Cycling Safety

simonhunter87

Hi

I hope there are some avid cyclists living working or studying in the Manchester area who might be interested in signing this petition for making Manchester safer for cyclists :-)

http://petitions.manchester.gov.uk/petitions.ti/cycling

Have a look... What do you think of the points? The turning left on red is a bit of a contentious issue but I think it should be allowed.

j0nathon2

I should point out I don't live in Manchester. However, just some observations:

1. Cycle lanes offer very little protection. I find if I am in a cycle lane I get less space from overtaking drivers than if there isn't one, almost like the white line has some kind of barrier. It's also worth pointing out that if that line is broke cars are allowed to both drive in it and park in it.

2. Advanced Stop Zones can be dangerous. They're not deep enough such that HGV drivers even know you're down there. They also encourage (in fact it's often the only legal way to do so) entry from the inside of traffic which means you're in the blindspot of traffic potentially turning left. Cars may also stop in this area if they enter it when the lights turn Amber. This makes photographic evidence useless as it doesn't capture that fact.

3. Any kind of cycle lane encourages drivers to believe you should be in that lane and no where else, despite the water, drain covers and rubbish.

I do think turning left on red could lead to more danger.

Marco_Panettone

It depends what you call a 'cycle lane' though. Paint on the road is not cycling infrastructure. Sometimes it can be good, but at the moment more often than not it's a disjointed afterthought at best. Physical segregation is better, but it has to be built in favour of cyclists, not to 'get them out of the way'. Cycle campaigning is slowly getting this point across, but there's still a lack of political will to ensure cycling is properly incorporated.


The 'left turn on red' issue misses the point - what is needed is cycle-specific lights at junctions that prioritise cycling. This could include a green light allowing cyclists to go at the same time as pedestrians in some places.

peter_the_piper

Bring back cycling proficiency courses, cyclists to take test like motorcyclists, compulsory helmets, compulsory insurance, no travelling more than 1 abreast when on a road with cars.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclists-filmed-jumping-red-lights-in-london-taxi-drivers-hidden-camera-footage-8969043.html
Gets tin hat out.

AndyBSG

I'm afraid, as previous posters have mentioned, there are too many ideas that in the petition that would in fact cause more danger to cyclists than increase safety.

All 1 way streets should have segregated contra flow cycle lanes

If cyclists are going to be cycling down a one way street in the opposite direction of vehicle traffic then a bit of paint isn't going to protect them at all. I wouldn't go near a contra flow like this unless it was segregated.

Cycles should be permitted on tram routes.

The reason cyclists avoid tram lines is the same reason they avoid drain covers, hitting one of the tram rails with your tyre could cause you to come off the bike, damage the wheel or even have the wheel drop into the tram channel

Fining of all motor vehicles (including motor bikes) should be enforced for parking, stopping and driving in cycle lanes and advanced stopping boxes for cycles

I would love to see vehicles parking in cycle lanes fined and zero tolerance as well as active enforcement. Unfortunately, unless the cycle lane is on a red route or a solid white line cycle lane then it is not illegal to park in them.

Cyclists should be allowed to turn left when it is clear on red traffic lights, with caution, and giving way to pedestrians

Unless UK law changes then this isn't something Manchester council can permit

The public should be able to easily submit photographs to the council of vehicles committing civil offenses for prosecution where any Road rules are broken (Eg. Parking in cycle lanes)

Again, this is something i'd love to see. I use a cycle cam and film all my commutes and have submitted numerous videos to the police of illegal driving offences(red light jumping, vehicles with no lights at night, even a vehicle going the wrong way up a one way street). Never heard anything back on an of them.

Marco_Panettone

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Bring back cycling proficiency courses, cyclists to take test like motorcyclists, compulsory helmets, compulsory insurance, no travelling more than 1 abreast when on a road with cars.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclists-filmed-jumping-red-lights-in-london-taxi-drivers-hidden-camera-footage-8969043.html
Gets tin hat out.

*Steps away from the bridge*

peter_the_piper

""The public should be able to easily submit photographs to the council of vehicles committing civil offenses for prosecution where any Road rules are broken (Eg. Parking in cycle lanes) ""
To be fair this should have to also apply where there is car cam evidence of cyclists breaking the law, to do this would require the bikes to have number plates for identification purposes, just like a car.

AndyBSG

peter_the_piper wrote: »

""The public should be able to easily submit photographs to the council of vehicles committing civil offenses for prosecution where any Road rules are broken (Eg. Parking in cycle lanes) ""
To be fair this should have to also apply where there is car cam evidence of cyclists breaking the law, to do this would require the bikes to have number plates for identification purposes, just like a car.

The same could be said of pedestrians breaking the law.

Maybe we need a way of identifying them, possibly by stamping a number on their wrists, I don't think that's been done before...

The main reasons vehicles have licence plates is so things like MOT, insurance, tax etc can be linked to them, none of which cyclists or pedestrians are legally required to have.

When either of those groups commit crimes there's this old fashioned thing called Police Investigative/Detective work for catching them.

Marco_Panettone

peter_the_piper wrote: »

""The public should be able to easily submit photographs to the council of vehicles committing civil offenses for prosecution where any Road rules are broken (Eg. Parking in cycle lanes) ""
To be fair this should have to also apply where there is car cam evidence of cyclists breaking the law, to do this would require the bikes to have number plates for identification purposes, just like a car.

No it wouldn't. CCTV evidence is commonly used for the detection of many crimes already, and you haven't got a number plate.

peter_the_piper

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9891169.Little_hard_evidence_CCTV_helps_solve_crimes/

But not successfully if Thames Valley are anything to go by.

brat

AndyBSG wrote: »

The same could be said of pedestrians breaking the law.

What laws?