A study of direct vision in heavy-duty vehicles earned a 2024 Golden Shoe for its ground-breaking insights, which could make streets safer for both walking and cycling.

Have you ever walked or biked by a truck and wondered if the driver even knows you’re there? A landmark study by the Mass. Department of Transportation (MassDOT) found that a large share of vehicles in its fleet and those of key municipalities have major blind zones that can leave drivers unaware of vulnerable road users until it is too late.

The authors were honored with a Golden Shoe Award at our Annual Celebration on April 9.

The study, required by a 2022 state law and conducted in partnership with the federal John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, measured how much direct vision is available to drivers of 60 types of vehicles used by MassDOT and nine cities, including Boston: from massive Mack trucks (heavy-duty), to large Ford and Chevrolet trucks (medium-duty), to smaller trucks and vans (light-duty) – as well as some alternatives available on the market.

In particular, the study team gauged the nearest point at which an adult and an elementary school-age child would be directly visible to a driver in a standard crosswalk and a buffered bike lane. Direct visibility is key because research has shown that when drivers directly see a person, they can react about 50% faster than when they see the person indirectly.

The results raise serious safety concerns: 50% of the heavy-duty vehicles were found not to provide direct visibility of a child in a crosswalk in front of the vehicle, for example; 90% of the trucks could not see a child in the bike lane, and 80% could not see an adult in a bike lane.

There are large differences in visibility even within vehicle classes, however. While drivers in the best-performing heavy-duty truck could see a child at 3.41 feet, for example, for half the trucks the distance exceeded 10 feet, and for the two worst performers, 15 feet.

Notably, drivers in all but three of the 20 medium-duty trucks tested – including many models used widely by the general public (e.g. Ford F-350 and F-450) – could not directly see a child from less than 4 feet away. Light-duty trucks and vans performed much better, with drivers in three of the eight models able to see a child at less than 2 feet from the front bumper. Still, there was a 10-fold difference between the best-performing vehicle and the worst.

The key takeaway from the study is that vehicle choice makes a major difference for pedestrian safety. Smaller vehicles should be used whenever possible, the authors advised, and within size categories, higher-visibility models should be chosen (given five stars in the report).

The study also found that visibility in legacy models of vehicles appears to be decreasing, but there are new options on the market with much better visibility. For example, a driver in the medium-duty 2024 model REE P7C could see a child as close as 1.53 feet from the bumper. Similarly, among the heavy-duty vehicles measured, those with a cab-forward design tended to have higher forward visibility. Some, but not all, also had more side visibility. 

MassDOT has adopted a Safe System Approach to road safety, which entails analyzing and addressing every aspect of the transportation system to improve safety. Safer vehicles is a key element of this, and the findings will inform future MassDOT truck fleet investments. 

Learn more and download the full study here.