Sharing the roads Roads Safely with more Cyclists and Walkers

The country is undergoing a transport revolution that’s seen more of us turn to our bikes and walking. According to Cycling UK, we cycled an average of 3.3 billion miles a year from 2015-2019, rising by 53% to 5.03 billion in 2020. Keen to capitalise on this increasing popularity the UK government published its “Bold vision for cycling and walking” in July 2020, promising a £2 billion package to create “a travel revolution in our streets, towns and communities,” where “cycling and walking will be the natural first choice for many journeys with half of all journeys in towns and cities being cycled or walked by 2030.”

It’s a welcome aspiration but for hauliers and drivers, the presence of more vulnerable road users will mean a need to modify driving behaviours to ensure that increased road use by pedestrians and cyclists doesn’t lead to more incidents.

New Cycleways The government’s cycling and walking strategy focuses on four themes: better streets for cycling and people; cycling and walking at the heart of decision-making; empowering and encouraging local authorities; and enabling people to cycle and protecting them when they do. In practice, that means thousands of miles of new cycleways, bus and walking corridors, and more low traffic neighbourhoods. More e-scooters can also be expected on the roads too, given the growth in rental schemes and the ongoing government consultation on their use. With roads more crowded – whether many of these road users are using segregated lanes or not – hauliers will be under increased scrutiny given the consequences of a collision between their lorries and a cyclist or pedestrian can be so much more deadly. In fact, the government reports that the highest proportion of pedal cycle casualties that are fatal occur in accidents with an HGV.

Take Preventative Action That means hauliers need to look at ways of reducing the number of collisions even though there are rising numbers of cyclists and pedestrians. Here are five top tips designed to help reduce accidents:

1. Leave as much room as possible when passing cyclists. The Highway Code states you should, “leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds.”
2. At traffic lights, make sure you don’t enter the ‘advanced stop area for cyclists’.
3. Don’t drive in or block cycle areas.
4. Reduce blind spots on your vehicle(s). That can include proximity sensors, wide angled mirrors, reversing alarms, and blind spot detection.
5. Ensure underrun guards – also known as lateral protection devices – are fitted. These help to make sure cyclists aren’t dragged under a lorry or trailer. Driver Rresponsibility

Given the Highway Code’s new rules when it comes to the hierarchy of road users, it’s clear that the protection of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists is uppermost in the government’s mind. That means hauliers will need to do all they can to make sure their drivers are alert to possible collisions and equipped with the training and assistance necessary to reduce the chance of accidents happening.

For more details on road safety and vulnerable road users, see QBE’s ‘Road safety in the new era of cycling and walking’.

To discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact the Hauliers Team on 03301 624 992.

This article has been compiled using information available to us up to 01/02/22. Whilst care has been taken in the production of this document, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the document or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this document. This document has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication and is subject to any qualifications made in this document.