulation ECE 104, which states that retroreflective markings that meet specific standards set on reflectivity and durability should be made available for sale in signatory countries.

• It also states that retroreflective markings should ‘identify as close as possible the entire length…’ of the vehicle and provides guidelines on the placing of markings on the side as well as the rear of heavy and long vehicles.

• UK law does not stipulate that all vehicles must comply with ECE 104. This would only happen if the regulation were made mandatory in the UK.

Editorial contact for more information:

Rosemary Vaux at

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