The DVSA has confirmed it will add questions to the HGV driver theory test about class VI mirrors, after a coroner raised concerns about the risk of deaths being caused on the roads.
In a letter from DVSA chief executive Gareth Llewellyn, he said he would also be recommending that drivers take safe urban driving and vulnerable road user CPC courses.
The move came after Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake filed a report warning of a risk of future deaths if no action was taken. She was responding to the death of 82-year-old pedestrian Dudley Howe in 2017, who walked in front of a stationary lorry in queuing traffic and was killed when the vehicle pulled forward.
The driver was cleared of causing death by careless driving, but Norwich Crown Court was told he would have seen Howe if the mirrors on the lorry had been adjusted properly.
Llewellyn said questions about Class VI (Cyclops) mirrors would be added to the theory test for the next reprint in Autumn 2020 and it would be increasing awareness of the positioning and use of the mirrors too.
