Safer heavy commercial vehicles and better intersection designs are needed to reduce risk, say cycling advocates.
Following the sentence of truck driver David Peter who killed two cyclists, the Cycling Action Network (CAN) has called on the government to take action to improve the safety of heavy commercial vehicles.
CAN spokesman Patrick Morgan points out that the Cycling Safety Panel called for safer vehicles in its 2014 report, but that it yet has to see effective action from the government.
“Why does New Zealand have such low standards for safety features such as mirrors, proximity sensors and blind spot cameras?” asks Morgan.
Why are protective side under-run panels not required, as they are in Europe,” he asks.
Morgan says that intersection designs also need to be fixed as traffic signals gave both the cyclist, who was going straight and the turning truck driver, a green light at the crash site.
“Education for all road users is part of the answer, but we also need to fix intersections and adopt better truck safety features,” he says.
CAN has run workshops aimed at educating cyclists and heavy vehicle drivers for more than a decade. In its ‘share the road’ programme it advises drivers to leave plenty of space behind cyclists and when passing to ensure a buffer space.
It encourages cyclists to ride further out from the kerb and parked cars, to keep control of their bikes and the situation, to ride in a visible and predictable way, and to select safe routes.
For further information visit can.org.nz/str
