WHAT IS THE INDUSTRY DOING?
CLOCS is a national standard that requires all stakeholders in construction to take responsibility for health & safety ‘beyond the hoardings’. It demands collaborative action to prevent fatal or serious collisions between vehicles servicing construction projects and vulnerable road users. The CLOCS standard requires action from clients and principal contractors and vehicle operators; in order to be ‘CLOCS compliant’, fleet operators need to be FORS Silver or above. Please click here for more information.
FORS is a voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators which aims to raise the level of quality within fleet operations and to demonstrate which operators are achieving exemplary levels of best practice in safety, efficiency and environmental protection. For more information please visit our FORS Gold page. A key part of both standards is the reduction of incidents involving construction-related transport and vulnerable road users.
WHO ARE VULNERABLE ROAD USERS?
Vulnerable Road User is a term applied to those most at risk in traffic:
Pedestrians
- More than 60 child pedestrians are killed or seriously injured every week, children often misjudge the speed and intentions of drivers and are easily distracted
- Nearly half of all pedestrians killed are aged over 60
- Older people may have difficulties in seeing or hearing approaching traffic and may have decreased mobility
Cyclists
- Around 75% of fatal or serious cyclist accidents occur in urban areas
- Around half of cyclist fatalities occur on rural roads
- 75% happen at/near road junctions or roundabouts
- 80% occur in daylight – but night time incidents are more likely to be fatal
- Almost one-quarter of the cyclists killed or injured are children
Motorcyclists
- Motorcyclists represent 1% of traffic yet account for up to 20% of the deaths and serious injuries on our roads
- Motorcyclists are 40 times more likely to be killed than car drivers
- Recent European research reveals that nearly 70% of motorcycle accidents involved a car, lorry, or bus and that approximately 55% of accidents occur at junctions
CYCLISTS AND LARGE GOODS VEHICLES (LGVs)
LGVs present a particular danger for cyclists, urban areas especially in where around 20% of cyclist fatalities involve an LGV; these often occur when an LGV is turning left at a junction. About one-quarter of incidents resulting in serious injury to a cyclist involved an LGV, bus or coach passing too close to the rider.
WHAT IS DAVID WATSON TRANSPORT DOING?
Our commitment to maintaining the standard includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Drivers annually complete e-learning modules on Work-Related Road Risk and Vulnerable Road Users
- Drivers also complete Safe Urban Driver training, which involves half a day on a bicycle and gives drivers a perspective on what it’s like to be a cyclist in busy urban areas
- Vehicles are fitted with additional safety equipment including Class V and Class VI mirrors, safety cameras, blind spot sensors, reversing alarms, warning stickers and Direct Vision windows on cab doors to increase the visibility of VRU’s
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