{"id":7058,"date":"2015-01-28T17:55:01","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T17:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2015-01-28T17:55:01","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T17:55:01","slug":"14550-london-cyclists-cant-be-wrong-met-police-launches-new-merc-safety-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/7058","title":{"rendered":"14,550 London cyclists can’t be wrong: Met Police launches new Merc safety truck"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Met

The new Mercedes-Benz Actros that will be used by the Met Police as part of the Exchanging Places cycle safety programme.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although van\u00a0blind spots are pretty trivial compared with those that can exist\u00a0alongside an HGV,\u00a0awareness of what you can — and cannot — see is an important part of being a safe driver.<\/p>\n

Far too many accidents happen in UK cities each year because cyclists get into the blind spots of large commercial vehicles — and then get\u00a0injured, sometimes\u00a0fatally.<\/p>\n

Of course, other road users, especially cyclists, have a\u00a0responsibility in this regard too —\u00a0and that’s where the\u00a0Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Cycle Safety Team comes in. The MPS team\u00a0have been running a programme called\u00a0Exchanging Places since 2007.<\/p>\n

Today, the team launched its\u00a0new Mercedes-Benz truck today, which will be used as a core part of the Exchanging Places programme.<\/p>\n

One of the main highlights of this award-winning\u00a0programme is the opportunity it provides for cyclists to sit in the driver’s seat of a truck and realise exactly\u00a0how difficult it is to see\u00a0cyclists who may be slipping down the inside of a truck in heavy traffic.<\/p>\n

Collisions involving a heavy goods vehicle are the\u00a0most common cause of serious injury and death to cyclists. The programme gives cyclists the opportunity to sit in the driver\u2019s seat of an HGV to see for themselves how difficult it can be to see a cyclist riding close to the truck. Experienced traffic police officers explain how this type of collision often happens, and talk through several ways of avoiding them.<\/p>\n

Police Sergeant Simon Castle, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said:<\/p>\n

“The feedback from these events is overwhelmingly positive with 97 per cent of cyclists saying they would change their riding as a result of sitting in the driver\u2019s seat, and 99 per cent would recommend it to a friend.<\/p>\n

“I urge cyclists to watch the Exchanging Places film on the MPS Youtube website and also arrange to attend an Exchanging Places event. It is invaluable and a potential life saver.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More than 15,000 cyclists have taken part in the programme since 2007, which my maths suggests means that 14,550 have\u00a0understood that their behaviour — as well as that of HGV drivers — is key to keeping them alive and safe.<\/p>\n

Here’s the video Sergeant Castle refers to above:<\/p>\n