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Competition winner for new HGV cyclist warning sign announced

InTandem competition to find a new design to warn cyclists of dangers of undertaking

A graphic designer and keen cyclist has won the £1000 first prize in a national competition to design a new warning sign to be displayed on the back of HGVs.

Sponsored by How's My Driving, the UK's first driving feedback service, the InTandem competition to come up with a graphic reminding cyclists of the dangers of riding up the left side of lorries at junctions was won by Huw Gwilliam.

The challenge was to create a design that would be visible from a distance and would alert cyclists to the hazard but would fit in the restricted space available at the rear of the vehicles.

In his design notes, Huw said: "I've tried to come up with a solution that fits the house-style of existing UK road signs... as I feel that a high-profile safety campaign such as this should full authoritative, solid and lasting."

James Hookham, the Freight Transport Association's Managing Director of Policy and Communications said: "We congratulate Huw on incorporating a lot of information into a small space that remains clear and intelligible at a distance. He has captured the risks of cycling too close to turning vehicles in a simple but effective design.

"Many companies already have their own cycling safety messages on their vehicles and we hope over time that this design will come to be recognised by cyclists everywhere as an aid to their safety."

The sign, which beat more than 100 other entries to the top spot as judged by Robert Smalley, Chief Driving Examiner at RoSPA and Gordon Telling, Head of Urban Logistics from FTA among others, will be available for around £7.50 through How's My Driving.

All of the other entries can be viewed on Flickr.

 

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10 comments

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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This whole thing makes me feel like I need to improve my bike handling. Abilities to a. bunny hop sideways up a high kerb in the event of a driver coming left (because there won't be time to unclip), and b. -at the risk of sounding ridiculous- when there are pedestrian protecting (but potentially cyclist -killing) railings at the junction, work out how to unclip, grab the railing and vault it in an emergency. The bike will probably be written off.

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fluffy_mike | 11 years ago
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To repeat what an earlier commenter says...

yup, it's the wrong sort of truck: it should be a short-wheelbase tipper or cement truck without articulation

and how does it help you when you're in front of the truck and it overtakes you and kills you?

...as happened to Svitlana Tereschenko at Bow, and Dan Cox in Dalston, as well as many others

the danger should be removed at source, which means retraining and punishing errant drivers, and redesigning or removing trucks from danger areas/times

don't kid yourself that this kind of pretty picture is anything more than window dressing

(and the front of the cab isn't even well drawn)

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Bez | 11 years ago
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I've seen a sticker on the nearside rear of an HGV that simply read:

<--SUICIDE

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jugster | 11 years ago
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A sticker for the inside of the driver's window saying "INDICATE! - You're the only one who knows where you're going" might be a nice touch too, eh? And AV Lowe that makes for very sobering and scary reading.

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A V Lowe | 11 years ago
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The sign fails to take into account the fact that most cyclists run down by trucks are 1) not run down by tractor-trailer rigs turning left (most cyclists in cities are killed by construction site rigids and the worst damage is done by 4-axle (8 wheelers) - 32 T with a huge gap between front and rear wheels and a body mincer action between the 2 rear axles.
2) a substantial number of the deaths are where the cyclist is run down from behinds closely followed by the truck overtaking and turning left through the cyclist.

The highest risk comes from drivers who are 'repeat offenders' who may well be employed by marginal operators who do not apply the greatest diligence in checking the driver's licence. Of the 3 case studies on See Me Save Me every one involves a driver or truck with a record (Lopes - killed twice because he was driving with defective vision - Putz - 3 jail terms for driving offences including drunk driving and 20 counts of driving whilst disqualified - the same truck killing 2 and putting a third in a wheelchair, twice with the same driver) From this and the observations on the defects (which could get the vehicles stopped with immediate prohibition notices)and bad driving (including another death caused by another drunk driver) all linked to Thames Materials vehicles.

A concentration of effort on a very small number of operators and drivers should produce a substantial reduction in the dangerous and fatal incidents.

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Wardy74 | 11 years ago
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At the risk of sounding like Donald Rumsfeld, if you can't see a cyclist, you dont know you can't see a cyclist. To stretch the point, cities would come to a standstill if all the lorry drivers stopped because they couldn't see a cyclist in their mirrors surely. I do agree they should have a bloody good look though.

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JohnS replied to Wardy74 | 11 years ago
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Wardy74 wrote:

At the risk of sounding like Donald Rumsfeld, if you can't see a cyclist, you dont know you can't see a cyclist. To stretch the point, cities would come to a standstill if all the lorry drivers stopped because they couldn't see a cyclist in their mirrors surely. I do agree they should have a bloody good look though.

You're (deliberately?) missing my point.

In words of one syllable, "If you can not see all the way down the left hand side of your truck, then do not move it to the left".

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JohnS | 11 years ago
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Now we need a sign for drivers telling them to look to their inside before turning - and stop dead if they can't see.

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Raleigh | 11 years ago
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Mine was better, anyone remember it?

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antonio | 11 years ago
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I like it, how about an equally clear graphic to be run in tandem with it in the drivers cab.

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