Local Focus: Could you spot a truck's blindzone?

With the Bay's roads busier than ever, road users need to be on the lookout for cyclists who are more vulnerable in an accident.

But cyclists need to be on the lookout too, to know when a truck driver can – or can't – see them.

A new national campaign, "Share the Road" includes showing cyclists the view from the wheel of a big cab.

"We're here to give cyclists an opportunity to see what it's like to be a truck driver and figure out where the blind zones are for our truck drivers on the roads," Sonia Lynds, who leads Tauranga City Council's Travel Safe team, said.

"In the Bay of Plenty we've got lots of cyclists, trucks and cars. We really want people to feel safe and they need to feel safe by being able to make the right choices."

Getting cyclists to climb into the driver's seat and see for themselves, is an attempt to convince cyclists to make safer choices when riding their bike.

"They'll feel safer near a truck because they'll know the places a truck driver is likely to see them," Lynds said.

Many cyclists were surprised by just how little a truck driver can see from the cabin.

"The biggest thing that strikes them is they can see very little down the left-hand side of the truck," Share the Road campaign manager, Richard Barter said.

"On bigger trucks it's hard to see in the front as well."

Most cyclists said they'd change their behaviour after seeing things from a truck driver's perspective.

"The limited sight that truck drivers have of cyclists is pretty eye-opening to be honest," Pāpāmoa resident Sarah Dove said.

"Truck drivers can maybe see you for one second while you're traveling along the cycle lane on the inside of a truck. If they don't happen to glance in that particular mirror at that particular moment, they will miss you."

Rain Banzon, from Tauranga, agreed it was an eye-opener, literally.

"The visibility inside the cabin… there's so many mirrors you have to pay attention to, it's overwhelming."

Tauranga local Alex Ryder said he already does most of what the council recommends.

"Around town I usually stick to the footpaths to be honest because there's very little room on the road and not many cycleways. I probably won't change what I do too much as I already do a lot of what they're talking about – sit at the back of the truck and stick to the cycleway, or footpath, and get away from the truck."

The goal of the campaign is to encourage better road sharing between people that ride bicycles and those that drive heavy vehicles.

"We've had about five cyclists die over the last few months – two in the last week – as a result of crashes with trucks," said Barter.

"Chances are if the cyclists and the drivers knew a little more about the things we are talking about, those cyclists would be alive and those drivers wouldn't be carrying the terrible burden they now carry."

Made with funding from