Road safety is paramount at O’Donovan, especially as a company operating 90 HGVs negotiating the busy London roads. The purpose of Exchanging Places events is to allow cyclists an opportunity to swap places with a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) driver and see the road from their perspective. National Lorry Week is the 11th – 16th September and this is an opportunity to promote collaboration with cyclists and pedestrians to encourage road safety for all.
O’Donovan are delighted to continue to partner with officers from the Metropolitan Police Traffic Command to meet cyclists face to face to share experience and knowledge and encourage road safety for all. At these events cyclists can sit in the cab of a lorry and watch as another cyclist travels alongside the HGV to the front of the vehicle. This allows the cyclist in the HGV to see exactly where the blind spots occur.
Jacqueline O’Donovan commented “At O’Donovan waste, we feel that the Exchanging Places initiative is vital to strengthen interactions between lorry drivers and vulnerable road users. It is important for hauliers to collaborate with road users so that both have a joint understanding of the others’ experience and expectations. As an SME, we are extremely proud of the time and effort we put into this collaborations and feel that it promotes mutual learning that is beneficial to all involved.”
Sergeant Asad Ikram from the Met’s Cycle Safety Team, said: “The Met aims to reduce collisions and the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads, enforcing traffic legislation robustly and at every opportunity.
Our award winning Exchanging Places programme helps to contribute towards road safety by educating cyclists about how to safely position yourself alongside other traffic, particularly vans, trucks and heavy goods vehicles.
We are delighted to be running these events to engage with cyclists and help ensure their safety. We thank O’Donovan’s for providing their staff and HGVs when called on for the Exchanging Places events.”
