Safety Leaflet....Suggestions??

snooks

Following another accident involving a cyclist and following on from this thread got me thinking about getting a leaflet put together to try to promote safe cycling and/or make new cyclist aware of the dangers of HGV's if nothing else.

I don't want it to put cyclists (or potential cyclists) off, just make people think before they creep up the inside of an HGV or left turning vehicle etc


So any suggestions below....

woodford2barbican

Could give it out mornings at junctions on entry to city......say Old Street / Shoreditch High Street. All Bridges.....

Funding? as posted before, howabout getting both the parties involved and asking the road haulage association for help?

http://www.rha.net

snooks

woodford2barbican wrote:

Could give it out mornings at junctions on entry to city......say Old Street / Shoreditch High Street. All Bridges.....

My plan is to get an electronic leaflet made up, properly designed looking good/professional, which gets the message across...then contact TFL/freewheel/wiggle/bike hut/chain reactions/Evans/Forums etc etc to see if they would email it out to their current mailing lists. If they do, great, if not, all I've wasted is a bit of time.

Getting leaflets printed would cost money and involve trying to find someone to sponsor it, that would, in turn, alienate their competitors in their market...ie if for the sake of argument Evans were to sponsor it, I can't see Bike Hut or an LBS's giving them out.

I'll see how the electronic version goes and move on from there

Littigator

I think the CTC should be your first port of call?

http://www.ctc.org.uk/

Their campaign contact is cherry.allan@ctc.org.uk

Coriander

As well as the CTC, what about the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents?

snooks

I was just thinking of something simple along the lines of:

THINK
when you approach an HGV
x number of cyclists have been killed this year by HGV's
Don't be another one

Then links to places to get information/training or summut


But I'm aware this might scare people from cycling, so I was after some suggestions.

I'm just one person at lunch, surely it can't be that hard for the LCC and CTC to do something similar...could it? It's all fair and well lobbying MPs and meeting hauliers, but that's not getting the message across to the bicycle users.

Freewheel must have 50,000 email address from last weekend, all it would take is an Email from Boris with a reminder that HGV's kill, and to be MORE careful when they are around.

It's only through this forum and Cyclecraft that I was made more aware of the dangers, which was before I joined CTC

CiB

This needs a more widespread and direct means of getting the message over.

If there's a leaflet, whether paper or electronic, it needs to be seen by as many people as possible. So we email it to people, link to it in forums on this here internet, pin it up in offices, canteens, toilets, changing rooms, traffic light poles, stuff copies onto bikes at railway stations, staff bike racks, anywhere.

Once in a blue moon these campaigns take off; one with a benign objective would also have an amount of goodwill to carry it.

What to put on the leaflet? Pretty much what Snooks said, with a link to the original and a request to visit the site, d/l & print as many copies as you feel able to, with the aim of continuing the distribution. we've all got web-space where can stash a copy and link to it if necessary. How hard can it be?

woodford2barbican

ChrisInBicester wrote:

This needs a more widespread and direct means of getting the message over.

If there's a leaflet, whether paper or electronic, it needs to be seen by as many people as possible. So we email it to people, link to it in forums on this here internet, pin it up in offices, canteens, toilets, changing rooms, traffic light poles, stuff copies onto bikes at railway stations, staff bike racks, anywhere.

Once in a blue moon these campaigns take off; one with a benign objective would also have an amount of goodwill to carry it.

What to put on the leaflet? Pretty much what Snooks said, with a link to the original and a request to visit the site, d/l & print as many copies as you feel able to, with the aim of continuing the distribution. we've all got web-space where can stash a copy and link to it if necessary. How hard can it be?

Not hard and I will do it.

Littigator

I'd be more than happy to forward an e leaflet to all cyclists I know.

snooks

ChrisInBicester wrote:

How hard can it be?

Exactly! How hard can it be??

I hate chain/"junk" Emails...but this one would serve a purpose, so by it's very nature, although it would be unsolicited, it wouldn't be "junk"

snooks

Hurrah!...don't just save it for cyclists, send it to everyone!...well everyone with a bike

I'll get to work on getting it designed

Any idea of links to put on.... http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cycling

As long as I make it clear the leaflet is nothing to do with TFL I think it should be alright

Or should I just scrub the idea of links and keep it simple?

lost_in_thought

+1

I think my LBS wuold be happy to as well, and if anyone's a good customer to Evans they have a substantial email database - I know because i'm on it....

snooks

OK so it's going to be summut like this:

CYCLISTS!

When you approach an HGV
THINK!

In 2007 25 cyclists in the UK were killed by HGV's
in the last 7 days* 2 cyclist have been killed in London

Watch out for HGV's

*18/8/08 - 24/8/08


Taa Daah!

May be with a couple of eyes in the last line!...OK maybe not, but I'll get something on here soon

Littigator

Yep, looks nice and simple and clear

lost_in_thought

Maybe add in tactics, like don't filter down the inside of them, don't overtake them while turning?

I may have missed a good reason not to do this earlier on, apologies if so...

Clever Pun

Maybe "don't undertake"

To be fair to hgv's and the like most of them have cyclists beware on the lefthand side these days

biondino

Snooks, the dates you give are August, and it's September... Also are you sure you want to give such recent dates as it adds to obsolescence?

sc999cs

Is the leaflet going to have a picture on it? A shot of a lorry and a pavement with a big cross between them may be more effective (along with the text).

As for who to send it to once complete I'd suggest as many different organisations as possible. It would be good to get the message out to young cyclists as well so they have a chance to become old cyclists? Send electronic copies to secondary schools, colleges asking them to display (or even distribute). Try the Scout and Guide associations, see if they'll link on their websites, distribute to groups etc.

If you're going to do this, might as well do it big time.

snooks

lost_in_thought wrote:

Maybe add in tactics, like don't filter down the inside of them, don't overtake them while turning?

I could do, but hopefully by making peeps ithink they won't do silly things like get close too it.

We'll see how it looks to begin with, then I'll see whether my beer fund can pay the designer for any more alterations :0)

snooks

biondino wrote:

Snooks, the dates you give are August, and it's September... Also are you sure you want to give such recent dates as it adds to obsolescence?

RSE well spotted! I'm hoping they will be in small print cos no one ever reads that!

Littigator

Can we also work on the second one now as well then.

Educating drivers on how vulnerable cyclists are.

As a starter idea how about...

"You wouldn't take a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

So why take [use] a 2 ton car to crack [crush] a cyclist.

Remember cyclists are vulnerable"

Ready to be hugely criticised/shot down in flames/ proven wrong and told my grammar is crap for the umpteenth time today

snooks

Littigator wrote:

Can we also work on the second one now as well then.

Educating drivers on how vulnerable cyclists are.

As a starter idea how about...

"You wouldn't take a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

So why take [use] a 2 ton car to crack [crush] a cyclist.

Remember cyclists are vulnerable"

Ready to be hugely criticised/shot down in flames/ proven wrong and told my grammar is crap for the umpteenth time today

So does that mean I can kill cyclists with something more appropriate???

Littigator

ahem :oops: ...that's not exactly the interpretation I was aiming for DOH!

biondino

A long stick and a cycle courier's front wheel make good bedfellows...

biondino

Sorry, I don't mean that, and this isn't the thread for such joshing!! :oops:

snooks

sc999cs wrote:

Is the leaflet going to have a picture on it? A shot of a lorry and a pavement with a big cross between them may be more effective (along with the text).

If you have such a picture (remembering copyright issues), great or if you know any illustrators that could draw it, I can include it in the design

snooks

Any comments?

It can be downloaded from here:
http://www.filedropper.com/cyclistsa4

sc999cs

snooks wrote:

sc999cs wrote:

Is the leaflet going to have a picture on it? A shot of a lorry and a pavement with a big cross between them may be more effective (along with the text).

If you have such a picture (remembering copyright issues), great or if you know any illustrators that could draw it, I can include it in the design

Now I've seen your design I'll happily withdraw my suggestion. The design is really eye catching and catches the attention well. I do know a couple of illustrators who might draw one for me, trouble is they live in Belgium and might draw the pavement on the wrong side... I'll email them tonight or tomorrow and see if they bite. (For the second edition / follow up flyer).

CiB

As a poster it's superb. What it does need to give it wings is a link to where it can be found online, and a few words at the bottom suggesting that the recipient should download a copy and spread it around his or her cycling vicinity.

Personally I'm not convinced that the number of deaths in the past week is worth keeping - it'll date v quickly, and suggests a blip. 25 in 2007, n in 2008 and counting might be better, but that's just MHO.

It should be in A3 [is that half A4?] too. That size is more user-friendly, and is more likely to be printed as finders will be less inclined to ponder half a tank of yellow ink at £400 a gallon being used in its production.

What it does need though is circulating, by email by internet, by sticking it up wherever it's likely to be seen, by pushing it into cyclists baskets & panniers. That's the aim.

linsen

I do think it would be great to encourage lorry drivers / haulage companies to put something on the back of their lorries. Instead of "how is my driving?", or as well as, a sign pointing cyclists to the right, or that says "cyclists keep clear" would be helpful. I'm sure they don't want blood on their wheels but the figures are very disturbing.

The Chingford Skinhead

As well as CTC it is worth trying the London Cycling Campaign and get them to use their contacts at local borough groups.

The London Bog Standard - sorry I mean Evening Standard - have also been campagining about the dangers of HGVs to cyclists and may be willing to publicise what you are doing (or maybe even running a copy - or at least including it for free on its web edition.

As well as the toad haulage assoc there is a Freight Transport Association http://www.fta.co.uk/

Good work mate!