Delivery trucks warning motorists to give bike riders a wide berth will appear soon on Australian city streets as the country's biggest transport company joins a national campaign to end cycling fatalities.

Cycling safety group the Amy Gillett Foundation has recruited trucking giant Toll to its "A Metre Matters" campaign, which is calling for a law requiring motorists to give cyclists a minimum one-metre distance when overtaking, with a penalty of up to 10 demerit points. At present, most states "encourage" a one-metre buffer but none mandates it.

Cycling family Mark, daughter Gabi and wife Anna Watson near a Toll truck with the signage. Credit:Ken Irwin

Thirty-seven cyclists were killed in road collisions in the 12 months to October, while 13 cyclists died in crashes with heavy vehicles between March 2010 and March 2013, national data shows.

The foundation says the most common way bicycle riders are killed is by being hit from behind by a vehicle travelling in the same direction.