Graculus wrote:
Boris's latest mad-cap idea:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7998687.stm and other sources.

So, the idea is that this allows cyclists to move off before lorries and
thus not get trapped/killed when they move off and turn left. And it is
cited that 13 deaths occurred because of this. What they fail to say is how
many cyclists would be killed when they see the red light as a proverbial
"green light" to run the red without paying any attention to what's
approaching from their right and get subsequently hit by some other vehicle
crossing the junction on green. I'm sure they would be meant to give way,
blah blah blah, but would that happen in reality?

Quite barmy!


Yesterday I approached, on my bike, a junction that had both an approach
lane and an Advanced Stop Box. The lights were RED. There was a cyclist
in the box, but the first vehicle was a van indicating left. Both myself
and another cyclists waited to the rear of the first vehicle. (We we
aware that the first vehicle in a Q at lights normally just looks at the
light and moves off when they change without looking around). Another
van was pulled up along side us. When the lights changed we all moved
off. As we reached the junction the van that had been alongside STARTED
to indicate left and pulled across our paths.
It seems increasingly common for vehicles to use 'indicators' NOT to
indicate what they will be doing, but only to indicate WHEN they are
doing the manouvre, as if it isn't bloody obvious. {end of preamble}

What we really really need are 'advance' cycle lights such as used in
other Northern European Countries. Then cyclists could approach lights
in the provided cycle lanes in the sure knowledge that they wouldn't be
trapped by a left turning vehicle as the vehicle lights turned green for
motor vehicles.
Of course they would still be the odd idiot who would cycle up the
inside of a vehicle indicating left AFTER the advance cycle lights have
turned green, but in the vast majority of case cyclists would be safer,
and it would even be possible for alert cyclists to use an approach lane
on the left to correctly position themselves for a right turn at most
junctions.

Jim Chisholm