Camden Council is urging drivers of vans and HGVs in the London borough to display signs on their vehicles warning cyclists not to undertake. Signs carrying the message 'cyclists - beware of passing this vehicle on the inside' will be displayed on Camden Council's fleet of large vehicles, and they, along with Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police Services (MPS), are encouraging hauliers to do the same.
Chris Lines, TfL's head of road safety, says: "We are making progress
in cutting the number of cyclists hurt on London's roads, but the number of cyclists involved in collisions with large vehicles is still too high. "I hope we can get the message out to cyclists to be careful when riding near larger vehicles and also to help drivers to watch out for cyclists."
In 2007 there was one fatal cycling accident in Camden and 21 serious cycling accidents. There were also 132 reported incidents where there were slight injuries, of which just 11% involved an impact with a goods vehicle. TfL claims that more than half of all cyclists who die on the Capital's roads every year are involved in a collision with a goods vehicle. Last year both Ford and Sainsbury's adopted the signage system for HGV drivers.
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