Back in February, when Boston bikers were essentially barred from the streets due to piles of snow, the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics hosted its inaugural Public Space Invitational in hopes of soliciting ideas from Bostonians for civic improvements. One such idea Michael Evans, Lead Developer and Designer at New Urban Mechanics, conveyed to BostInno was that municipal trucks be outfitted with side guards to protect pedestrians and bikers from being pulled underneath the vehicle in the unfortunate circumstance of a collision. Now Mayor Marty Walsh is hoping to bring that to all city-run large vehicles.

The notion for the New Urban Mechanics public safety brainchild was tremendously reinforced after Boston suffered the loss of multiple cyclists between February and now. One man, back in August, was struck by a municipal truck and luckily was treated for non-life threatening injuries. That truck, as you’ll see here, boasted the side guards.

On Monday, September 8, Mayor Walsh filed an ordinance urging the City Council to consider adding these side guards to all “large” vehicles – a vehicle or trailer exceeding a gross weight of 10,000 pounds or a semi-trailer exceeding a gross weight of 26,000 pounds.

“After over a year of testing several different kinds of side guards in the field on 16 vehicles, wrote Mayor Walsh in his ordinance letter to the Council, “data from studies and our own field observances have led to this ordinance.”

The ordinance also calls for these same trucks to receive specialized convex and convex cross-over mirrors so that the operator of the truck may be able to see as many angles of the road as possible, and be wary of those not safe behind the wheel of a 5-ton truck.

According to Kate Norton, Mayor Walsh’s press secretary, via Boston magazine, the Inspectional Services Department and Boston Police Department will inspect the newly rendered trucks while the Boston Transportation Department and Boston Bikes will handle the responsibility of educating the public on best practices, safety measures and how the side guards work.

The Council will convene on Wednesday to vote on the matter. Stay tuned to BostInno for any further updates.

Vehicle Side Guard/ Image via Mayor''s Office of New Urban Mechanics
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