Vulnerable Road Users
Vulnerable road users include 2 wheel riders (Motorbikes / Scooters / Cyclists) Pedestrians, Elderly, Children and horse riders.
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These groups are statistically at much greater risk from serious life changing injury or death than any other group of road users.
Vulnerable road users are disproportionally affected by road risk, it involves tens of thousands of people every year, an estimate of 1.5 million people (WHO) being killed or seriously injured on roads every year, it costs each country around 2% of its GDP and that does not take into account the impact it has on those directly involved, the loss of a friend, husband, wife, daughter or son.
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In some countries that also means there is a significant economic impact on the family as they have lost the person who created an income for the family and with no state support this results in poverty and seeking aid support.
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Policy
Make sure that your organisations road safety policy accounts for vulnerable road users, this includes how and where vehicles can be parked so they dont obstruct pavements or crossing points.
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Ensure that your vehicles are not speeding by using telematics to monitor them and impose company speed limits on roads that have high accident rates or where there are high numbers of vulnerable road users, examples being schools / hospitals
Education
Provide training to everyone who works in your business, educating them on the additional risks that vulnerable road users have to face and how they as an employee may be able to help reduce those risks
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Consider how you might engage with those groups of users to further improve everyone's education, while there are drivers who dont recognise the risk there are also vulnerable road users who dont understand the limitations that a driver of a large vehicle may have.
Engagement
Consider how your organisation can engage with the wider community to promote a road safety message, using your employees to get that safety message to everyone., supporting these can improve your organisations overall reputation.
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Develop an external complaints process that allows local communities or user groups to raise concerns and ensure that your organisation addresses them appropriately
Controls
On the sites that you have an operation take steps to ensure the safety of all vulnerable road users
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make sure there are clear dedicated walkways
Minimise vehicle movements and have a strictly enforced speed limit in place
Clearly indicate access and egress points for vehicles and separate ones for everything else
Control site visitors
Use your Journey Management System to report poor infrastructure to local authorities so they can make improvements