Interaction between cyclists and heavy goods vehicle

Abstract

Background As the decade of action for Road Safety 2020-2030 is starting, additional efforts are needed to succeed in halving the number of death and injuries in road traffic. Many countries have ratified the last UN declaration with a goal to decrease the number of fatalities with 50% by 2030. Although crash rates are going down, the picture differs depending on what crash types are considered. Crashes with vulnerable road users (VRU) and motorized vehicles involved are not following the general trend. This also applies to heavy goods vehicles (HGV). The 2017 Volvo Truck Safety Report for instance, mentioned a share of 30-35% of all truck crashes with a VRU involved. The main objective of this study was to identify the situations in which cyclists feel both safe and unsafe while interacting with HGVs. In total, 10 different scenarios were analyzed from a Safe Systems perspective. The main focus, however, was on urban areas since these are common circumstances for cyclists and trucks to interact with each other. Method A cross-sectional online survey (Qualtrics software) for self-administration was distributed via social media, targeting active cyclists in Belgium. The focus was on both subjective and objective safety ratings from the cyclists’ point of view. Moreover, a series of potential countermeasures for the improvement of cyclist safety was evaluated by the respondents. Results A total of 458 surveys was collected during a 4-week period. Preliminary results show that, overall, females have a significantly higher sense of unsafety than males, despite the fact that males are significantly more involved in conflicts with HGVs. Furthermore, a side-by-side comparison of subjective and objective safety was made for each scenario. Lastly, participants favored active safety measures over passive measures. More detailed results will be reported. Conclusions More accurate insight into how cyclists subjectively experience interactions with HGVs are valuable for HGVs manufacturers to increase safety and decrease the number of incidents. This study contributes to a better understanding of cyclists’ appraisal of VRU-HGV interactions in an urban context.