FTA: Cycle report reinforces freight industry work in sharing roads safely

Responding to the publication of the London Assembly Transport Committee's report on cycling in the capital Gearing up - An investigation into safer cycling in London the Freight Transport Association said it reinforces the need for all road users to work together and share roads safely.

Recognised within the report was the work of the Association to promote cycle safety among its members, stating: "The FTA has produced a 'Cycling Code', to help raise drivers' awareness of cyclists and vice versa. The Codes establishes a set of 'reasonable expectations for all road users', and the FTA is working with a range of partners including Transport for London (TfL) to encourage more organisations to support it."

The Association welcomes the report's recognition of the positive steps that have been made by the logistics industry in its work to improve road safety, particularly in relation to vulnerable road users, and raising awareness and understanding of the risks and causes of collision and working together in reducing the risks.

Karen Dee, FTA Director of Policy said: "FTA and its members take very seriously the safety of vulnerable road users and are fully alert to the concerning rise in the number of cyclists killed and seriously injured in recent years particularly in London. A lot of work has been undertaken to understand the risks and causes of collision and invest in the most effective ways of reducing those risks including for example, physical modification of vehicles, improved training and instruction of drivers and raising the level of awareness to the manoeuvring behaviours of large good vehicles.”

Ms Dee continued: “The logistics industry has a key role to play going forward. But as this report recognises, there is no single solution to this problem. Sharing the road safely in future will depend on an accommodation being struck between different road users respecting their rights to be there, behaving responsibly for their own sake and the safety of others and accepting some measure of individual accountability for the reputation of the profession or lifestyle they represent."

Also found within the Transport Committee report was that part of the process of improving cycle safety would be to 'improve the interaction between cyclists and other road users,' stating that TfL and London boroughs are engaged in a range of schemes to improve HGV safety, involving retrofitting safety equipment and mandating cycle safety training, using levers such as minimum standards in procurement.

According to Caroline Pidgeon AM, Chair of the Transport Committee: “The report finds that cycling has remained at the political and financial margins of decision-making about London's roads,” with Ms Pidgeon calling on London Major - Boris Johnson, and TfL in partnership with the police and government - to improve the interaction between cyclists and other road users, and to continue to focus on raising HGV safety standards.