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“Cycle streets” with 15mph speed limit proposed by DfT (13 May 2014)

Date: 13/05/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, “Cycle streets” with 15mph speed limit proposed by DfT

The Department for Transport (DfT) is proposing the introduction of “cycle streets” in London and other towns and cities in the UK, which would give cyclists priority over other road users – with drivers possibly banned from overtaking cyclists.

Drivers who breach the rules would receive a fine of £100 or three penalty points.

The proposals are aimed at reducing the number of cyclists maimed and killed on Britain’s roads – especially in London. The pilot schemes are likely to be introduced in the capital later this year and also in Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

A 15mph speed limit would be introduced on “cycle streets”, according to a DfT consultation document.

The scheme has been championed by the government’s Roads Minister, Robert Goodwill, according to a Daily Mail report.

Similar cycles schemes are already operating in the Netherlands and Germany – and cycling campaigners in the UK have been calling for more government action to make cycling safer on Britain’s streets.

The DfT consultation document states:

“This is a bold initiative, which is being considered by some of the cycle cities and London, possibly including a ban on overtaking on lightly-trafficked roads where cycle flows are high.

“Subject to any scheme trial, this prohibition could be accompanied by an advisory speed limit of 15mph.”

In the Netherlands, cycle streets operate where cyclists outnumber motorists by two to one – however, in Britain this ratio is unlikely.

London Mayor Boris Johnson – a keen cyclist himself – has introduced Cycle Superhighway routes across the capital, but these have not prevented deaths and injuries among cyclists, who are often hit by HGVs in busy traffic.

Calls for lorry cabs with larger windscreens and side windows have resulted in proposals by the EU to introduce cab designs with improved vision for HGV drivers – and bumpers which are designed to limit the effects of impacts. The traditional “brick-shaped” lorry cab could be phased out across the EU by the early 2020s.

The DfT consultation document suggests road crossing zones for cyclists, which would give them priority over motorists.

Several cyclists using the Mayor’s “Boris Bikes” – sponsored by Barclays Bank – have been killed on London’s roads. In February 2012, a cyclist using a Boris Bike was involved in a collision with an HGV in Clerkenwell, east London but escaped unharmed; while in July 2013, a 20-year-old woman was killed in an accident involving a Boris Bike on the Whitechapel Road, east London – the first fatality involving the bikes after they were launched by the London Mayor in 2010.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors for Road Traffic Accidents

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise cyclists, pedestrians and other road users on how to make a no win no fee compensation claim for injuries sustained in a road traffic accident (RTA) caused by the negligence of another road user or party.

RTA claimants have three years from the date of the accident in which to make a claim – and passengers in cars, vans or on motorbikes who are injured as a result of driver negligence can also claim.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Road Traffic Accident claims, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.

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