Common sense approach to road safety?

Sean02

The police have been out in force this week stopping cyclists without lights. In Oxford over 80 cyclists were fined £30, but if they turn up at a police station within seven days and show a valid receipt for new bike lights, their fine will be waived. In Cambridge though, the police are handing out fines to tackle cyclists with road rage! Let’s hope they also fine drivers too.

Take action for safer lorries

The Metropolitan Police’s Commercial Vehicle Education Unit (CVEU) is the only police unit in the UK with the power to enforce health and safety law. Since 2005, it has checked over 3000 lorries and found 70% of them to be illegal. CTC believes that the CVEU should be rolled out across the country, as it will make the roads safer for cycling. Instead, the Mayor of London has decided to cut funding for the CVEU and close it in March 2010. You can use CTC’s online letter writing tool to ask your MP to put pressure on the Mayor to reverse his decision.

tomasrojo

Sean02 wrote: »

You can use CTC’s online letter writing tool to ask your MP to put pressure on the Mayor to reverse his decision.

You know this is boards.ie, not boards.org.uk?

DirkVoodoo

tomasrojo wrote: »

You know this is boards.ie, not boards.org.uk?

Quiet down old bean!

Sean02

Tomas, Perhaps this type of information and discussion needs to be highlighted if cycling and safety are ever to be tackled in .ie land. Certaintly our politicans and particuarly the greens could learn a lot about promoting safe cycling from reading the monthly CTC newletter. Slan

tomasrojo

Sean02 wrote: »

Tomas, Perhaps this type of information and discussion needs to be highlighted if cycling and safety are ever to be tackled in .ie land. Certaintly our politicans and particuarly the greens could learn a lot about promoting safe cycling from reading the monthly CTC newletter. Slan

Thanks for posting that SeanO2, but I just meant you could have edited out the bit about contacting your MP and protesting the decisions of the mayor of London. We secessionists don't have a lot of sway in the UK. A link to where you found the information would be handy too!

SerialComplaint

Launched of road safety cycling initiative entitled ‘Operation Bicycle Lights’ to be held in Dublin during the month of November

Great move by the Gardai

Bunnyhopper

Yeah, sounds like a good move. I hope they keep it up.

Blowfish

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Launched of road safety cycling initiative entitled ‘Operation Bicycle Lights’ to be held in Dublin during the month of November

Great move by the Gardai

That depends. I've a reasonably bright front light and 3 rear lights. If they stop me just to give me a hi-vis I won't be too happy.

Beasty

Blowfish wrote: »

That depends. I've a reasonably bright front light and 3 rear lights. If they stop me just to give me a hi-vis I won't be too happy.

Per the garda statement:

"In conjunction with the above, high-visibility vests supplied by each local authority, will be handed to poorly-lit cyclists"

So no free high-vis unless you are poorly lit

tomasrojo

I wouldn't be surprised if they stop a few cyclists with decent lights but no hi-viz though. There is a strong tendency here to think that cyclists should take every available precaution, all the time, every journey. Even if the precaution is made redundant by some other precaution the cyclist is making.

Raam

tomasrojo wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised if they stop a few cyclists with decent lights but no hi-viz though. There is a strong tendency here to think that cyclists should take every available precaution, all the time, every journey. Even if the precaution is made redundant by some other precaution the cyclist is making.

If they start offering free cars, I'll take one.

niceonetom

All in all, this is a good thing.

In conjunction with the above, high-visibility vests supplied by each local authority, will be handed to poorly-lit cyclists.

Huh? Why are the giving hi-viz to people without lights? That just plays to the contingent who clearly believe that a builders' jacket is an acceptable alternative to lights. It's not.

I'd be in in favour of an on-the-spot fine of €50 for lack of lights... for which the ninja in question would then get something like this. It would basically be a compulsory purchase / fine with a token sum still going to the public coffers. The choice for the ninja would then be to a) buy the lights in a shop for, say, 30 quid or b) get the mandatory bollicking from plod and pay €50 for the same lights.

Still, I hope this initiative has some effect, though I doubt it will.

tomasrojo

niceonetom wrote: »

Huh? Why are the giving hi-viz to people without lights? That just plays to the contingent who clearly believe that a builders' jacket is an acceptable alternative to lights. It's not.

Very true.

niceonetom wrote: »

I'd be in in favour of an on-the-spot fine of €50 for lack of lights... for which the ninja in question would then get something like this. It would basically be a compulsory purchase / fine with a token sum still going to the public coffers. The choice for the ninja would then be to a) buy the lights in a shop for, say, 30 quid or b) get the mandatory bollicking from plod and pay €50 for the same lights.

I actually quite like the plan of requiring them to turn up with lights at the station. I think once they've bought them they might well use them.

Blowfish

niceonetom wrote: »

Huh? Why are the giving hi-viz to people without lights? That just plays to the contingent who clearly believe that a builders' jacket is an acceptable alternative to lights. It's not.

Indeed, it's a pretty widespread problem at the minute. Last Thursday I actually decided to count them. I overtook 11 other commuters on my way home, only 2 of them actually had proper lights, yet 8 of them had hi-vis jackets.

ednwireland

i was told off by someone i know after riding that i should wear a vis vest, after they pulled out in front of me at 2pm on a winters day, consideringthe angle i was coming at them and it was daylight i really dont think high vis would have made much difference.
the funny thing is that the kid in the car said mummy you nearly hit that cyclist, yet adults driving just blank you out, mind you she was too scared to stop after the torrent of commuter abuse i gave her ( hadnt used that in a while !)

Raam

If a cyclist doesn't see a car, and almost hits it... is it OK for the cyclist to ask the car driver to deck his/her car in high-visibility/reflective paint?

Capt'n Midnight

tomasrojo wrote: »

You know this is boards.ie, not boards.org.uk?

http://infotruck.blogspot.com/2009/05/prohibition-notices-ireland-irish.html

More than three out of 10 Irish HGVs inspected in the UK, failed roadworthiness checks, in the year to the end of April, preliminary statistics released by VOSA reveal... VOSA also confirmed that more than a third (34 per cent) of Irish drivers were in breach of Driver’s Hours regulations... The drivers were served with prohibition notices, which can range from an improvement order for the vehicle to, in more serious cases, the impounding of the vehicle... VOSA says that Irish registered vehicles received the highest number of prohibition notices among foreign vehicles on UK roads...

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/31302/Johnson-comes-under-fire-for-disbanding-lorry-safety-unit

The LCC has said the decision to cull the unit is difficult to believe in a year when eight out of ten cyclist fatalities have involved collisions with lorries.

LCC cycling development officer Charlie Lloyd said: "It's difficult to believe that our cycling mayor is disbanding the only police unit in the country that has the power to properly investigate unsafe lorry operators, and bring them up to standards set by Health and Safety law.”

What is being done here to check for dodgy trucks ?

tomasrojo

Again, I'm not disagreeing with anything the OP said -- except that calling on people in the Republic of Ireland to lobby their MP to change the view of the mayor of London is out of place. Unless that whole business in 1922 never happened.

Safety checks on trucks and drivers is a great idea.

BTW, I saw a five-axle truck thundering down Inchicore Road the other day. I had always thought that the only heavy vehicles allowed down there were buses. Anyone know whether there's a restriction on that road?

redmenace1

quote=Capt'n Midnight
What is being done here to check for dodgy trucks ?

Very little. The RSA with the help of the Gardai are responsible for road safety, but there is very little enforcement in this country, especially in regard to Trucks.


If you look elsewhere in EU you will see:

• weigh bridges in regular use
• random stopping of trucks for roadside inspection
• thorough inspection of tachographs (drivers hours)
• more frequent testing for drink driving
• full scale accident investigations, with widely publicised results
• huge penalities for infringements
• sorry but we really don't care about road safety in Ireland:(

gman2k

tomasrojo wrote: »

Again, I'm not disagreeing with anything the OP said -- except that calling on people in the Republic of Ireland to lobby their MP to change the view of the mayor of London is out of place. Unless that whole business in 1922 never happened.

Yes let's keep mainland topics off this thread;)

Capt'n Midnight

ednwireland wrote: »

i was told off by someone i know after riding that i should wear a vis vest, after they pulled out in front of me at 2pm on a winters day

People who don't know the basic rules of the road should be made resit the exam.

If you had right of way then they as a third class road user should know that the onus is on them not to interfere with your progress.

The motorists with the headlights on in day time and cyclists with hi-vis in daytime are probably safer, but this means those with lesser visibility aren't looked for.

Wez

Hate to try contradict popular beleif, but recently I've noticed alot of cyclists with lights that seems to pop up out of nowhere!

Most of the new lights on the market are powered by LED's, which as everyone knows, are tiny! There's a trade-off between (apparent) brightness and diameter of light emitted. The result of this is, unless you're headon with a cyclist (which isn't 100% of the time, since they're at the side of the road) it's hard to make out the lights on the bicycle.

I think High-vis jackets do work, since there is more area for your eye to catch when it's dark. Obviously the perfect solution is to have both lights and a jacket, but with the difference in cost to distribute (aswell as zero maintenace - no battery) High-viz jackets are going to be the easiest tool to promote safe cycling.

For what it's worth, I use a jacket mostly, although I'm planning some trick lighting with the wiring etc all hidden in my frame, and some LED's sticking out through the back of my seatpost.

ednwireland

hi viz gets dirty and stops working btw, so needs washing regularly

tomasrojo

Wez wrote: »

Hate to try contradict popular beleif, but recently I've noticed alot of cyclists with lights that seems to pop up out of nowhere!

Most of the new lights on the market are powered by LED's, which as everyone knows, are tiny! There's a trade-off between (apparent) brightness and diameter of light emitted. The result of this is, unless you're headon with a cyclist (which isn't 100% of the time, since they're at the side of the road) it's hard to make out the lights on the bicycle.

I think High-vis jackets do work, since there is more area for your eye to catch when it's dark. Obviously the perfect solution is to have both lights and a jacket, but with the difference in cost to distribute (aswell as zero maintenace - no battery) High-viz jackets are going to be the easiest tool to promote safe cycling.

For what it's worth, I use a jacket mostly, although I'm planning some trick lighting with the wiring etc all hidden in my frame, and some LED's sticking out through the back of my seatpost.

Would you really miss this?

Lumen

Wez wrote: »

Most of the new lights on the market are powered by LED's, which as everyone knows, are tiny! There's a trade-off between (apparent) brightness and diameter of light emitted. The result of this is, unless you're headon with a cyclist (which isn't 100% of the time, since they're at the side of the road) it's hard to make out the lights on the bicycle.

LEDs are more efficient than incandescents or HIDs, but crap lights are crap, regardless of technology.

NewDubliner

Lumen wrote: »

LEDs are more efficient than incandescents or HIDs, but crap lights are crap, regardless of technology.

Agreed, some of the stuff I've seen on bikes are useless & probably should not be allowed on sale at all.

Then, there's folk who never seem to change the batteries.

blorg

Battery was low in the two on the seatstays there as well.

I came up behind a cyclist with some sort of hi-vis backpack cover today but no lights. I have a very bright front light myself (it lights up all the street signs from 200m or more out) but really didn't notice the backpack cover. It was raining and I found her hard to see never mind what it must have been like from inside a car. First thing I saw were the pedal reflectors.

LEDs are fine if they are good LEDs (most car lights are LED these days BTW.) They are not much use if they are crap and then people don't charge/replace the batteries.

Good lights are unquestionably more important than high vis vests. (Nothing against people wearing them as well if they want to.)