The Commission is to bring forward a draft directive, which will require all heavy goods vehicles to be retrofitted in order to tackle the annual death toll of over 400 throughout the EU each year caused by the failure of truck drivers to see pedestrians.

Welcoming the announcement by the European Commission Marian Harkin said that it was heartening to see how effectively the EU institutions had been prepared to act to tackle a road safety deficit, which she had highlighted in the European Parliament.

"My proposal was adopted by the European Parliament at the Strasbourg session in September of last year and I gained support for it from Irish Minister for Transport Martin Cullen during my lobby activity to gain the support of the EU Council of Transport Ministers for this vitally needed measure", the Independent MEP said.

Harkin said that eight people had died in Ireland last year as a result of accidents involving impaired vision from trucks, while over 400 had been killed throughout the EU.

"The EU has a target of halving the number of road deaths in the Union by 2010 and practical measures such as this and other initiatives to improve road safety management will help to achieve this highly desirable outcome", she said.