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Oxford cyclists could be sent on courses

7:00am Monday 22nd March 2010 in


Cyclists could be sent on cycle-awareness courses as part of a concerted effort to change attitudes among Oxford’s riders.

Campaign group Cyclox teamed up with Oxfordshire County Council, police and both city universities to create a Bike Polite scheme similar to ones operating in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

A public meeting on Thursday will help shape the initiative’s goals and the way it is implemented ahead of a launch later this year.

The focus is expected to be on issues such as jumping red lights and riding on pavements.

Other Bike Pilote schemes have used measures such as reflective wristbands, and the county council and police have held discussions with Cyclox about how the scheme could be implemented.

Cyclox chairman James Styring raised the possibility of cycle-awareness courses as part of the scheme.

He said: “It’s partly about safety but more about behaving responsibly and not annoying people.

“Increasingly the central areas of Oxford are becoming shared spaces and it’s important for cyclists and pedestrians to get along.

“We could do something akin to motorists who are caught speeding just above the limit – they are sent on a speed awareness course instead of getting points or a fine.

“If cyclists caught jumping red lights could be sent on a cycle awareness course, it would be a cool way to get people to understand there are reasons why such behaviour annoys people.”

Arash Fatemian, the council’s new cycling champion, said: “I think it’s an excellent idea. It’s in the early stages but we haven’t ruled anything out or in yet.”

Acting Sergeant Isaac Van Den Eshof said: ‘Thames Valley Police is pleased to support the Bike Polite scheme.

“Its aims will help to make the streets of Oxford a safer place for cyclists and other road users.”

Three 30-minute surveys in the city showed cyclists routinely ignoring red signals at junctions.

At the Botley Road junction with Frideswide Square, 15 out of 67 cyclists approaching red lights ignored them. At the crossroads near the Sheldonian Theatre in Broad Street, 48 out of 112 cyclists jumped red lights.

The High Street junction with Longwall Street saw 39 out of 88 cyclists ignore stop signals.

In 2009, Thames Valley Police handed out 278 fixed penalty notices to cyclists for contravening road sign orders.

Over the same period 437 motorists got fixed penalties for running red lights.

In Oxford, in October last year 84 cyclists were handed £30 penalty fines for not having cycle lights.

The first Bike Polite scheme was launched in Edinburgh in 2007 with the giveaway of 10,000 reflective wristbands The public meeting will be held at the Friends’ Meeting House in St Giles between 7.30pm and 9pm on Thursday.

Comments(7)

Sophia says...
8:30am Mon 22 Mar 10

Im a cyclist myself but also a tax payer: why should I pay for 'courses' on how to ride a bike for idiots who put themselves and other sin danger? Whats wrong with a hefty/ confiscation of the bike?

Council money would be better spent in showing clearly, in the Broad and Cornmarket especially, where cyclists should go and where pedestrians should expect them to be.

AT the moment there is a vague free for all with some areas pedstrianised some of the time, some semi-pedestrianised, some totally unclear, and no inidaction of where within these areas cyclists should ride

Its the total absence of sensible road deisgn that is creating problems, as much as inconsiderate cyclists/drivers/wal
kers

Meanwhile the idiot Hudspeth spends hundreds of thousands on a 20mph limit that is unenforceable (and which police told him was unenforceable) in order to make a handful of cranks feel good about themselves

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Englishman says...
9:09am Mon 22 Mar 10

Two things here. Why do cyclists use the Marston Ferry Road when at the side is possibly the widest cycle track in Oxfordshire? Also why do Police not prosecute people for riding bikes with no lights after dark?

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Hugh Jaeger says...
11:45am Mon 22 Mar 10

The article fails to say who would pay for the courses. However, motorists who are sent on speed awareness and other offender diversion courses are made to pay for the course. The course is more self-financing than prosecuting offenders, who would only get charged fines and court costs that are less than it cost the taxpayer to prosecute them.
`
The article fails to say who carried out the three 30-minute surveys in Oxford: was it the police, the county council or the "Oxford Mail"? However, between them they reveal nearly 40% of cyclists ignoring red traffic signals. Whenever I have warned that a large proportion of cyclists in Oxford are their own worst enemy, CyclOx reps such as Mr Styring have denied it in shrill terms. Well, here's some independent proof.

The proportion of cyclists that break vehicle lighting regulations is much higher. Almost every time that I've counted cyclists after dark on Banbury or Woodstock Road, a majority have failed to display a white light on the front of their cycle and a red light on the rear of their cycle. At the weekend I watched one with no lights whatsoever cycle up Banbury Road with an MP3 player in his ears and not looking where he was going because he was busy texting. Fools like that are heading for a Darwin Award!

Although the endemic arrogance of law-breaking cyclists disgusts me, the objective must be to make them behave legally and safely rather than satisfy a popular desire to punish them.

The police already have an offender intervention scheme, supported by CyclOx, to make cyclists caught without lights go and buy a set to avoid being prosecuted. Unfortunately almost the only time the police make significant use of this scheme is a brief annual clamp-down in October when the new university students arrive and the clocks go back to GMT.

An offender intervention scheme to send offending cyclists on courses - at the offenders' own expense - would be good. However, the police would have to apply it a lot more diligently than they do the scheme for getting cyclists to buy and fit cycle lights!

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philg says...
2:09pm Mon 22 Mar 10

I'm not normally one to join in student-bashing in these columns... but I'd lay money that most of the poorest cyclists are students.

So the best thing for safety and polite cycling would be (a) a compulsory lecture during induction/freshers week (b) a big box of lights and reflective tabards for sale on day one: preferably when mum and dada are still around to pick up the tab.

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chefchef says...
6:16pm Mon 22 Mar 10

What about a cycle awareness course for bus drivers, ignorant car drivers & yes certain cycling idiots too.

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A V Lowe says...
6:56am Tue 23 Mar 10

Englishman of Witney makes a comment which suggests he needs to go on a cycle awareness scheme. Cyclists are safest when they ride their bikes as vehicles - and integrate with other vehicular traffic in the area designed for vehicles - called the carriageway. Only when the volume of cycle traffic moving at a homogenous cycling speed is very high does it make sense to provide a dedicated facility, and even then the biggest hazard (generally a third of all A&E visits by cyclists) is where a flow of cycle traffic crosses or joins with a carriageway carrying all types of vehicle.

Crash figures reinforce this - basically cycling on the footway at normal cycling speed is dumb - you are up to 8 times more likely to crash than if you ride on the carriageway.

Pedestrians have totally different operating characteristics - unlike any vehicle they can stop instantly, turn through 360 degrees on the spot and accelerate from 0-3mph faster than almost any other road users This also give then an inherent ability to navigate pedestrian routes which show a total dereliction of design standards by those charged with delivering a transport network. It is possible to mix cycle and pedestrian traffic but, the cyclists' speed needs to be reduced, and the cycle route designed to provide appropriate sightlines and clearance from doorways and corners where a conflicting movement could occur.

We return to the other old chestnut -red-light running - interesting from the comparison figures, that proportionately a similar number of motorists are also running red lights but perhaps in a more dangerous way of gambling on the amber and gunning the gas, whereas the cyclists might be sliding past and filterimg in to the moving traffic stream. In both cases a site with consistent 'bad behaviour' often points to a flaw in the traffic management connecting with the user driven demand to make a particular move. In York for example some traffic signals have cycle by-pass lanes which a legal and safe left turn or similar manouevre keeping the cycle traffic moving and dealing with a problem pragmatically.

Of course many of the glaringly bad road designs for cycling would never appear if the road designers actually had a practical grasp of travelling by bike - will the cycle awareness training extend to those designing Oxford, and Oxfordshire's roads?

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Hugh Jaeger says...
2:12pm Tue 23 Mar 10

AV Lowe is right that bicycles belong on carriageways, and footways with white lines painted on them are a very stupid place for planners to tell cyclists to ride. However, where is the evidence for his claim that "proportionately a similar number of motorists are also running red lights"? The surveys in this article found 38% of cyclists disobeying red traffic signals. The proportion of motorists disobeying those signals must be way below 1%.

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Arash Fatemian, the county’s new cycling champion, left, and Cyclox chairman James Styring Arash Fatemian, the county’s new cycling champion, left, and Cyclox chairman James Styring

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