Monthly Archives: March 2012

Please bear with us…

As you may have noticed, the Road Danger Reduction Forum website was hacked into and compromised a few days ago. We are getting it back together and hope to return shortly with a more secure and better site – please bear with us while we do! UPDATE: 27th April: Our site is being revamped and normal service is beingr esuled..Don’t forget the Big Bike Ride in London on April 28th (or its Edinburgh equivalent)

Campaign season for cyclists’ safety: “See Me Save Me” and the blind spot question

“BLIND SPOT”:

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY: an area in which a person lacks understanding or impartiality; COLLINS: a subject about which a person is ignorant or prejudiced, or an occupation in which he is inefficient

We are pleased to support “See Me Save Me”. It is an organisation entrenched in the road danger reduction approach : and as such committed to reducing danger from lorries – towards pedestrians as well as cyclists – at source. We believe that doing this will require examining what exactly is meant by a “blind spot”. This not so much a question of technical fixes, but like all questions of safety on the road, about the power of some road users to endanger others. Continue reading →

Campaign season for the safety of cyclists – we have been here before

Lynda Chalker

Photo: Victor Patterson

As we approach the 27^th anniversary of one of the first “road safety” conferences I ever attended, “Ways to safer cycling” , I recall the words of the key speaker there: Minister of State, Lynda Chalker: “To the “Three Es” of road safety: Engineering, Education and Enforcement, we should add a fourth “E” – Encouragement – we should be encouraging cycling”. It serves as an introduction to a progress report on current campaigning for cyclists’ safety.

In some ways, we have moved forward since 1985. At the same conference I also remember the words of the Chairman, Lord Nugent of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), to the effect that the onus of responsibility was on cyclists when it came to cyclists’ safety , because “You’re the ones who are vulnerable”. These words seemed to upset the Department of Transport minders: he was off message then, and you wouldn’t get away with it now. Also, the notorious words of the Chief Engineer from Cambridge City Council: “If you are thinking of cycling in a modern city: don’t”. You wouldn’t get away with that either.

But how much has actually changed? Continue reading →

“Sorry mate…”

Eilidh Cairns;Gary Mason; Tom Barrett; Photos from:RoadPeace; The Times; RAF

If any of the campaigns for cyclist safety are to actually achieve anything there is an absolutely central problem which needs addressing. This is the ability of the motorised to shift responsibility for their lethal behaviour on to their actual and potential victims – through the simple act of saying that they don’t “see” their victims. Below we look at two current and one recent case of cyclists killed in London .

While reading these cases, consider Rule 126 of the Highway Code:

“126: Stopping Distances: Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.” Continue reading →