Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study – Session #5 Videotaping Completed

by | Aug 10, 2022 | News

Sun and shade were found to be significant issues during the latest videotaping session of the Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study. This view, taken at approximately 0843 hours, is looking east over the Blackfriars Bridge. Although the brake lights of a car are visible, there is a cyclist riding on the bridge which also has an illuminated taillight but that is difficult to see This is a common problem when bright sunshine is mixed with dark shade.

Videotaping with respect to Session #5 of the Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study (BBTS) was completed in the mid-morning of August 9, 2022. More precisely it is expected that data will be tabulated between 0918 and 1118 hours.

Of interest in the current Session was the discovery of shadows at the east end of bridge while the eastward approach of motor vehicles was in bright sunshine. The first photo above shows the scenario while an eastbound cyclist is riding ahead of the motor vehicle seen in the view. The presence of the cyclist is more evident in the two other photos shown below.

This scenario exemplifies the unique situations that can occur at collision sites where visibility can change drastically, sometimes in just a few minutes, depending on specific environmental conditions. The next four photos below show another example of pedestrians walking through the pedestrian crossing at the east end of Blackfriars Bridge and how difficult it might be for a motor vehicle driver to detect them in the shaded area.

This view shows two pedestrians walking northbound on the pedestrian crossing as they would just enter an eastbound driver’s line of sight. Without reflective or contrasting clothing they become quite difficult to detect in the shaded area while the driver approaches in bright sunshine.

The video from this Session is now being assembled within editting projects and will then be analysed to extract the important details for comparison with the previous four Sessions.