The end of the road...

The end of the road is in sight for horror lorry spray – thanks to a revolutionary new type of mudflap.

According to the company behind the new technology, in wet driving conditions it could slash spray produced by lorries by more than 40 per cent. Other benefits of Spraydown include reduced drag and an improvement in economy of 2.3 per cent.

The revolutionary flaps use a series of vertical vanes which are designed to separate the water droplets and air that make up vision-blurring spray clouds. Water hits the collecting pockets and falls to the ground, while the air, being lighter, avoids the pockets and emerges on the other side of the flap.

Independent tests by the Transport Research Laboratory revealed that at 56mph – the motorway limit for HGVs – a driver following a truck with the new flaps will have a 35-43 per cent increase in visibility. This is compared to vision in the same conditions behind a lorry with conventional mudflaps.

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde also used a hi-tech computer modelling system to conclude that the new technology helps to produce a lower overall drag coefficient. This results in the reduction of a truck’s fuel consumption whatever the weather.

Universal Components has already been confirmed as the official supplier of Spraydown, and the product will debut on the company’s stand at the Commercial Vehicle Show. This runs from 15-17 April at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.