Zero safety measures at scene of fatal crash
Cyclists shouldn’t have to die before authorities recognise the need for separated and protected infrastructure for people on bikes, a cycling advocate says.
Bike Waikato chairperson Richard Porter’s comments come after the death of a woman who was riding to work in Hamilton on Monday. She was killed in a collision with a truck at the busy intersection of Tristram and London streets.
The crossroads is an example of an intersection with zero cycling safety measures, something Porter said needs to change.
‘‘This intersection is not the only place we expect something to be done,’’ he said. ‘‘While this intersection has shown it is dangerous, all intersections are dangerous.’’
Porter noted the intersection has two lanes running north and south and all of them are designed for motor vehicles.
‘‘None of the fronts of those lanes are designed to accommodate bicycles.
‘‘We see work happening around Hamilton with advanced green stop boxes to allow bicycles to get in front of vehicles when they are at a red light, so drivers can see there are cyclists at the intersection.’’
While stop boxes may not have prevented this crash, he said it’s one of the first things that could be done.
However, cyclists need to be able to get to the boxes safely which can’t be done if there aren’t cycle lanes.
You could look at the intersection and refer to it as a ‘‘road diet’’ – presently, it’s for vehicles only, but the question Porter asks is, could they be reallocated?
‘‘It’s not so much taking away, as we don’t want to take away from people, we are giving space to people. We may be taking away from cars, but these are half of the people we want to get onto bikes to alleviate the congestion, so we don’t turn out like Auckland or Tauranga.’’
There are traffic lights at the intersection, but no cycle lights which Porter said are a great way to give cyclists priority.
Yet, again, they’re only good when you have space for people on bikes.
He said Tristram St is one of the city’s main north-south connectors, and if Anglesea St is being allocated to vehicles and buses where is the avenue provided for people on bikes?
‘‘Tristram St as a whole, not so much the intersection, needs to show priority for bikes, allocating space, the entire length and through all the intersections, so people on bikes have a safe journey.’’
Porter said the biking community wants change to come before fatalities happen, not after.
‘‘While we can understand this intersection needs to have some separation between pedestrians and vehicles, it needs to have separation for other road users – people on bikes but people on e-scooters.
‘‘We don’t have a place for those people. Most often they ride on the footpath as that is where they feel the safest. But then it’s not the safest for other footpath users.’’
He said allocating roads specifically for other users happens around the world and in New Zealand.
‘‘So it’s not an impossible task to reallocate road space; it just takes some people making the right decisions and making forward-thinking decisions, so we don’t expect that deaths or serious injuries are part of moving around our transport system.’’