Radical ideas that could save lives on London’s roads

 
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Matthew Beard30 April 2013

Road safety experts have opened the doors to their research centre to show how they plan to adapt London to cope with the cycling boom.

Innovations include Dutch-style roundabouts prioritising cyclists; low-level traffic lights for riders; and hi-tech sensors attached to thousands of Boris bikes, to curb the rising number of collisions with HGVs.

A £2 million Transport for London project is examining where the measures — many borrowed from continental Europe — can be implemented to remove accident blackspots.

Scientists at Transport Research Lab-oratory, whose expertise has influenced laws on drink-driving and phone use in cars, have tested the measures using motorists and cyclists from London.

At TRL’s test track in Crowthorne, Berkshire, the Mayor’s cycling commissioner, Andrew Gilligan, said the ideas would save lives: “These trials are of paramount importance in enabling us to reshape the landscape of the roads.

“Junctions cause disproportionate deaths and injuries and most of the key innovations here are to make junctions safer.” He acted as a guinea pig, cycling around the Dutch-style roundabout. Road markings give cyclists right of way, while four “lozenges” inside the roundabout segregate cars from the bike lane, and eliminate the driver’s blind spot for cyclists. It is hoped the roundabouts will be trialled next year at the Lambeth Bridge junction with Millbank, and possibly at Elephant and Castle.

TRL is also testing a technology called Cycle Safety Shield, which aims to cut cyclist deaths in collisions involving lorries. A device fitted to a bike sends a radio signal to the lorry driver when the cycle passes on the inside. The signal activates a TV monitor in the cab, so the driver can take evasive action, especially if he is turning left. Developers hope to sign a deal with TfL to fit the devices free of charge on Boris bikes.

Next year, transport chiefs hope to introduce traffic lights at eye-level for cyclists. The lights can be programmed to go green for bike riders first, giving them a head start over motor vehicles and priority for a right turn. Resistance from ministers over installing new cycle safety measures appears to have weakened. In a letter to the London Assembly’s transport committee in December, transport minister Norman Baker said low-level lights could be introduced “without the need for legislation”.

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