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Cycle
lanes or not., decide for yourself !!
Below are a list
of URLs on the subject - it is almost as controversial as cycle
helmets and certainly not something I use very often but again, that
tends to be a matter of choice., this however is to make you aware
of the reality - cycle lanes are certainly NOT always the safest
option by a long chalk as these links demonstrate!
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First up
John Franklin's research of cycle path safety., he wrote
Cyclecraft, the book that the new National Standards aka
Bikeability is based on so he certainly knows his onions.
As a result he is acknowledged as an expert in his field ..
http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/research.html
It is vital
you make yourself visible is vital as per the diagram below,
reproduced by kind permission of John Franklin from his book,
Cyclecraft (4th Edition) on page 193, available from both the
TSO and his website at
www.cyclecraft.co.uk (An instructor's bible almost!)
©John Franklin
FIGURE 13.1 ~ Typical
surveillance angles and the differences between a road side
cycle path and road .......................and the cover of the
4th edition of John's book
To quote
John from his book I have selected this extract ...
'To use roadside cycle tracks safely
requires considerable vigilance, and often considerable
tolerance too, for such paths are frequently poorly surfaced and
get a lot of debris thrown onto them from the road. They
can also be more tiring, for it has been estimated that each
time you have to slow down or stop at a road crossing is
equivalent in energy terms, to riding 100 meters further.
The risk of
conflict is greatest when using a roadside cycle track in the
opposite direction to nearside road traffic flow, because
drivers will least expect vehicles to be coming towards them on
that side of the road. At night you may be dazzled even by
dipped headlights coming towards you.'
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An excellent
pictorial example using real photos, of why cycle lanes although
sometimes are safe enough, it's not always the case by
any stretch of the imagination!! The problem is that to my
knowledge, there is no legislation for road construction firms
as to what constitutes a SAFE cycle lane but for grants exist
for them to include one!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4794198.stm
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If you buy
'C*** Cycle Lanes'
@ £4.99 at
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/book.htm,
any funds raised go to the Cyclists Defence Fund., this makes
interesting reading .........
available from
http://www.eye-books.com/index_imprints.asp. It makes a
good read and really does have to be seen to be believed!
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This is a
page you can add to yourselves if you want to wherever you are
around the UK, a little on the lines of the CTC's 'Fill that
hole' campaign - check it out for yourselves ...
http://www.nuttycyclist.co.uk/cycling/daft-lanes-index.htm
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The
penultimate one is
the good, the bad and the ugly ......... another take and some
more daft lanes - but BEWARE of cycle lanes that are separated from
the road when you get to a junction from the visibility
angle as per Figure 13.1 above taken from Cyclecraft!!
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/13q11/cycling/paths.html
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Finally a chap called Michael Bluejay wrote an article of 10
ways of not getting hit by a car ......... there is one in
particular, that might well apply to the integration of a cycle
path with a pedestrian crossing., the
Collision Type #9: The
Crosswalk Slam
- this is the left
hand drive version ..
http://bicyclesafe.com as it seems that unfortunately, he
has withdrawn the right hand version.
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