Veolia invests £1m in cyclist safety measures

Recycling and waste company Veolia has begun fitting out its entire refuse management fleet with the TurnAlarm cyclist safety system from Vision Techniques.

The system, being provided under a £1m contract, provides cyclists with audio and visual warnings along the nearside of trucks turning left. It will be fitted to Veolia’s 3,125-strong fleet in the next 12 months, in addition to signs to the side and rear of trucks warning cyclists about truck blind spots.

Incorporating high intensity, flashing LEDs and a high-volume speaker along the nearside, the TurnAlarm system for Veolia includes a module to measure truck speed that will prevent the alarm from activating if the vehicle is travelling at over 10mph. It has also been set up so that speaker volume is reduced by 50% when the truck’s lights are on.

In addition to Veolia’s existing fleet, the TurnAlarm system will be fitted to all new vehicles over 3.5 tonnes GVW from now on.

Veolia is also undertaking a cyclist awareness training programme for its drivers that should be complete by September next year.

“By launching this initiative now we are putting the onus on accident prevention,” commented Veolia fleet director, John Matthews. “We believe there will be an enforcement of a minimum cyclist standard for fleet operators in London and around the UK and these measures reflect the need to promote safety in a demanding operating environment.”