Vehicle rental company Europcar has created a dedicated fleet of Chapter 8 compliant commercial vehicles to help customers meet the latest road safety standards.

The investment is in response to new guidelines in Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual, which sets out recommendations for high visibility markings on vehicles that stop for work on public highways.

Chapter 8 details requirements for the colour of vehicles and the reflective markings needed for vehicles that stop to carry out inspections or work on all public highways.

The guidelines apply to any firms with large or small vehicles, such as HGVs, road maintenance trucks, small vans or even cars that need to stop, intentionally, on high speed roads.

“Although Chapter 8 is not yet legislated, many highway organisations have already adopted these guidelines as best practice and will only allow compliant vehicles to work on their sites,” said Stuart Russell, van fleet specialist at Europcar UK Group.

“Understanding this requirement, we wanted to give our customers a cost-effective solution that means they can book Chapter 8 compliant vehicles whenever they need them – indeed we can deliver to anywhere in the UK with as little as four hours' notice.”