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"Is it April First?" Councillor criticises lorry cycle safety measures

Hyndburn Council in Lancashire says TurnAlarm system fitted to bin lorries will improve rider safety

A district councillor in Lancashire has asked whether it is April Fools' Day after plans were revealed to fit its fleet of refuse lorries with warning systems designed to improve the safety of cyclists.

Hyndburn Council, which is based in Accrington, is fitting TurnAlarm warning systems to all of its vehicles involved in rubbish collection and recycling.

The council says the devices will improve the safety of cyclists by using an audible warning as well as high intensity flashing LEDs to warn them when vehicles are turning left.

All vehicles will also been fitted with 360 degree cameras to enable drivers to get a view all around the vehicle.

Councillor Paul Cox, the Labour controlled council’s cabinet member for environmental issues, claimed the move would improve the safety of bike riders.

“Cyclist safety is extremely important to the Council and we are delighted to be the first authority in Lancashire to have this system installed across our fleet, as it will help to improve vehicle visibility and awareness for cyclists on our roads,” he said.

But the leader of the Conservative opposition on the council, Peter Britcliffe, told the Lancashire Telegraph: “If I did not know any better I would think it’s April 1.

“I am surprised this was deemed necessary and I would ask how many cyclists have been crushed in Hyndburn in the last 12 months.

“Is there a reason to do this? Is it a problem that’s getting worse?”

The council’s leader, Miles Parkinson, responded: “This is something that is an additional improvement to health and safety.

“It will make cyclists clearly aware that the vehicles are going to turn and it will clamp down on spurious claims against the council.

“It’s all about health and safety and we are one of the first in the country,” he added.

Left-turning bin lorries have been involved in the deaths of a number of cyclists around the country in recent years, including those of 32-year-old Craig Newton in Edinburgh in 2011 and 22-year-old Tsk Fok in Oxford in 2007.

In November last year Veolia, which operates one of the largest waste management fleets in the UK, signed a £1 million contract with Vision Techniques, developer of TurnAgain, to install the system on its vehicles.

At the time, John Matthews, Veolia fleet director, said “By launching this initiative now we are putting the onus on accident prevention.

“We believe there will be an enforcement of a minimum cyclist standard for fleet operators in London and around the UK and these measures reflect the need to promote safety in a demanding operating environment.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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19 comments

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stealth | 8 years ago
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I have been fitting a similar system at work (Tier 2 LGV manufacturers), I christened it the "Shit Yourself Alarm" for fairly obvious reasons & had a chat with the customer about why they were being fitted. Full 4 camera system also fitted, so the above argument about indicator being used just before crushing cyclist/pedestrian does not hold up. Video system is GPS fixed & knows what the time is, as well as where you are. A very good system really, but the alarm would indeed make you shit yourself if it started to go off beside you at a set of lights...

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Matt eaton | 8 years ago
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I'm all for technologies on vehicles making vulnerable road users safer (it would make a change from the safety arms-race for vehicle occupants) but I am a little sceptical about this.

The assertion seems to be that drivers of bin lorries and similar are signaling their intention to turn left in good time, indicators are flashing away etc. and cyclists are proceeding up the nearside of these vehicles because they haven't seen the signal. Much more likely is that:
a) cyclist sees the indicator and proceeds anyway perhaps recklessly, through ignorance of the risks or due to cues from infrasture design or road markings.
b) driver fails to indicate in good time or at all.

I'm not sure that a brighter or louder signal is going to do much good. Cyclists can still ignore it and drivers can still fail to use it.

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Initialised | 8 years ago
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Having a vehicle reversing alarm on a lorry doesn't stop the driver reversing into a bollard any more than a vehicle turning alarm will stop the driver from crushing a cyclist.

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Bob's Bikes | 8 years ago
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Call me cynical but, can't wait for the court case where the cyclist pulls up at a red light then said bin lorry comes up alongside without indicating so therefore no turn alarm then only when the lights change actually indicates (as a lot of drivers do) turns and crushes cyclist. The driver will automatically claim well I used turn alarm so it was obviously the cyclists fault!

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edinburghbiker | 8 years ago
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as long as the drivers are utilising the technology in conjunction with their mirrors etc i think its a pretty good idea.
anyone thats ever stepped into anything bigger than a car derived van knows as the van/truck gets bigger the visability goes down considerably.
hopefully it makes it safer rather than easier to shift blame.

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Daveyraveygravey | 8 years ago
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"...and it will clamp down on spurious claims against the council. "
Call me cynical...

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Beefy | 8 years ago
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total bastards! How dare they try and make it safer for cyclists! More victim blaming  35

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Beefy | 8 years ago
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Beefy wrote:

total bastards! How dare they try and make it safer for cyclists! More victim blaming  35

The guy objecting to it is a Tory councillor, not a cycling campaigner (and while by no means are all Tories hostile to cycling, or all non-Tories supportive. the more UKIP-leaning Tories do tend to be).

I doubt he says anything about 'victim blaming'. Can I suggest you are doing sarcasm wrong?

I don't think it sounds like a big deal either way, myself. Just another form of indicator, might help a bit.

Edit - though fatbeggar above makes a good point. Its of limited use if it only kicks in once the turn actually starts.

Though motorists do try to make up for not signally till after starting a turn, by carrying on signalling long after they've finished making it!

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andyp | 8 years ago
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'Yep, and both rely on the driver actually using them...'

Indeed. And the cyclist not ignoring them.

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atgni | 8 years ago
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They have reversing alarms and lots of them have cameras all round now so I can't see why adding a left turning alarm is really an issue.
I'd rather a lorry had an automatic audible alarm if there's an arse driving it. It would be better not driven by an arse, but there you are.

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antonio | 8 years ago
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Perfectly
Reasonable
Individualistic
Caring
Krafter

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andyp | 8 years ago
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'It will make cyclists clearly aware that the vehicles are going to turn'

Do normal indicators not already do this?

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TheSpaniard replied to andyp | 8 years ago
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andyp wrote:

'It will make cyclists clearly aware that the vehicles are going to turn'

Do normal indicators not already do this?

Yep, and both rely on the driver actually using them...

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wycombewheeler | 8 years ago
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Personally I think the onus should be on the driver to check that it is clear top turn left, rather than having an audible warning telling cyclists 'I am turning left now, get out of my way'

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Metaphor | 8 years ago
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Is this not like a form of enhanced indicator? Why are we opposing that?

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A V Lowe | 8 years ago
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The question should be whether fitting this system will make it acceptable to just indicate left and turn without checking properly, and of course you can then blame the cyclist for being crushed, because they didn't listen and get out of the way...

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Ants | 8 years ago
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How many crushed cyclists does he consider the minimum before the use of this technology is cost effective? Does being in opposition mean everything should be opposed?

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vonhelmet replied to Ants | 8 years ago
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Ants wrote:

How many crushed cyclists does he consider the minimum before the use of this technology is cost effective? Does being in opposition mean everything should be opposed?

Invariably, yes.

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StraelGuy | 8 years ago
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No doubt councillor Britcliffe would rather have spent the money on a new golf course for his cronies  14 .

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