UK’s killer vans are CV show focus for Sortimo

Vans are a familiar sight on Britain’s roads but how many people – especially the drivers themselves – realise many are time bombs primed to go off?

The trigger that releases their killer potential is a crash or emergency that in most cases would be survivable.

But as an impact or emergency stop halts the van, what the load bay contains will keep moving forward at the original speed into the cab area, with the potential to fatally crush the driver and passengers.

Typically most at danger are engineers and self-employed tradesmen who have made racks in their vans to carry tools and spare parts. These might hold everything in place until the unexpected happens – as van racking specialist Sortimo demonstrated in a spectacular simulated crash.

First the company loaded the body of a van fitted with its racking system onto a sled at the independent Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Crowthorne, Berkshire. The racking, weighing 150kg, was loaded with sandbags weighing approximately 365kg and the sled accelerated to 31mph before crashing into a barrier to stop it in a few milliseconds.

Although the vehicle fittings were distorted in the direction of travel, the load remained in place and even the sandbags in the boxes had not budged. The driver and passenger would have survived as the special Sortimo floor installation transferred the impact forces into the van body itself.

A second live crash test used a homemade DIY system installed into an identical vehicle body with a total weight of 446kg for the racking and sandbags load. As the van hit the barrier, the load shot forward, filling the cab space. Anyone sitting there would probably have been killed.

“We had invited journalists and professional fleet managers to witness the demonstration and few would have believed the devastating effects had they not seen it for themselves,” said Sortimo’s UK sales manager, Chris Jones.

“Our own racks were an anti-climax in some ways, because nothing happened of any consequence. But the results of using home made racks really made it obvious how dangerous this practice can be. And these racks were metal – the results would have been all the more devastating had they been of the wooden variety that is frequently used.

“The van doesn’t have to crash for the fatality to occur. An emergency stop on the motorway might be all it needs to create this potentially fatal situation.”

And at this year’s commercial vehicle show, to be held at the NEC between April 24 and 26, Sortimo will be majoring on the safety message. The crash test body still fitted with its Sortimo equipment will be there for all to see.

“Fleet operators are showing they are no dummies when it comes to safety and the DVD of our crash tests, which we will be giving away at the NEC, creates a lasting impression,” adds Chris. “There is a growing emphasis on safety and duty of care to employees and this is a more favourable feature even than price.”

Sortimo International has now agreed to work with TRL on producing an industry standard best practice guide for safe storage of equipment in light commercial vehicles. TRL has been instrumental in the development of standards, including programmes such as Euro NCAP for car safety tests and work with manufacturers on design guidelines.

The event at TRL is the first time Sortimo International has tested the safety of its in-vehicle racking systems and fittings during a crash test outside Germany, where all Sortimo equipment is crash tested to strict TüV standards. It was also the first time Sortimo has demonstrated the importance of crash safety through two live crash tests of its Globelyst equipment and DIY racking.