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news
Mapperley CC cyclist on an Orbea bike in a time trial (licensed CC BY SA 2.0 by Liam H on Twitter).jpgPetition launched seeking to ban cyclists from Buckinghamshire's dual carriageways after rider killed last week
A petition has been launched on Buckinghamshire County Council’s website calling for cyclists to be banned from dual carriageways in the county following the death last week of 91-year-old Raymond Dare, who was hit from the rear by a van driver as he took part in a time trial near Ayslesbury.
> Cyclist, 91, killed while taking part in time trial in Buckinghamshire
The text of the petition, posted last Friday and open until 18 August, reads:
We the undersigned petition the council to Ban cyclists from the high speed dual carriageways county wide
With the sad death of a cyclist taking part in a time trial on the A41 this week it is time the local transport agency did something about the very unsafe practice of cycling on dual carriageways. Cyclists are banned from motorways and many of the counties dual carriageways have the same speed limit of 70mph however there is no hard shoulder so it is in effect more dangerous than a motorway for them.
At the time of writing, 78 people had signed the petition.
Similar petitions have been drawn up before, sometimes following a fatal incident in which a cyclist was killed, such as one posted to UK Parliament site in 2015 calling for bicycles to be banned from the A50 in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
It attracted 136 signatures, with 10,000 needed to trigger a response from the government, and 100,000 required for the House of Commons Backbench Business Committee to consider holding a debate on the issues raised.
Conservative MP for Burton, Andrew Griffiths, backed that petition, saying: “I can completely understand why residents want to start this petition against the cycling time trials. We’ve seen deaths on the A50 and I’ve seen myself near misses.
> MP supports petition calling for time trialling to be banned on A50
“I think unfortunately cyclists bring it [the petition] on themselves,” he continued.
“Many time trials aren’t well run and aren’t signposted," he claimed.
"Safety measures aren’t in place and unless cyclists start taking it more seriously these calls for cyclists to be banned will only continue.
“It would be a shame for cyclists but they desperately need to do something to protect themselves from other road users.
“One option would be to put warnings and signs at every junction.
“You can get onto the A50 and before you know it there is a cyclist right in front of you.”
Last November, we reported how Surrey County Council had rejected a petition with 306 signatories that had sought to ban cyclists from the A24 between Leatherhead and Dorking, popular with riders particularly at the weekend since it is one of the main access points to the Box Hill loop.
> A24 cycling ban rejected by Surrey County Council
The council said that it had the powers to prohibit the use of a road by cyclists, but not a duty to do so. The Prohibition of Cyclists Traffic Orders are made under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, and this would require extensive consultation.
"This type of proposal would also require the support of the police, as they would be responsible for enforcing any traffic order of this type.
"This proposal would set an unjustified precedent that would also create an additional budget pressure for the cost of consultation, advertising and potentially enacting a traffic order, signs and enforcement.
"It is acknowledged that this section of the A24 formed part of the Olympic Cycle Route, in 2012, and the use of the road has brought cycling tourism to the area,” the council added.
"Any proposal to ban cycling from the A24 would not support the Surrey County Council's cycling strategy, in particular that 'we will support cycling as healthy, inclusive and affordable'."
Please note: This article was amended on 27 July 2017 to clarify comments made by Andrew Griffiths MP in an interview with the Uttoxeter News in 2014.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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99 comments
The ones I'm familiar with ban cycles from the carriageway because they provide parallel, properly surfaced, protected cycle routes.
What are these "most other countries"? I've ridden in over a 20 countries on 4 different continents. Not one of them banned cyclists on dual carriageways. Obviously some banned cyclists on some high speed road systems (normally freeways / motorways, and expresssways) but none banned them on all dual carriageways.
Signed. Currently at 92.
Counter petition now working again 88
As dual carriageways tend to run into mast cities, I am not sure how I could get anywhere if I were banned (unless they had to have an alternative cyce route built in.)
I'm also an ill cyclist.
Think Beasty Boys.
This is horrible. To use the death of Ray - a charming guy who was so full of life and loved his sport, a sport which he competed for so many decades without incident - to blame the victim.
Anyone who has done a few TTs on both DCs and on single carriageway roads, well there's a lot less space on the latter. When you're on your own in a TT with cars trying to squeeze past on a narrow road, well it can be a little intimidating. TTs take place on dual carriageways all the time and the extra room for everyone is better.
(I was broken up when I heard about Ray. It wasn't that long ago when he rode one of my events but the age record eluded him that time. You would never believe that he was over 90)
I'm hoping that I can't get on it to sign because so many thousands of people are doing the same.
I'd never cycle on a dual carriageway if I could help it because I'd find it too boring but each to their own.
i ride on high speed arterial roads all the time, they're no more scary than cycling on a 30mph or a country lane, in all honesty I'd say it's much more stressful in the urban environ as someone riding a bike.
Yeah, I'm struggling with the link. On a slightly related morons-in-cars note, the missus has a broken foot, so I'm picking her up from the station at the end of the day (cycling from/to the car/work, don't worry). Her train was 15 minutes late so I sat observing the driving world. Holy shit. What a bunch of impatient, foul tempered, miserable, selfish pricks most... no, not most, but a sizeable chunk of motorists are.
FTFY. Apologies for the negativity, but I live and work in London and have to suffer bad-tempered, miserable, selfish pricks most days. Takes considerable effort not to become one.
The poluce should be proactive and psyche test these wankers who can't /won't do hazard perception.
Maybe if I run your child/mother/wife over as they're crossing the road we can get a petition up to ban people from walking across the roads ... ever! That's what it's effectively sayung, fackng cretins!
I'll sign if it comes back on.
As much as I think slogging your guts out for 10k on a torture device that is a TT bike while idiots in 2 ton metal boxes wizz past is a crazy way to spend your spare time I really don't think it's the cyclists that needs to change their behaviour.
I think you've crashed the site, I can't get on it to sign
it's say database not found.
78 now
66 now
Signed and highlighted to Club to sign (local to A41 - Berkhamsted Cycling Club).
Signed
Great name...also signed. very easy to do. 40-odd now.
Done
Signed. Andrew Griffiths MP is a fuckwit.
Signed, victim blaming of the worst kind
Signed. 22
Signed. 18 vs 100.
Signed: we're on 15. Come on folks.
Amazing that drivers seemingly have no responsiblity to not ill cyclists.
“You can get onto the A50 and before you know it there is a cyclist right in front of you.”
pretty obvious here that he isn't driving with due care and attention...
Usual bollocks from our car centric society. If the infrastructure is unsafe then improve it, and until the works are completed cone off the inside lane, impose a 30 mph speed limit with average speed cameras to enforce it. Problem solved.
Can they not take the names of the cunts that sign this fuckwittery and remove their licences?
Someone should definitely save off the names. I would imagine that signatories will have a future appearance in the the courts (if they have not already).
What utter b*llocks and ill-informed victim blaming. Cycling on dual carriageways is not "very unsafe" as there is loads of space for vehicles to get past you provided they are driven in a competent manner in accordance with the prevailing road rules. The absence of hard shoulders is completely irrelevant as any driver following the Highway Code should overtake humans travelling on bikes in the same way they overtake a car and give them as much space ... I personally prefer dual carriageways to single A roads on which there isnt much space and drivers exceed the nominal 60mph limit most of the time.
Total victim blaming - agreed.
What drivers ought to do, and what they actually do are often very different. I tend to keep single carriageway A-roads to a minimum on my routes, and avoid dual-carriageways like the plague. Busy dual carriageways do carry increased risk IMO, especially with two lanes of vehicles each doing 60-80mph. Drivers seem surprised by cyclists on DCs, and a proportion of inside lane vehicles leave it too late to change lanes properly, with outside lane traffic overtaking them.
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