MPA Cycle Safe scheme piloted in Oxford
Mineral Products Association holds successful pilot event for national cycle safety campaign
ON 1 March the Mineral Products Association (MPA), in partnership with local aggregates company Smith & Sons (Bletchington) Ltd, held a successful Cycle Safe event in the centre of Oxford.
This was the pilot event for the MPA’s national Cycle Safe awareness campaign, which aims to prevent collisions between cyclists and lorries by raising awareness on both sides of how to cycle and drive safely.
With backing from Oxford University Estates, Thames Valley Police, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford Cycle Workshop Training, the all-day event took place in Oxford’s historic Radcliffe Square, giving cyclists the opportunity to sit in the driver’s cab of an aggregates lorry to experience visibility and learn about safety issues.
More than 100 cyclists of all ages visited the MPA’s Cycle Safe stand during the course of the day, where they picked up safety literature and free high-visibility vests.
‘We are really glad that so many cyclists dropped by to visit us and that the event got such a positive response,’ said MPA spokesperson Elizabeth Clements. ‘We feel it was a very valuable pilot event and will provide a firm foundation for a national roll out of our Cycle Safe campaign in the near future.
‘We will feed the information we gained from cyclists into the campaign and incorporate it into driver training. We are also glad that cyclists had the chance to experience the driver’s viewpoint to further help promote safe cycling and driving.’
Paul Needle, transport manager at Smith & Sons (Bletchington) Ltd, said: ‘We really appreciated listening to the cyclists’ perspective, as well as showing them what drivers see from the cab. Smith’s already have plans to run a similar event again next year with the support of relevant organizations.’
The MPA hopes to build on the experience gained from organizing this pilot event in order to officially launch the campaign later in the year and run more Cycle Safe events around the UK.
