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Cyclist chased for taking dangerous Stroud cycle lane that takes riders against flow of traffic

Poor signage or just simply poor design?

A Gloucestershire cyclist has claimed he was chased by a truck driver after taking a Stroud cycle lane up what is otherwise a one-way street.

Gloucestershire Live reports that drivers are often unaware that cyclists are permitted to ride both ways along Lansdown where cars are not.

The anonymous cyclist told the newspaper that when he used the lane towards oncoming traffic, an angry lorry driver drove at him and then chased him.

“It wasn’t a nice incident and I tried to tell him but the real issue is with the signs,” he said.

He added that the biggest problem was where drivers turn left off Brick Row onto Lansdown.

“The sign telling drivers they might see a cyclist coming towards them is high up on the left as they head down the hill, right next to it – but it’s out of their view.

“And then when they swing round, quite a few of them drive over the cycle lane as well. The signage just isn’t good enough.”

The lane is also narrow and alongside parked cars.

Dan Tiffney, local highways manager at Gloucestershire County Council, said:

“The original plans for the cycle lane were agreed following consultation with local residents.

“We have made a number of improvements in the last year including installing extra signs, painting additional cycle symbols and other road markings. This came on the back of feedback from local people who use the route.

“We would encourage both motorists and cyclists to pay attention to the road markings, being aware of their surroundings and look out for one another.”

In 2015 we reported on another Stroud cycle lane. This one, painted between two bus stops, appears to be just eight feet long. However, the council explained that it was in fact part of a longer advisory cycle lane with legislation having prevented it being painted over the adjacent markings for buses.

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14 comments

Avatar
JonD | 6 years ago
0 likes

Some years ago , riding uphill off a seafront, passenger in the car in front was giving a cyclist further ahead grief for not being in the cycle lane. Which was on the right, direction downhill *rollseyes*. Which was a fine example for the learner he was accompanying, judging by the 'L' on the back.

In Sarfend.
Make yer own jokes...

Avatar
pedalpowerDC | 6 years ago
0 likes

FYI, there's actually a term for this type of lane: "contraflow bike/cycle lane". Go ahead, give it a try.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
0 likes

I cycle the 'wrong way' up the local high street. Just because it has a no entry sign at the bottom doesn't mean I can't cycle against what motorists think is the right way as there are no one way signs along the road (ergo no TRO). So as i cut through the back of the multistory and join it a third of the way along i've not broken any laws and as far as I'm concerned the whole area was designed for integrated use with no kerbs etc. Only had one in 3 years telling me I'm going the wrong way so I'm totally ok with pointing out the error/misinterpretation that I'm in the wrong.

Back to the story, it's this crap we experience every day, hate crime, terrorism, piss poor infra pretending to be something useful when it's often the revers. I'm having words with the council next week about their broken promises from the 1999 urban Transport Plan which keep being regurgitated every few years and fuck all is done to actually implement the cycling bits ...grrrr

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brooksby | 6 years ago
0 likes

There used to be a contraflow cycle lane in central Bristol on Quay Street.  The council scrubbed it off whilst there were building works on the other side of the street, and painted it on the footpath instead. That was roundly laughed at for wiggling around all the street trees, and you can imagine how well the pedestrians stayed on their side of the white line... Thing is: the building work for which they needed to narrow the road finished months ago but they haven't moved the cycle lane back onto the road...

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bigshape | 6 years ago
0 likes

there are a few of these in leicester - the worst one leads along granby st towards the train station and is generally obstructed by illegaly parked cars, particularly in the evening rush hour, leaving cyclists with no option but to overtake into oncoming traffic. this along with pedestrians not looking, and cyclists coming from the other direction using it as a segregated lane...

 

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Metaphor | 6 years ago
3 likes

All the hallmarks of the Nice attack. I imagine resources have been deployed accordingly?

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Wardy74 | 6 years ago
1 like

I use one if these on my commute home, well l I say one of these, there aren't any signs or road markings. But the road is two car's wide and the footway is quiet if I need to hop onto it. It would be ideal for a bit of paint and possibly a legal requirement as there should be an historic right of way because the riverside towpath just dissappears.

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DaveE128 | 6 years ago
3 likes

Surely the most serious problem here is not the poor signage, but a "professional" driver in charge of a lorry, who thinks it is appropriate to endanger the safety of a vulneravle road user who he thinks isn't following the rules. Do you think he tries to run over pedestrians who don't look too, or run speeding motorists off the road? I suspect their is some anti-cyclist prejudice involved too.

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Zjtm231 | 6 years ago
0 likes

There are lots of contraflows in the city if London (eg St Mary Axe). Usually with vehicles parked in the cycling lane. So pretty much everyday I have cars or lorries driving straight around me to scare me off the road.

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WillRod | 6 years ago
5 likes

There are a few of these around. There is one in Ipswich and pedestrians regularly cross whilst looking just one way, and not noticing the cyclist coming against the flow.

During a driving lesson, my instructor reached across and used the horn and started shouting at a cyclist that was legitimately using a contraflow bike lane on a one-way road.

 

The mat disturbing that about this incident in the article is not that the driver hooted or swore, but the fact that they drove at the cyclist and chased them. There are some real nutters out there, and some are allowed to drive vehicles on public roads!

Avatar
jh27 replied to WillRod | 6 years ago
6 likes
WillRod wrote:

There are a few of these around. There is one in Ipswich and pedestrians regularly cross whilst looking just one way, and not noticing the cyclist coming against the flow.

During a driving lesson, my instructor reached across and used the horn and started shouting at a cyclist that was legitimately using a contraflow bike lane on a one-way road.

 

The mat disturbing that about this incident in the article is not that the driver hooted or swore, but the fact that they drove at the cyclist and chased them. There are some real nutters out there, and some are allowed to drive vehicles on public roads!

Is your driving instructor an Approved Driving Instructor? You really should report him/her to the DVSA and get a better one.

Avatar
WillRod replied to jh27 | 6 years ago
0 likes

jh27 wrote:
WillRod wrote:

There are a few of these around. There is one in Ipswich and pedestrians regularly cross whilst looking just one way, and not noticing the cyclist coming against the flow.

During a driving lesson, my instructor reached across and used the horn and started shouting at a cyclist that was legitimately using a contraflow bike lane on a one-way road.

 

The mat disturbing that about this incident in the article is not that the driver hooted or swore, but the fact that they drove at the cyclist and chased them. There are some real nutters out there, and some are allowed to drive vehicles on public roads!

Is your driving instructor an Approved Driving Instructor? You really should report him/her to the DVSA and get a better one.

 

I passed my test years ago, and it happened the day before my test, so I just got on with it. Probably should have done something about it, but instead I just pointed to the sign showing the cycle lane.

 

And yes, some people in Ipswich do at least glance one way when crossing the road. 

Avatar
stonojnr replied to WillRod | 6 years ago
1 like
WillRod wrote:

jh27 wrote:
WillRod wrote:

There are a few of these around. There is one in Ipswich and pedestrians regularly cross whilst looking just one way, and not noticing the cyclist coming against the flow.

During a driving lesson, my instructor reached across and used the horn and started shouting at a cyclist that was legitimately using a contraflow bike lane on a one-way road.

 

The mat disturbing that about this incident in the article is not that the driver hooted or swore, but the fact that they drove at the cyclist and chased them. There are some real nutters out there, and some are allowed to drive vehicles on public roads!

Is your driving instructor an Approved Driving Instructor? You really should report him/her to the DVSA and get a better one.

 

I passed my test years ago, and it happened the day before my test, so I just got on with it. Probably should have done something about it, but instead I just pointed to the sign showing the cycle lane.

 

And yes, some people in Ipswich do at least glance one way when crossing the road. 

yeah but its not the pedestrians on Upper Brook St you need to worry about you can usually guess when they are about to wander in front of you, its the one on Museum Street with the buses coming down that road who always take the apex of the corner next to Arcade Street which means they always drive into the cycle lane. The only reason no cyclist coming up that one way street has been hit is because cycling usage in the town is so low.

Avatar
leqin replied to WillRod | 6 years ago
4 likes

WillRod wrote:

There are a few of these around. There is one in Ipswich and pedestrians regularly cross whilst looking just one way, and not noticing the cyclist coming against the flow.

 

shocked and amazed.... your kidding me.... you expect me to believe that in Ipswich you have pedestrians who look one way.... ONE WAY!.... whats wrong with looking noway and just stepping into the road like the rest of the country.

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