Behaviour by a small number of cyclists and motorbike riders is concerning the National Road Carriers Association, which has 1700 members operating 15,000 trucks.
“We respect their right to be on the roads, but they have to be as respectful of other traffic as any other vehicle,” NRC chief executive officer David Aitken says.
He says a small percentage of cyclists and motorbike riders appear to have an arrogant attitude to traffic and expect it to make way for them under any circumstances.
“Perhaps they don’t realise that heavily laden trucks take longer to take evasive action, change direction, or brake and come to a stop.”
Trucks can have blind spots all around, but particularly the left-hand side where cyclists ride up at intersections and can’t always be seen by the driver.
“Other road users should not always assume truck drivers can see everything that is happening around them,” Aitken says.
Some trucks will have a sign saying ‘If you can’t see me in my mirrors, I can’t see you’, Aitken says. “It’s a really good rule and a simple one for a cyclist to understand.”
Problems with motor cycles happen more often on motorways during peak hours, when riders weave between slow moving traffic at higher speeds.
“Truck drivers can’t always be looking in their rear vision mirror for bikes coming up behind,” Aitken says. “Drivers do have to look at where they are going.”
Efforts to get more solo commuting motorists out of vehicles and onto cycle lanes and free up roads for commercial traffic have been welcomed by the NRC.
“But then we have the situation where the cycle lanes are taking up valuable space that might be used by another lane for vehicles. It’s a difficult situation.”
Aitken suggests cycle lanes could be installed on roads in some areas which run parallel to the main route, but which don’t attract the same traffic volumes.
