Near Miss of the Day 660: Cyclist forced to ride in coned off section of roadworks for safety

There's an awful stretch of road up and down Queensland Avenue in Coventry which forms my daily commute. Signal, about 200m of narrow road with cars on either side, bollard, another 200m of similar road, then signal with advanced stop line. One way's downhill so I can usually pick up speed enough that following drivers won't attempt a super sketchy overtake between signal and bollard. The other way is a frantic uphill drag, desperately trying to sprint from signal to bollard to signal so that no-one can try and sneak into the gap.

Drivers are really just SO impatient.

I believe it is something the council handle for some reason rather than the individual contractor, maybe they own responsiblity for the traffic planning as they work out the diversion routes, so the time the traffic waits is something they have to decide to minimise queues/congestion etc

I dont know, but last time I complained i was redirected to the council who said would get it sorted out, but the roadworks disappeared before I got chance to check if they did

brooksby wrote:

Not really up to our usual NMOTD par (not a NMOTD at all, IMO), but pretty cr@ppy organisation by the gas company.  Isn't there official guidance on that sort of thing, timings on lights, etc?

Can't find anything absolutely definitive, but most sites say 300m is the maximum.  This seems pretty authoritative https://app.hauc-uk.org.uk/traffic-control-by-portable-traffic-signals

Including:

"When using two-way portable signals to control traffic, you must consider the following:

the needs of cyclists and other vulnerable road users;"

Which is fine, but obviously dependent on the timing of the lights; 300m at 20kph takes more than a minute, but these lights seem to change after less than thirty seconds.  Timings are covered by An Introduction to the Use of Portable Vehicular Signals https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

The table in that document gives 30s as the time for a 300m length;

Distance (metres)             0 50 100 150 200 250 300
All-Red time (seconds)        5    10   15    20   25   30

That is clearly not long enough for a cyclist to transit the works, and even the maximum of 50s may not be enough for many cyclists to get through before the lights change.

I'm sure the government, which is really, really serious about the safety of vulnerable road users, will address this problem immediately; or they might just put it off for eight years and then repeat that they take it seriously.

It might be worth measuring the length and checking the timing, and taking it up with the Highway Authority, requesting them to take action to ensure the safety of cyclists, asking for the length to be reduced and the timing extended to the maximum.

The Safety at Street Works guide has force of law (note the red box on p5).  p35 is particularly useful regarding signal timings in relation to cyclists; p63 is also significant. The guide does not authorise "cyclists dismount" signs other than where the carriageway is closed and the footway remains open.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

More to the point, however bad the timings are, the oncoming traffic should not take a green light as an indication of priority. The green light only means proceed if it is safe to do so. They should have waited. Although the video isn't that clear, it looks to me as though the cyclist was in view to the traffic (I can see the car that was in front of the cyclist all the way to the point it exits the roadworks).  It clearly wasn't appropriate to proceed.

GMBasix wrote:

More to the point, however bad the timings are, the oncoming traffic should not take a green light as an indication of priority. The green light only means proceed if it is safe to do so. They should have waited. Although the video isn't that clear, it looks to me as though the cyclist was in view to the traffic (I can see the car that was in front of the cyclist all the way to the point it exits the roadworks).  It clearly wasn't appropriate to proceed.

You mean - you expected those Very Important Motorists to wait until the cyclist had cleared the lane, and possibly miss their 'go' on the traffic lights?

Are you quite mad, sirrah??

(Seriously - have you ever watched how people behave if they've had to wait for an emergency vehicle to pass?  They seem to think it gives them a Get Out of Jail Free Card for running the red light...).

brooksby wrote:

(Seriously - have you ever watched how people behave if they've had to wait for an emergency vehicle to pass?  They seem to think it gives them a Get Out of Jail Free Card for running the red light...).

In fairness, I think discretion should be applied when somebody crosses the line on red to allow blue lights through. I assume that it is endeavouring to save lives, so if I can safely move out of the way, a white line isn't foremost in my consideration.

GMBasix wrote:

brooksby wrote:

(Seriously - have you ever watched how people behave if they've had to wait for an emergency vehicle to pass?  They seem to think it gives them a Get Out of Jail Free Card for running the red light...).

In fairness, I think discretion should be applied when somebody crosses the line on red to allow blue lights through. I assume that it is endeavouring to save lives, so if I can safely move out of the way, a white line isn't foremost in my consideration.

That's not what I was talking about, and I totally understand that.

I meant where people have been delayed on the approach to traffic lights because they've been waiting for/letting an emergency vehicle past.  If the lights have then changed, a lot of people seem to think that they can just go through the lights... I don't know, maybe they think that's their reward?

Not just lights - a lot of people also seem to think that some kind of special 'last one back on the road's a loser' rules apply, whereby accelerating hard entitles you to barrel through a gap where someone who was in front of you before you all pulled over is trying to re-enter the road.

brooksby wrote:

If the lights have then changed, a lot of people seem to think that they can just go through the lights... I don't know, maybe they think that's their reward?

Righting the karmic balance? Though they usually make up for it by nearly killing me most evenings so all balances out in the end.

How on earth were the times set?!?

A class 3 invalid carriage is a road vehicle, but limited to 8mph. As a road vehicle it should be able to pass through roadworks safely...

That basically means tripling the numbers given above!