Lorries and other large vehicles are disproportionately dangerous for cyclists. Here’s what you need to know to stay visible and keep safe.

For cyclists, lorries can be intimidating to share the road with. This gut feeling is borne out by the fatality statistics. Although lorries are involved in a minority of vehicle collisions with cyclists, such collisions more often result in death. A lorry-cyclist collision is about ten times as likely to be fatal as a car-cyclist collision.

From 2015-2019, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) accounted for 3.4% of non-motorway mileage in the UK yet were involved in 16% of cycling fatalities, according to Cycling UK. The situation is worse in cities, where the density of cyclists is higher and where there’s less space for lorries to manoeuvre. In London, HGVs make up just 4% of the capital’s mileage yet are involved in half of cyclist fatalities.

If these chilling statistics make you want to avoid being anywhere near a lorry when you’re on your bike, that’s a useful takeaway. It’s really the essence of this article: don’t cycle too closely to HGVs – and never undertake them.

Lorry blindspots

Lorry drivers are highly skilled but many HGVs have huge blindspots. The biggest blindspot for righthand-drive lorries like those in the UK is on the left, between the lorry and the kerb. This blindspot gets bigger during a lefthand turn, as this video shows. Look at how many cyclists are hidden from view!

You’ll also be invisible when you’re directly behind a lorry and possibly if you’re right next to the front bumper. If you can’t see the driver, either directly or via one of the lorry’s mirrors, assume the driver can’t see you. While the vehicle may be equipped with cameras, you should always ride as if it weren’t.

A lorry’s blindspots are part of the reason why they represent such a risk to cyclists. In certain places, and particularly between the lorry and the kerb, the driver simply won’t know you’re there. The second part of the problem is the way that lorries turn.

When a lorry driver turns left, the cab has to go further forward than a driver in a car would. The lorry driver may also swing to the right ahead of a left turn. It may look like the lorry is going straight on or turning right. What the driver is actually doing is creating room for the rear of the vehicle to take a much tighter line across the apex of the bend. The rear wheels will track a very different path from the cab’s, coming in extremely close to the corner. This is how cyclists on a lorry’s inside end up being hit when it turns: the space they were in disappears.

Safer cycling

Lots more could be done to improve the safety of all vulnerable road users around lorries, including better HGV and road design, urban access restrictions for lorries and specific cyclist awareness training. Yet there are also measures that you can take as a cyclist to keep yourself safe. First and foremost, and as we’ve already said, don’t undertake lorries.

Here’s what Rule 67 of the Highway Code says about this: “when cycling on the road, only pass to the left of large vehicles when they are stationary or slow moving and you should proceed with caution as the driver may not be able to see you. Be particularly careful on the approach to junctions or where a large vehicle could change lanes to the left.”

Lorries and other large vehicles generally have stickers on the back nowadays to alert cyclists of the dangers of undertaking. Heed them. Don’t try to pass a lorry or other large vehicle on the inside unless it’s stationary and you are 100% sure that you can pass it before it moves off. Don’t let an on-road cycle lane tempt you into a vulnerable position you shouldn’t be in; the paint of a cycle lane will offer no protection from a lorry. If you have any doubt whatsoever, pass on the right or wait behind. This is especially important at or when approaching junctions.

The other key thing that you can do to ensure that lorry drivers see you and react accordingly is to follow the principles of good road positioning. Clear communication is likewise helpful so the driver can understand immediately what your intentions are.

Routes without lorries

While cyclists can share roads with lorries in relative safety, given the right conditions and behaviour, you might prefer to avoid lorries altogether. That doesn’t meant cycling exclusively on traffic-free routes, just avoiding the roads favoured by lorry drivers.

Lorry drivers are at work, on the clock, so tend to favour roads that are bigger, faster and more direct. Aside from rat runs, you should see fewer lorries on narrow backstreets and minor roads. There will be fewer still in low-traffic neighbourhoods and none at all on segregated cycle infrastructure, towpaths and bridleways.

Plan your route carefully. Use an app or website such as CycleStreets, Citymapper or cycle.travel to find quieter, more cycle-friendly routes that lorries are unlikely or unable to use.

When lorries overtake you

When lorries overtake cyclists at speed, typically on non-urban roads, the backdraft can be unsettling. The closer the lorry passes and the faster it’s moving, the stronger the suction effect. You’ll be whisked along, raising your speed slightly, and pulled towards the centre of the road.

To avoid unintentionally drifting out into the road, hold your handlebar firmly and brace against the buffeting wind, leaning in the opposite direction if necessary. Be ready to brake or take evasive action if the lorry driver swings in too soon once past you.

Not just lorries

Throughout this article we’ve referred to lorries or HGVs, as such vehicles are statistically the most dangerous for cyclists. But they’re not the only large vehicles with blindspots and corner-cutting turn trajectories. You should take similar care around buses, as well as cars towing trailers or caravans. Unlike lorry and bus drivers, car drivers who are towing are seldom professional vehicle operators. They are more likely to plot turns inaccurately or pull back in much too soon after overtaking. Keep your distance.