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The Centre is working on new regulations that may soon bring back the "dog nose" design for trucks and heavy vehicles — a structural change that could improve road safety and logistics efficiency, Union road transport and highways secretary V Umashankar said on Tuesday.

- Soumya Chatterjee

NEW DELHI:

The "dog nose" refers to a truck design in which the engine and hood protrude in front of the driver's cabin — a common sight until the late 1990s. That design gave way to flat-faced cabins when regulations started limiting the length of freight vehicles, which in turn began incentivized maximizing cargo space. This, he said, inadvertently, may have introduced safety risks.

Umashankar now says that this seemingly small change could be crucial to improving visibility and reaction time on highways. "After all driving is based on sensory perception, your mind calculates based on what you see and takes actions. So, if the driver is not sitting on top of the engine, he can have a little bit of extra time."

"This simple alteration gives drivers that extra bit of space and time — a space cushion — to see ahead and respond better."

Umashankar was speaking at the sidelines of the Urban Adda 2025 conference. HT is the media partner for the event.