Lessons in cycle safety for lorry and bus drivers

LORRY and bus drivers working for a London council are to receive training in cycling road safety in a bid to prevent road deaths.

Drivers of refuse vehicles, school buses and other HGVs in Lambeth will have classroom lesssons and practical on-road training to highlight the dangers of cyclists caught in lorries' blind spots.

Signs on the back of Lambeth's fleet of vehicles are also being installed, warning cyclists of the dangers of cycling on the left side of a lorry or bus.

More than half of all bike deaths on London's roads are caused by a collision with a goods vehicle. Cyclists are particularly in danger if they cycle on the passenger side of an HGV because of the poor view of that side of the vehicle drivers have from the cab.

Last month 16-year-old Sajjad Bilgrami became the 10th cyclist to be killed in London this year, and the ninth to die after being involved in a collision with a lorry.

In the first scheme of its kind the classroom sessions will teach drivers how to anticipate the behaviour of cyclists on the road and how to minimise the danger of cyclists being killed or injured.

The drivers will also get on bikes themselves to feel what it is like as a cyclist in traffic.

The lessons follow Boris Johnson's announcement this week that he intends to introduce 12 new cycling routes in the centre of London as well as 6,000 to 10,000 bikes for hire by 2010.

The initiatives have been developed in partnership with the council's environmental contractor, Veolia Environmental Services, and Cycle Training UK.

Councillor Sally Prentice, Lambeth Council cabinet member for environment, said: "London has the potential to be a world class cycling city - more and more people are taking it up and figures show that although twice as many people are cycling now in the borough than 10 years ago, the number of those being injured in collisions has not risen.

"However, half of all fatalities involve heavy goods vehicles. While there have been no incidents involving cyclists and vehicles driven by Lambeth staff in recent years, we are making sure our drivers get specific training that makes them more aware of the danger.

"We hope other organisations which employ HGV drivers follow our lead on this so we can make London a safer place for cyclists.

"The council is happy to work with companies to promote these initiatives."

In 2006, nine of the 19 cyclists who died on London's roads and nine of the 16 last year were involved in collisions with goods vehicle.