CLOCS demonstrates vulnerable road user safety measures at London Bike Show

10 February 2015

CLOCS – Construction Logistics & Cycle Safety – is taking a proactive approach to supporting one of the fastest-growing groups of vulnerable roads users at The London Bike Show 2015, taking place at London’s ExCeL exhibition centre from 12 February.

Exhibiting at the show for the first time, the CLOCS stand – LB960 – will feature three heavy trucks which, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police, will be used to demonstrate to cyclists the large areas around big vehicles that are potentially invisible to the driver and some of the improvements CLOCS is pioneering to improve truck safety. The ‘Exchanging Places’ programme pioneered by the Metropolitan Police puts cyclists in the driver’s seat so they can see and appreciate the blind spots.

At the show CLOCS is also aiming to bring together media from the cycle and truck press to participate themselves in the ‘Exchanging Places’ programme. It complements the Safe Urban Driver training course which puts truck drivers on bikes to experience real world conditions for cyclists.

The stand is being co-funded* by 24 CLOCS ‘Champions’ – companies from across the construction industry which have signed up to its code of conduct and who are working to improve the safety of their vehicles when operating in congested urban conditions.

“Last year this event attracted over 45,000 cycling enthusiasts from London and across the UK.  This year we are reaching out to them to demonstrate both the risks presented by the blind spots around the trucks which deliver vital goods in our major cities and the progress truck operators and manufacturers have made in developing safer vehicles,” said Michael Heduan MBE, Driver Training and Vehicle Safety Programme Manager at Crossrail. “In 2015 CLOCS will take major strides to roll our programme out further on a national scale and work with truck operators, drivers and cyclists to help tackle the issue of cycle collisions by raising road safety awareness amongst all vulnerable road users.”

CLOCS’ appearance at The London Bike Show comes ahead of its annual progress event on the 26th February, also at the ExCeL. This event will provide an update on all the things that the initiative has achieved with its Champions over the last year, including an exhibition of a whole fleet of vehicles that have been designed specifically to improve the driver’s ability to spot cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

Media contacts:

Caroline Holmes, 020 7952 1072, cholmes@automotivepr.com

Martin Hayes, 020 7952 1071, mhayes@automotivepr.com

Notes to editors:

*With thanks to the following companies who contributed to the funding of CLOCS’ presence at the show:

Berkeley Group, Brett Concrete, Cemex, City of London, Construction Plant-hire Association, Crossrail, Day Aggregates, Erith, FM Conway, Keltbray, Lafarge Tarmac, Laing O’Rourke, London Borough of Camden, Mace, McGee, Mineral Products Association, Murphy Group, O’Donovan (Waste Disposal), PJ Carey, Powerday, S Walsh & Sons, Thames Tideway Tunnels, Travis Perkins and Volker Wessels UK

Implemented by local authorities through planning conditions and construction clients through contracts, the CLOCS Standard provides a common set of requirements to manage work-related road safety that can be adhered to in a consistent way by fleet operators.

For more information visit http://www.clocs.org.uk/

Between 2008 and 2013, 55 per cent of cyclist fatalities in London involved a heavy goods vehicle and nationally large goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are involved in approximately 15 per cent of cyclist and 10 per cent of pedestrian fatalities. A disproportionate number of these were construction vehicles. In 2012 Transport for London commissioned an independent review of the construction sector’s transport activities to understand the causes of these collisions and how they might be prevented. The resulting ‘Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety' (CLOCS) report was published in February 2013 by the Transport Research Laboratory.

In response, the construction logistics industry demonstrated its commitment to change and identified actions under three work streams to improve road safety. CLOCS brings together the construction logistics industry nationwide to revolutionise the management of work-related road risk and embed a road safety culture across the industry as the UK's population and economy grows.

Improving vehicle safety through design and manufacture of safer new vehicles and fitment of appropriate safety equipment to existing vehicles Addressing the safety imbalance in the construction industry through ensuring road safety is considered as important as health and safety on siteEncouraging wider adoption of best practice across the construction logistics industry through taking best-in-class examples, developing a common national standard and embedding a new cultural norm.