wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
This is why I refer to psychle farcilities...
Cycle lanes and negotiation
- Thread starter magnatom
- Start date
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It's not as bad as it looks but when I first started cycling I used to use that cycle lane and looking back now I don't know how I made it round in one piece - I used to dread it.
The cycle lane I use before I get to that roundabout used to be absolutely fine - but now the wonderful council have stuck a series of traffic islands in the middle of the road it means that large vehicles overtake far too close - but it's OK because they are not crossing the dotted white line so it must be safe!
I think I'll include that in my letter too!
The cycle lane I use before I get to that roundabout used to be absolutely fine - but now the wonderful council have stuck a series of traffic islands in the middle of the road it means that large vehicles overtake far too close - but it's OK because they are not crossing the dotted white line so it must be safe!
I think I'll include that in my letter too!
Well, living in a country that respects and encourages its cyclists, I have only seen one cycle lane in my time here. It connected some houses to a small village and was completely overgrown and useless. It was quite clear that someone had 'done something' for cyclists some years ago and it has never been used.
Personally, I have always avoided them when I could.
Personally, I have always avoided them when I could.
hackbike 666
Guest
snorri said:
Yes please.
Tubbs said:
I think Tubbs illustrates a problem we have in trying to get rid of cycle lanes. To beginners, or infrequent cyclists, they can seem a wonderful safety measure, & really re-assuring the council is doing something for cyclists and to be used for your own safety. It takes a while & a fair few miles to come to realise thaat they are, maybe counterintuitively, a regressive step for cyclist safety.
I wish they could all be painted out now.
, in some ways if they listen and get enough voices what they do with it could be interesting.trsleigh said:
Aye, that is a problem. I can certainly understand why new cyclists or non-cyclists could think that they are helpful and useful. In fact I am sure that more cycle lanes do encourage more cyclists. This in itself is great. However, the downside to this is that it teaches those new cyclists poor road skills (i.e. it is ok to cycle 1 foot away from parked cars etc).
I really think it is time that councils are forced to face up to their responsibilities in this regard. Should a cyclist get injured whilst using a cycle lane that has been poorly designed, the councils should be held responsible for some of the compensation.
In fact, has this ever happened? Has a council ever been found negligent in its design of a cycle lane, or indeed in it's design of a road?
What would the legal situation be if a cyclist was doored in a lane that encouraged them to cycle close to parked cars?
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
magnatom said:
I don't know of any cases but theoretically if a safety problem had been identified by a road safety audit and the designer of the scheme had failed to take avoiding action (design changes) they would be responsible. Unfortunately a RSA isn't carried out for all schemes.
Norm said:The person who opened the door would be held responsible. That's a strange question, though, IMO.
Of course. However, remember it is often the case that blame is apportioned to more than one party. Yes, the majority of the blame lies with the door opener. Probably 90%. But, what if the cyclist was cycling along in a cycle lane, believing that, being in a cycle lane, which must have been designed with safety in mind, that they are cycling with best practice. However, the design of that cycle lane was poor and did not follow relevant standards. Therefore, it's poor design actually contributed to the accident. Had the lane been painted with a gap, i.e. further away from the cars, the cyclist would have avoided the incident.
Mmmm. An idea is hatching. I wonder if the CTC would be interested in highlighting the issue of poor cycle lane design by commissioning a road safety audit on one or two very poorly designed cycle lanes. The results of these (which I assume are in no way binding) could be presented to the applicable councils (in a fanfare of publicity of course) suggesting that they are poorly designed etc.
This would highlight in public the issue of poor council planning design, whilst highlighting the reasons why cyclists often choose not to ride in cycle lanes.
Mmmm....
This would highlight in public the issue of poor council planning design, whilst highlighting the reasons why cyclists often choose not to ride in cycle lanes.
Mmmm....
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
For a trunk Road project they are compulsory. For a local project its carried out at the discrepency of the council. I carried out a few in Ireland. Most often they were requested by the council in association with a development (ie housing). Occaisionaly they will be carried out for other schemes (unfortunately money usually determines things)magnatom said:
