Slowing motorists down the best way to increase safety for cyclists says DfT report

Intersting article in Sussex on the reduction of speed limits.

Motorists travelled faster along a road after the speed limit was reduced, a traffic survey has found.

In one Sussex village drivers travelled at an average speed of 33.5mph when the legal speed limit was 40mph.

But when the limit was dropped to 30mph they increased their average speed to 42.5mph – an increase of 20%.

This took place in Town Row, near Crowborough.

A similar situation occurred along the main C7 road connecting Kingston and Newhaven.

The average speed drivers travelled along this road was 41.2mph when the speed limit was 60mph.

But when it decreased to 50mph the average speed vehicles travelled at increased to 48.1mph.

In Dane Hill, near Haywards Heath, drivers travelled at an average speed of 38.7mph when the speed limit was 40mph. But when it decreased to 30mph the average speed vehicles travelled at increased to 39.2mph.

The situation emerged following an East Sussex County Council-organised traffic consultation, ahead of planned roadworks.

The survey found that in areas where there were engineering measures notifying drivers of speed limits, motorists were more likely to stick to the designated speed.

In areas where there were just road signs and markings, the situation was not so clear cut.

The report said: “Figures indicate that the use of engineering measures is more effective in achieving speed reductions.”

An East Sussex County Council spokesman: “Average speeds have reduced at the majority of rural sites where monitoring has taken place.

“Reductions were recorded at all of the sites where there were changes to the road layout and at five of the eight sites where only signs and lines were introduced.”

Areas where speed limit changes are planned in 2012/2013 include the A259 at Eastbourne (50mph to 40mph), A275 South Chailey (extending the 40mph limit) and the A2770 at Eastbourne (40mph to 30mph).

I use the C7 regularly but will only cycle on it early Saturday or Sunday mornings when there is little traffic. I thought the drop to 50mph was a good thing until I read everyone is going faster.

I've found ASLs to be pretty useful. There are plenty of them in Cambridge and most of the time they are free and a lot of cyclists use them. It's much better than sitting next to a car that's signalling left and you're not sure if they'll let you go first or not.

@Rob Bennington
The reference to the stats on hospital admissions was instructive. The main ones on cyclists for those not bothered to look at the link are:

V10 Pedal cyclist injured in collision with pedestrian or animal 106 105
V11 Pedal cyclist injured in collision with other pedal cycle 350 344
V12 Pedal cyclist injured in coll'n with 2-3 wheeled motor vegicle 65 65
V13 Pedal cyclist injured in coll'n with car pick-up truck or van 2,297 2,258
V14 Pedal cyclist injured in coll'n with heavy transport vehicle or bus 150 144
V15 Pedal cyclist injured in coll'n with railway train or railway vehicle 1 1
V16 Pedal cyclist injured in collision with other nonmotor vehicle 15 15
V17 Pedal cyclist injured in coll'n with fixed/stationary object 681 674
V18 Pedal cyclist injured in noncollision transport accident 11,244 11,131
V19 Pedal cyclist injured in oth and unspc transport accident 1,331 1,305

The first column is finished consultant episodes and the second is admissions.

As was pointed out the majority of accidents don't involve collisions. Nearly 5 times as many accidents are noncollisions compared to collisions with any type of vehicle. There are twice as many accidents with other cyclists as with lorries or buses. Although an accident with a lorry or bus is more likely to be fatal they're not the only way you can get hurt or killed. I imagine a lot of those noncollisions are due to frost/ice, potholes, going too fast downhill (I like it as well but it is a big risk - the only major accident I've ever had in 40+ years of cycling was caused by this when I was 15) and bad/stupid cycling.

When I'm going to work through central Cambridge the main thing that worries me is pedestrians who don't look where they're going and other cyclists, with buses next and cars last - there are no lorries fortunately.

There is an idea to reduce all of Cambridge to 20mph and maybe this would help, although a lot of the time the traffic is slower than that in any case. Enforcing it on every side street though is basically impossible.

If we want to keep safe we have to look, look and look again. Something, in my opinion, the majority of cyclists around me don't do. The same applies to car and other drivers of course. Attention to the road is the key to safety beyond anything else.

@Paul M

My father-in-law was a bus driver till fairly recently and I can confirm what you are saying about the pressure the drivers are under: both to keep to time-tables but also to avoid incidents

I saw a comment on another article regarding HGVs from a professional driver bemoaning the long hours and considerable pressure they work under too.

My opinion - tough!
I work in an investment bank (yeah, I know *Boo* *Hiss*) - but there's nothing you can tell me a bout pressure at work to deliver.
None of that excuses carelessness and risk-taking however. The main difference in my business of course is that if you screw up, some money is lost and your own firm crucify you in the courts - as a professional driver someone could be in the hospital and you get a slap on the wrist then back in the cab!

On bus drivers etc I suspect the reason they aren't bovvered is thatthe plod just don't act on the complaints. You should complain to the bus company instead.

Driving a bus has become a fairly insecure and low-paid job, and the drivers are subjected to a lot of bullying and pressure from their deregulated employers. I suspect being the subject of complaints from a member of the public could be a fairly unpleasant experience for them back at the depot. In a way I feel sympathy for them and a better way of impressing on them would be to engage them in conversation to explain the problem. Sadly that won't work in practice because the same pressure to keep to schedule etc forces them to move off as soon as the light goes green.

On ASLs generally, it seems to me most cyclists are unaware of their purpose. Certainly they all bunch up in the lead-in so that access to the ASL gets blocked - they don't realise perhaps that they are quite entitled to spread out across the box. Right now, that would make a huge difference on Blackfriars Junction - the roadworks have swallowed up the cycle lane and if you are not in front of the traffic you will get trapped behind it, going nowhere because congestion has brought it to a standstill.

and i'd been right behind another car all the way too!

I cycle through the town of sandwich in kent, which is one big 20mph zone now. On balance, I like it (not meaning to brag but I am normally exceeding the limit myself!)

One day however, doing a constant 22mph away from the toll bridge and all the way back round the one way system, on stopping at junction, a red pick-up driven by a "higher" primate (lets call him "Clyde"), pulled up next to me and said "oi why don't you pull over and let me past instead of slowing us all down"

silence and disdain from me needless to say!

@DPU - how on earth is slowing traffic down going to cost the economy and kill more people?? As stated on this thread and in studies, a slower moving vehicle causes less damage in a collision and there is less risk of fatalities.

Our roads are dangerous simply because of poor driving techniques and standards. Drivers have an unhealthy disregard for other road users be they biped, quadraped, two wheels, four wheels whatever. Until this changes it makes little difference what the government does. But slowing traffic down will be a start.

Driver attitude is the major problem everywhere ! Consider the fact that I am pedalling at 35kph in a 30kph zone and can’t go faster as the car & trailer in front of me are limiting my speed , so for safety I am about 5m behind drafting and a car comes up alongside me on this narrow winding lane . Of course I ease the pace and the next car barrels into this gap for about 50m then takes a right hand turn with the other car . Followed both up ther driveway to their houses . First of the cars was slowest getting out so approached him and asked for an explanation . Attitude was F…Off , you are on private property , went next door and the young woman admitted she thought it safe since the other car had passed me .

Apologised that she didn’t see me in time and was very concerned that I planned to call the Polizei since she hadn’t meant any harm as she was hurrying to get to the family lunch . Lost for words when I reminded her that in hitting me she would have not reached her lunch let alone been able to eat when the ambulance or mortuary vehicle departed .

Would the Polizei do anything ? No injury , no interest !

Whilst changing the driving test to include awareness of cyclists would have an effect, it will take many years to achieve critical mass. We have to remember that many road users in some parts of the country passed their test in another country -e.g. drivers of LHD HGVs and recent migrants from the EU.

I'm not surprised that the review of evidence doesn't show that segregation has been beneficial in the UK - the piecemeal implementation of cycle lanes and low modal share make for very thin evidence.

Take the actual driving of cars away from people. Have every vehicle be operated by a computer or on a track. People can't be trusted to be conscientious--it's always "Me first" because "I am in a bigger hurry than you and what I'm doing is more important than what you are doing." Think of it could possibly get rid of the car insurance thieves and traffic jams & accidents could become things of the past!!

Slowing large pieces of machinery down is a no brainer, of course that would save a few cyclists. Err but since there are about 30 million of these heavy machines, the cost to the economy would kill more but that is conveniently omitted from the sums isn't it!

When will people work out that exposed humans among heavy fast moving machinery operated by some pretty ordinary folk is er.................very dangerous. So much so that if it were private it would all be banned under elf.n.safety. So cycling is...........er pretty dangerous and this is born out by the fact that the rise in fatals this year is all accounted for by......cyclists. Of course everyone has a right to put themselves amongst this heavy plant and die I suppose! Fault and blame is not the issue here. When you have abandoned your family to knock on St Peter's Gates he will say 'come in my son it was all the driver's fault' and that will make you very happy.

But before you go apoplectic with me for stating the obvious, let me say 'I am stating the obvious'. Thank God only a tiny minority cycle seriously and even they have to give up and turn to the.............car eventually.

Finally the DfT is seeing sense! Will we actually see some of their thoughts implemented though. I'm all for 20mph limits that are enforced. You could rip out the pinch points as well for a start. Fed up getting pinched redesign of the roundabouts is good as well.

@MunicipleWaste - granted improvements in brakes is a good thing. But, the improvements in car brakes do not appear to be protecting cyclists. So, all the more for urban 20mph

And yes the problem with roundabouts is they are designed to allow motor traffic to negotiate them at much too high speeds. That's what makes them so dangerous for both cyclists and other motor vehicles.

I can't imagine any situation where narrowing a road would make it safer for any road user. We need wider roads, not narrower ones. As a cyclist and motorist I am frustrated when encountering situations where road users are forced together by road narrowing either due to the natural obstacles or because some idiot highway engineer thinks it's a good idea to put bollards int he way. as for the type of motorist that is most dangerous, in my experience it's the impatient mother on school run who thinks that cyclists don;t belong on the road. And the main problem with cycle paths that run adjacent to carriageways is that the cycle path always gives way to side turning whereas it should be the other was round, obviously. Until these issues are addressed, we're screwed!

But its not collisions that cause the largest number of cycling injuries. While collisions cause the most serious, slowing vehicles will not prevent single user and non-collision incidents. This link reports numbers of emergency admissions to hopsital beds (not attendances at emergency departments) that are viewed as some of the most serious injuries.

http://www.hesonline.nhs.uk/Ease/servlet/ContentServer?siteID=1937&categ...

Slowing vehicles is expected to encourage more people onto the roads on thier bikes, which is a good thing, from our point of view.

SammyG wrote:

I have managed to improve my safety while commuting by using cycle paths for about 16 miles of my commute.

My commute is now 5 miles longer though..

Longer is good-er

My longer commute is still entirely on-road but uses quieter country lanes, so nicer than what feels like 'fencing on wheels' on the days when I use the busy roads through town to work (though a part of me enjoys the cut-and-thrust).

As for vans, I'd like to see all commercial vehicles display the business name so we'd have a better idea of who to complain to.

Needless road deaths will only reduce when others either (1) fear for their license or livelihood or (2) respect the safety of others adequately. I'd say the authorities have a better chance of the first option working than the second. Similarly, I'd also suggest that Chuck is right, in that many drivers seem to think they 'own the road' and cyclists etc are an inconvenience. This idea really needs to change.

They can go slow and still hit a cyclist. Better driving instruction plus a change in the National Driving test incorporating training for other road users ie cyclists and horse riders is needed, decades overdue imo.

Then you might see a decline in the needless deaths of cyclists.

A lot of junctions and roundabouts are designed with a large turn radius so that motorists can maintain a high speed through them. Simple to design them otherwise.

robbieC mentions light goods vehicles...Having been a professional driver for many years I can state with authority that there is a lot of pressure both from management and colleagues to get the job done and get back to the depot. However penalties are almost exclusively targeted at the driver. What I would like to see is when a professional driver is penalised so should the company; unless they can demonstrate that the time allowed to do the route is realistic without breaking every rule in the book. I used to treat speed limits as advisory, unload the vehicle whilst the taco was on break and still be significantly slower than some! I regularly see light vans being driven like they are on some sort of race track; surely this is a major cause of incidents.

I have managed to improve my safety while commuting by using cycle paths for about 16 miles of my commute.

My commute is now 5 miles longer though..

Proper enforcement of existing rules would make a huge improvement. There are far too many drivers at the wheel while under the influence of drugs and the police have had few tools to address this problem.

Sure that's a problem, but I think the real change and challenge is going to be with the mainstream rather than those at the edges, like people driving around under the influence. They're high profile, but it's the attiudes towards driving of society in general that needs to change in this country.

one way to start enforcing ASL and cycling rules is to target drivers that Tfl have a direct influence over - bus drivers and taxi drivers. It is usually these people that you come into conflict with in London (and I guess oop north too)the public carriage office and the PSV people have the tools. I also think that light goods vehicle drivers should be more regulated.

I wonder if TfL was able to find one ASL where the law was enforced.

Proper enforcement of existing rules would make a huge improvement. There are far too many drivers at the wheel while under the influence of drugs and the police have had few tools to address this problem. The 20mph limit for residential reas and around schools is a good one. The problem with many traffic calming measures is that they enrage vehicle drivers and are therefore utterly counter-productive.