CLOCS welcomes £214 million for cycle safety 02 December 2014

Constructionn industry-led consortium CLOCS (Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety) has welcomed deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's announcement yesterday (1 December 23014) that the government will invest a further £214 million in cycle safety.

With £114 million of this funding pledged to the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme, CLOCS is no calling on this scheme to sign up to the CLOCS Community and embed a road safety culture to protect vulnerable road users.

Nationally, commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are involved in approximately 15% of cyclist and 10% of pedestrian fatalities and CLOCS is keen to encourage regions covered under the scheme to implement the same initiatives that are already working in the London Boroughs – including the delivery of Safe Urban Driver training, and commitment to the CLOCS standard and FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) accreditation.

"Tragically, a disproportionate number of accidents that result in the death of a cyclist continue to involve vehicles from the construction logistics sector," states Jerry McLaughlin, director, economics and public affairs at the Mineral Products Association, a CLOCS champion.

"The construction industry is working hard to improve road safety through the CLOCS initiative and the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme is increasing awareness of what is sometimes perceived as a London-centric issue across the country," he continues.

"All road users have a responsibility to help improve safety and hopefully we can all work together to ensure that these issues are addressed within plans for improving cycling and local road safety."

CLOCS is an industry-supported, TfL-backed initiative that came out of a report of the same name (published in 2013), which made recommendations on how road accidents involving construction vehicles and vulnerable road users might be reduced.

It is aiming for national reach via the roll out of a consistent standard for managing work-related road safety.

The Cycling Ambition Cities Programme supports the acceleration of local cycling networks, and increased protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots. Eight cities are on board: Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Department for Transport
Transport for London

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