Simply painting the cycle lane blue isn't going to solve the problem!
Simply painting the cycle lane blue isn't going to solve the problem!
This appears to have happened to Everton Smith, a 48-year-old civil servant and father of three, who died in a collision with a left-turning cement mixer on 22nd May.
Sergeant Simon Seeley, from the Metropolitan Police road death investigation unit, said: “Our traffic management unit has advised me that that cycle lane is not of the required width. It is not the proper width for a cycle lane.”
Sgt Seeley said that while the collision appeared to have occurred just after the cycle lane ended, the road layout was too cramped. Not only was the 1.2 metre-wide cycle lane below the minimum 1.5 metre width set out in government guidelines, but the adjoining traffic lane was only 2.9 metres wide.
He said that was only slightly greater than the 2.5 metre width of the cement mixer and warned that such lack of space was putting cyclists at risk on a significant number of London roads.
Sgt Seeley added: “As a cyclist, you think this is not a cycle lane, this is the gutter. They try to squeeze everything on and there isn't enough room because some of these HGVs and buses take up the whole lane.”
Police
demonstrate lorry dangerAt the Dr Bike sessions held in Westminster in this year's Bike Week, the police demonstrated the dangers posed to cyclists by lorries.
Cyclists were able to sit in the cab of a lorry to appreciate just how much the driver can and cannot see. The black patch on the ground in the photo shows the area the driver cannot see to the front and left of the cab. This is the very area where advance stop lines lead cyclists to wait at junctions!
The vehicle shown in the photo is fitted with a number of safety devices, including an audible warning to other road users that it is turning left and a warning to the driver that a cyclist is passing on the inside. The driver said that this warning had sounded on several occasions in situations where a cyclist might otherwise have been crushed beneath the vehicle.
Transport for London have consulted us about plans to improve the crossings of Park Lane between Hyde Park and Upper Brook Street / Upper Grosvenor Street. As well as a number of minor improvements, the capacity of the eastbound crossing will be increased. But we have pointed out that the proposals do not reduce conflict between westbound cyclists and vehicles turning left from Upper Grosvenor Street into Park Lane.
See the plans for yourself (PDF, 1.058MB).
The Royal Parks' Dr Bike sessions held in this year's Bike Week proved as popular as ever. An innovation this year was TfL's stall promoting the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme.
For most bikes, a few small adjustments to brakes and gears and a bit of air made a big difference to their roadworthiness. But a few had more serious faults and their owners were advised not to ride them.
A silly situation has now arisen at the junction of Romilly Street and Greek Street in Soho.
As the photo shows, a cycle route sign points straight into a No Entry.
There is another strange sight further along Romilly Street, at the junction with Frith Street.
As the photo shows, cyclists are exempted from something, but it is not clear what! We are following this up with Westminster.
We believe that, in both cases, there was originally an 'Except Cycles' plate under a 'No Entry' sign. Although this combination is not (yet) authorised, even Westminster breaks the rules sometimes.
Access to Romilly Street from Charing Cross Road is still blocked by a work site for Tottenham Court Road station. But it is still worth wheeling your bike past it to use this route.