Spotted in Chinatown:
Sideguards on large trucks have very much been in the news lately. It’s not readily apparent from the photos that the guard angles in under the truck at the front end when it starts to taper to a point (just where the reflected light puts a bright spot in the pic below):
Thanks to Loblaws for at least trying them.
According to the president of the Ontario Trucking Association, this is not a side guard to protect cyclists and pedestrians, this is a side skirt that does nothing but improve aero-dynamics
For the OTA it may be for aerodynamics, but if it does what cyclist and ped safety advocates call for, I dont care what you call it. What would be unfortunate is finding out the aerodynamics design falls slightly short of the safety design, nullifying it for safety.
If a side skirt improves aerodynamics and therefore improves fuel efficiency and operating costs it appears that the truck operator derives a significant benefit and the cycling community also benefits. This is a mutual win-win and much better than a situatuation in which the costs of a skirt are imposed soley to benefit cyclist safety.