National Highways is teaming up with Driving for Better Business at the Commercial Vehicle Show later this month, and will be promoting its HGV safety campaign ‘Know the Zones’.
The CV Show is taking place from 18 to 20 April at Birmingham’s NEC, and is the leading UK trade exhibition for the road freight transport industry.
Exhibitors at the event will include cameras, fleet management systems, vehicle security, electrical components and systems and much more.
It is the first time National Highways and Driving for Better Business will be sharing a stand at the event. The joint aim is to help contribute to a reduction in commercial vehicle related incidents on motorways and major A-roads managed by National Highways and raise awareness of the work going on in this area.
The team from Driving for Better Business, a free-to-access National Highways programme, will be joining the Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team at the CV Show to promote a series of award-winning resources the two teams have collaborated on to help fleet managers improve driver and vehicle safety. The resources include the Van Driver Toolkit which includes brand new pre-recorded video toolbox talks to create a full three-year driver safety communication programme.
‘Know the Zones’ aims to educate road users about HGV vehicle blind spots. In a recent survey commissioned by National Highways, while nearly three quarters of people said they take extra care when overtaking a HGV, 36 per cent said they did not know how many blind spots a HGV had. Thirty-six per cent also admitted feeling nervous when passing trucks.
The motorway and major A-road network National Highways operates plays a crucial role in supporting economic growth and tens of thousands of lorries rely on it every single day to connect products to people and businesses.
The advice for drivers is:
- Know the Zones – HGVs have four zones around them where their visibility is limited – at the front, back and both sides. If you don’t know where they are, you could be sitting in one without even realising.
- Pass quickly and safely
- Where possible, don’t linger next to a HGV.
Mark Cartwright, Head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention at National Highways said: “The CV Show is an important date in our calendar. It provides a perfect opportunity to catch up with contacts and make new friends; this networking opportunity is key in our ambition to support organisations in managing their road risk well and making our roads safer.”
Driving for Better Business is a government-backed National Highways programme to help employers in both the private and public sectors reduce work-related road risk, control the associated costs and improve compliance with current legislation and guidance. It offers online tools and resources to help you demonstrate leadership in the management and reduction of work-related road risk.
The Van Driver toolkit will also be promoted at the event. The comprehensive Van Driver Toolkit resources developed by Driving for Better Business are aimed at improving safety with free access to straight-forward advice for drivers, their supervisors and managers. These resources continue to develop with toolbox talks and other forthcoming additions. To date, over 1500 organisations have registered for access to the toolkit reaching over 1.3m drivers.
The DfBB team will also be on hand to discuss the many other free online tools and resources they have created to help fleet operators run a safe, compliant and efficient fleet.
Simon Turner, the Driving for Better Business Campaign Manager said “The CV Show is one of the year’s primary opportunities to engage with fleet risk managers and discuss driver and vehicle safety challenges. We’re really looking forward to meeting everyone at the show and sharing these fantastic new free resources.”
Other information and features on the stand at the CV Show will include Operation Tramline, driver education courses, traffic officers and Bridgestone Tyres.
