Ford has announced a new range of protection shields that can be quickly and easily fitted to a wide selection of the company’s commercial vehicles, designed to help operators meet social distancing requirements and deliver additional peace of mind for occupants.

Designed with operations including school buses, patient transfer, accessible transport and taxi services in mind, the shields are intended to supplement operators’ existing personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene protocols – and can be fitted in configurations to suit individual applications.

As part of the official Ford Accessories range, customers will be able to order the shields – which have passed Ford’s rigorous safety, quality and durability testing – through Ford dealers as well as via the Ford Online Shop in selected markets.

The impermeable shields are made of transparent polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic with integrated straps for simple installation, and can be sanitized as part of operators’ interior disinfecting procedures. Removable suction cups attach to the window interiors to provide unobtrusive fixing points for the straps, which also attach to existing fittings in the cabin. 

Customers can quickly and easily fit, adjust and remove shields without requiring interior modifications, and the design allows the shields to pack down flat for storage. Once installed, the shields do not restrict passenger comfort, interior space or operation of the heating and ventilation systems. The transparent PVC material also allows the driver to retain full visibility of the windscreen, side windows and mirrors, and passengers can still hear and see each other as normal.

The shields can be fitted to offer four separate configurations, splitting cabins from front to rear and from left to right as desired, to provide the ideal configuration for each operators’ requirements.