Ghost bikes similar to those in London

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Permalink Reply by CKS on February 12, 2012 at 9:35

I think ghost bikes are divisive, they imply that the death of a cyclist is somehow more notable than the death of any other road user.

 

Anyway, in Birmingham the local scrap men would just steal them.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on February 12, 2012 at 10:12

I agree with CKS.   It's the one situation where I would be happy for the scrap man to steal a bike, because they would just make Birmingham look scruffy and uncared for, and they would tell you nothing about the incident.   There's been a faded bunch of flowers on the canal in Selly Oak for a long time, which I'm guessing is a canalside shrine, but I've no idea what happened there.   Secondly, they imply cycling is excessively dangerous, which will do nothing to get people cycling.

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Permalink Reply by Philip Eddington on February 12, 2012 at 13:50

Both good points well made. Perhaps instead we could get BCC to put up a bit of signage to warn drivers to be prepared for cyclists. Or perhaps signage to warn cyclists of the dangers in a particular area. It would be nice to think that we would just be looking out for each other byt it seens to be the human condidtion not to be too bothered.

I'm a safe driver and a safe cyclist. I know I can be safer though and consider I 'm always learning better ways to do xertian things.

I wonder if any data is collected about the skills and experince of people involved in accidents and what thede results would show.

In the health and safety field we are always looking to be safer and have improved health and safety at work very well over the 20 years or so. I just wish we could achieve the same results on the road. I know that fataliies have dropped from 5000/year  20 or so years ago to around 3500/year on average now days. However, we still need to do more.

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Permalink Reply by Ian-C on February 12, 2012 at 14:54

This is a very Emotive subject personally I think their is nothing sadder than a street memorial with dead flowers over it. All that says is someone died here a while ago and we no longer care. I do agree with the previous post on a number of points but I do believe highlighting a cyclist has died may have  a detrimental effect. Their will always drivers who don't see other road users and cause accidents its just unfortunate a cyclist hasn't got the speed or acceleration to avoid being hit and by its very nature of design a bike doesn't offer much protection in a collision.   

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Permalink Reply by Robert on February 13, 2012 at 8:48

One of the things that worries me all the time when I'm driving is the fact that cyclists disappear behind street furniture like no other road user.   Even if one looks twice something like a set of railings can obscure a cyclist multiple times.   I did once try to persuade BCC (through Tim Huxtable) to set up a means of reporting near misses so BCC could look for trends at junctions and fix them before there's a fatality.   Very often all it would take to fix a junction is a few white lines, or the removal of pointless street furniture.   My suggestion fell on deaf ears.

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Permalink Reply by James Lee on February 13, 2012 at 9:22

When one drives or rides along a road, and then one sees the word "SLOW" painted across the carriageway, this means that 100m further ahead, there has been a fatal RTA.

 

On approach to the canal bridge in Catherine-de-Barnes, the word "SLOW" is painted three times from one direction, and twice from the other direction.

CKS said:

I think ghost bikes are divisive, they imply that the death of a cyclist is somehow more notable than the death of any other road user.

 

Anyway, in Birmingham the local scrap men would just steal them.

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Permalink Reply by James Russell on February 13, 2012 at 9:54

In France I have seen roadside signs indicating where accidents have happened. Presumably the French version of DfT place these Anthony Gormley-esque profiles of people where there have been accidents with injuries, with a red cross through the head where these have been fatalities.

 

Not too sure if they still exist.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Beasley on February 13, 2012 at 9:59

The cycle accident map here, shows all cycling accidents between 2005-2010. Perhaps this map can be used to identify dangerous areas for cyclists.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on February 13, 2012 at 10:33

I can't really see any meaningful pattern.   Two cyclists seriously injured in Wyatt Close?   I did see an earlier accident map on this site and there were patterns, but that was a map of all RTAs.

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Permalink Reply by James Lee on February 13, 2012 at 11:15

My crash on Campden Lane, Willersey ( down the hill ) is not on that map. Nor is the hole in the hedge :-)

Nor is my 'off' at Olton Hollow. That was a hospital case.

Nor is my 'ambulance call-out' in Tidbury Green.

 

Incidents must be reported to be featured.

Tim Beasley said:

The cycle accident map here, shows all cycling accidents between 2005-2010. Perhaps this map can be used to identify dangerous areas for cyclists.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Beasley on February 13, 2012 at 11:18

Apologies James, you are correct. The data is supplied by the police so yes it is only reported incidents.

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Permalink Reply by CKS on February 13, 2012 at 12:10

I didn't know that, but they're put there when any road user is killed.  Anyway, signs like this do something to prevent a similar accident and give an indication of its cause, unlike a ghost bike.

 James Lee said:

When one drives or rides along a road, and then one sees the word "SLOW" painted across the carriageway, this means that 100m further ahead, there has been a fatal RTA.

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