Vulnerable Road Users

A collision between two vehicles is usually a claim. A collision with a pedestrian or cyclist is frequently a life, and the risk profile is different.

Where it concentrates

Urban environments, at low speed.

Left turns across a cycle lane, or the equivalent in right-hand traffic, which is the classic large-vehicle case.

Reversing and manoeuvring, including in yards and at delivery points.

Pulling away from a stop with someone in a blind spot.

Almost all of it is low speed, which means it generates no harsh events and is invisible to a behaviour score.

What the vehicle can do

Direct vision: cab design and window depth, which is now a regulated standard in some cities.

Mirrors and camera systems covering the near side and rear.

Proximity sensors with an in-cab alert.

Audible warnings when turning, which are effective and contentious in residential areas at night.

These act at the moment, which no coaching programme does.

What scheduling can do

Avoid urban peaks where possible, which reduces exposure to the highest-risk conditions.

Route away from schools at opening and closing times.

Allow time for the safe manoeuvre, because a banksman or a repositioning takes minutes that a tight schedule does not contain.

What training can do

Cyclist awareness training, including riding, which changes anticipation in a way classroom material does not.

Reversing policy: a second person, or a walk-round before, or no reversing where it can be designed out.

These have better evidence behind them than generic defensive driving courses.

Why the score will not find this

A near miss with a cyclist at eight miles an hour produces no event.

Unless the driver brakes hard, in which case the score punishes them for it.

Which means this risk category needs near-miss reporting and video review rather than metrics, and it is the strongest argument for both.

The measure

Incidents and near misses involving people outside the vehicle, separately reported.

Locations, mapped.

Vehicles by direct vision and sensor fitment, which is a procurement measure and the one that moves the risk most.

Count these incidents separately

Because they respond to different interventions.

Pooled into a general collision figure, they disappear: they are rarer and produce less damage to the vehicle.

Reported separately, with locations mapped, the pattern is visible and it is usually geographic.

And the measure that moves it is vehicle fitment — direct vision, sensors, mirrors — which is a procurement decision rather than a coaching one.

Turn the boundary into a test

For a concrete product reference, open this implementation example can help turn this boundary into a test. Verify current behaviour with representative roles and record what reaches the destination.

Independent reference

For a thematic point of reference, see the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. It provides useful context beyond supplier documentation and should be checked in its current form.