Logistics companies in the UK are working to improve the safety of vulnerable road users – in particular cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

In order to raise awareness of the work being performed, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has published a new document.

The Shared Vision report forms part of the FTA's Logistics for Cycling campaign – an initiative designed to promote the work being carried out to target vulnerable road users and also to develop actions that will further improve the safety of everyone on the roads.

Although the safety level of pedestrians and motorcyclists has seen an improvement in recent decades, the safety of cyclists on the roads has not.

In the UK, around four to five per cent of cyclist collisions occur with heavy goods vehicles that transport more than 80 per cent of Britain's freight. Such accidents are accountable for almost 20 per cent of cyclist deaths across the country.

The FTA's Shared Vision document sets out examples of the efficient ways logistics providers are – and could be – improving the safety of vulnerable road users.

Its aim is to not only target the freight and logistics industries, but to make businesses outside these sectors just as aware of the importance of being safe on the roads and the actions they can take.

Such examples include devising training schemes and community education initiatives with cyclists and schools, and upgrading vehicles on the roads.

Cynthia Barlow, road safety campaigner and chair of Road Peace, said: "There are some great examples in here of the work that logistics operators can do to help improve road safety for all, and it is really encouraging to see how much time, thought and effort these companies are prepared to commit to this.

"We all need to work together to improve road safety as much as we can, so I commend the logistics industry for work such as this."

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This story was posted by Daniel Crosby, Assistant Marketing Executive at the Fuel Card Group.