Three major trucking organisations have given a major boost to the Project Pictogram ' Driving Safer Roads initiative, one year after its launch to the business fleet community.

Organisers of the fleet industry's annual Truck Fest said last week it would support the Project Pictogram initiative at all of the Truck Fest shows in 2017. The eight regional shows attract around 6,000 trucks and 250,000 enthusiasts each year, as well as some of the industry's best driver display teams. Truck Fest South will be at the Newbury showground on 26-28 May.

The Road Haulage Association, which represents the 2.2 million people who work in the haulage and logistics industry, is also adding its support and sharing the initiative with members to encourage their participation.

And FORS ' the Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme ' has given Project Pictogram associate member status, and is actively promoting the free-share guidelines and artwork files to its 4,000 safety focused members across the UK.

Bus and Coach fleets are also showing their support. Lucketts Travel was the first coach operator in the country to display the decals.

Joint owner of Lucketts Travel and president of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, Ian Luckett, said: 'Lucketts is keen to support any road safety initiative, and this is such a cost-effective way for us to help get these crucial messages across to members of the travelling public. I would urge all fleet operators to join up and help get the public more aware of the issues'

The latest company to come on board is Raymond Brown, a leading recycling and waste management business, which is applying the Pictogram stickers to all 82 of its vehicles and will take the road safety messages into Hampshire schools as part of its Community Matters initiative.

Chief operating officer Steve Clasby said: 'We are very excited to be rolling out Project Pictogram across our entire fleet of vehicles. Safety is at the forefront of everything we do and engaging with the community has always been a key priority for our business. It creates an industry standard to which our fleet can align and ties in with the rebrand of our tipper lorries to a fresh new colour, promoting our commitment to sustainability and ensuring that our vehicles are clearly visible on roads'

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, joined the Raymond Brown team for the unveiling of its new safety focused livery which incorporates the pictograms. An active supporter of the initiative since 2015, she echoed the Prime Minister's calls for cultural change.

'This sort of community engagement initiative is exactly the type of motivator which can shift understanding of risks,' she said.

'Instinctively, we all know which activities are dangerous while driving and the pictograms will provide daily reminders of what we all have to pay much more heed to'

Prime Minister Theresa May pledged Government action to toughen penalties, which came into force on 1 March. She also called for urgent cultural shift, saying: 'Ultimately, though, we need to work with the public to raise awareness of the dangers'

The Prime Minister's comments followed the killing of a mother and three children on the A34 near Newbury by a lorry driver distracted by his mobile phone. The shocking forward-facing and in-cab video footage from Tomasz Kroker's lorry which captured the fatal crash was released in an effort to graphically highlight the dangers to the public.

Project Pictogram has been designed to do just that, by presenting as simple pictograms, the 'Fatal Factor' driver behaviour risks present in almost all Killed or Serious Injury collisions (KSI).

The initiative reaches-out to the fleet community asking them to donate a small amount of advertising space on their lorry, coach, bus and vans back doors to display five pictograms. By doing so, they provide daily on-road reminders of these key risks to all motorists on every journey.

Alignment to this voluntary industry standard will create the largest and most sustained advertising campaign ever directed at Fatal Factor driver behaviour change. The payback to business comes through the road profit protection delivered through safer freer flowing roads.

Full Project Pictogram guidelines and artwork files are available for free download from the Project Pictogram web-page hosted at: www.hantsfire.gov.uk/project-pictogram