Share the road

How to run campaigns related to speed, driveway safety, giving way and cycle courtesy.

Cycle courtesy (target – drivers)

Introduction

Drivers need to be encouraged to share the road with cyclists, give them space and respect them as fellow road users. They need to be reminded to check for cyclists before turning left, before opening car doors and before moving from a parking space onto the carriageway. Indication of the driver’s intentions allows cyclists to take appropriate action in order to be in the safest place on the road.

When planning the project, take account of the crash factors and the cyclists’ concerns in your area and address drivers’ actions that are most likely to make a difference to cyclist safety in your road environment.

Community action

Community action might involve cyclists giving messages to drivers. Some examples are:

cyclists riding around the city wearing boards with messages or t-shirts printed with messages for drivers
cyclists putting bumper stickers on cars
cyclists setting up displays at key sites
taxi companies displaying messages on their car doors
talking with driving instructors about how they might get messages to their students.

Community groups to involve in planning

Groups of both cyclists and drivers could be involved.

Cycle action groups.
School cyclists.
Heavy vehicle representatives.
Commercial drivers.
Taxi companies.
Bus companies.

Messages to communicate

Actions need to be appropriate to the issues in your area. It may be best to address one action at a time, and may include:

look for cyclists before you open your door
look twice for cyclists at intersections
check for cyclists before reversing out from a driveway
don’t drive in the cycle lane
give cyclists space
don’t cut cyclists off when turning left
check for cyclists, indicate and give them space when turning left
check for cyclists, use your mirrors, check your blind spot before you turn
give cyclists space at roundabouts
share the road, give cyclists space
ease your pace and give them space
check for cyclists before crossing a cycle lane.

Media to use

The form of media you use will depend on your target group. Drivers will be more likely to take action if the messages reach them when they are driving or just before they set out. Some media you might use include:

radio during rush hours
billboards
bus advertising
morning newspapers
comic strip with messages
posters in workplaces
messages in tertiary student publications
posters on community noticeboards.

Emotional slant

The emotions of drivers could be engaged by showing the consequences of colliding with a cyclist.

Ask ‘How would you feel if you struck a cyclist?’
Focus on killing or injuring cyclists will engage emotions more strongly.
Include an appeal to the courtesy of the car driver.
Include the idea of fairness, as in asking drivers to share the road and give cyclists a fair go.
Humour could be used to defuse anger on both sides especially where the situation is unlikely to be life threatening.

Enforcement

Ask Police to carry out enforcement in areas that have problems with this issue. Behaviours that could be targeted include:

drivers not giving way to cyclists at intersections
drivers not indicating when turning
drivers not indicating correctly at roundabouts
drivers driving in cycle lanes
drivers cutting cyclists off when turning.

Events

Messages might be distributed at:

health and safety days
senior school health days
university orientation events
cultural events.

Related resources

(The following numbers relate to the numbers in the list of existing resources in the companion document.)

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Last updated: 22 February 2007