I'm not a cyclist, but I'm all in favour of trying to encourage cycling and discourage unnecessary car use in London. Cycle lanes and cycle paths can only be a good thing. However, we the public need to keep an eye out for, and report, infrastructure which is conducive to accidents. I give two examples, the first of which is a relativey minor local problem, which may possiby never have been reported. The exit from Barley Mow Passage to Dukes Avenue used to have a chicane barrier to alow down exiting cyclists. The barrier was removed several years ago, and replaced by a single post. Pedestrians walking from the High Road past the Catholic church and cyclists exiting Barley Mow Passage are completely unsighted, because the end wall of the church is almost right up to the pavement. Unfortunately cyclists regularly exit Barley Mow Passage at speed, and cross straight over the pavement, sometimes only inches away from pedestrians.The second example is much more serious, and the risk has been known for a long time. It was reported on FixMyStreet five years ago, and nothing has been done in that time to address the problem.The junction of Vauxhall Bridge Road and Drummond Gate is controlled by traffic lights, which include lights for a pedestrian crossing on the North side of the junction. Today, on the way to the Tate Gallery, my wife and I crossed Vauxhall Bridge Road from Drummond Gate. We crossed during the pedestrian phase of the lights, but on stepping onto the pavement on the East side of Vauxhall Bridge Road we were almost immediately faced by a cycle lane (or is it technically a cycle track?) on the pavement, and were almost taken out by a teenage idiot, travelling very fast on an electric scooter, and then shouted at by a rather more mature cyclist, following behind him, also travelling at considerable speed. As I'm not familiar with this junction, it never occurred to me that when we crossed on the pedestrian light, there would not be a red light for people in the cycle lane. But surely under the new hierarchy in the Highway Code the scooter rider and the cyclist should have reduced their speed to avoid an accident? I'd be interested in the views of the forum's "cycle lobby" (no criticism implied by the use of what is a pejorative term for some). I find it incredibe that the person who reported the absurdity of this layout, which dumps people crossing on the green pedestrian light straight into the path of cyclists, had exactly the same experience, and nothing has been done about this inherently flawed design in five years.
Robert Fish ● 271d