Painted Cycling Lane Safety: Theory Versus Reality
Opinions about cyclist safety in urban environments are not always helpful when based on theoretical studies that do not consider the specifics of the urban area where cycling improvements are considered. Cyclist observations conducted by Gorski Consulting enable a study of the specifics of cycling safety problems in cities such as London, Ontario that are more relevant because they are specific.
The photo at the top of this article is one in a series showing an example of a cycling safety problem in London that is not particularly uncommon, yet rarely are such incidents discussed in formal research studies. In this incident a cyclist is riding westbound within a painted cycling lane on a day when the city’s garbage collection is taking place on this particular street. Thus all the garbage receptacles are seen lying on the roadside, close to the curb. This is a typical, two-lane collector road so that traffic is moderately dense. As the above photo shows, several passenger vehicles are travelling along the roadway and passing the cyclist travelling in the cycling lane.
As shown in the photo below, the cyclist’s position is closer than normal to the white, dividing line between the cycling lane and the lane designated for motor vehicle traffic. This is because the cyclist is pulling a grocery cart with his right hand and needs the additional width for the passage of the cart.
As shown below the cyclist begins to move to the left, outside of the cycling lane, just as a silver car is passing his location. The motor vehicle driver has anticipated this motion and has steered the car beyond the centre-line of the road and partly into the opposing lane. Fortunately there is no motor vehicle traffic in the opposing lane so this lateral motion can be accomplished without much concern. From the motor vehicle driver’s point of view it might seem that the cyclist has been unusually lacking in attention in not keeping properly within the cycling lane. What lies ahead of the cyclist may not be visible because the cycling lane in front of the cyclist is blocked by the cycle and cart.
As the scenario unfolds in the next photo below we see why the cyclist has moved out if the cycling lane because a garbage receptacle is lying within the cycling lane and he must travel around it.
The final photo below shows the cyclist steering back into the cycling lane after he has successfully cleared the obstacle.
Observations like this lead to several issues. If the cyclist had been equipped with a mirror he might have a better opportunity to observe motor vehicle traffic behind him. He might also consider pulling out of the cycling lane in a more gradual fashion thereby giving motor vehicle drivers more time to consider their options. We can also see that the cyclist is not wearing a helmet thus increasing the risk of a major head injury from contact by the motor vehicle or from falling onto the pavement if a glancing contact were to occur.
Cyclists pulling shopping carts is not an uncommon happening in London Ontario yet no recognition of this activity is demonstrated in official circles. Dangers cannot be detected and solutions cannot be found when such happenings are invisible to all concerned.
The issue of obstacles ending up within a cycling lane is also not uncommon. More focus could be drawn to making sure garbage pick-up crews properly return receptacles back onto the roadside and out of a cycling lane. However there are many instances where heavier winds simply blow an empty cycling receptacle into a cycling lane or onto a lane travelled by motor vehicles. These problems need to be acknowledged and solutions need to be discussed.
The scenario shown here is an example of the importance of making observations of cycling scenarios on urban roadways so that an understanding can be gained of what unique safety problems may exist within a community. Safety solutions that are recommended from theoretical studies developed from distant areas (countries) may not fit a specific community’s needs if the unique characteristics of that community’s road systems are not properly identified and understood.
Recent Collisions: No New Surprises, No Real Changes
The same list of safety problems continue to make the news head-lines in Ontario, regardless of the many fatalities and personal injuries that could be avoided or minimized if needed corrections were recognized and implemented.
Heavy trucks and buses continue to be a problem. They do not interact properly with most existing barriers that are designed for interaction with smaller and lighter vehicles. In some instances the barriers increase the severity of collisions and their consequences.
In many ways the design of heavy vehicles is also a problem. Cab-over and cab-forward designs mean that there is no protection given to drivers of heavy trucks and buses. Meanwhile the heights of many truck combinations, particularly trailers do not match well with smaller lighter vehicles resulting in many fatalities and serious injuries to occupants of those smaller vehicles as they “submarine” underneath truck and trailer structures. Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) technology may reduce the incidence of such encounters but they are still a long way from being implemented in most vehicle populations.
Vulnerable persons either as pedestrians, cyclists or riders of motorcycles continue to be exposed to unnecessary injury and death as little education is transferred to this vulnerable public from collisions that are investigated by police. Vulnerable persons continue to hold unrealistic beliefs about what is safe or unsafe because they have no objective information to use as the basis for their beliefs.
Vehicle fires continue to increase following collisions that are of a minor severity. And in many instances vehicles just simply catch fire from no collision what-so-ever. With the greater incidence of vehicle electronics and need for higher powered electrical systems fires seem to be an obvious expectation yet few are raising this alarm. As more vehicles become powered by large batteries there is little official concern being publicized about any safety drawbacks.
In many instances vehicles are striking buildings and other objects, often with little serious investigation as to their cause. While driver error is often blamed nothing seems to be done to examine how and why a driver might mistake an accelerator pedal for a brake pedal or if the complicated and proprietary software and vehicle “computers” could be contributing to these incidents.
Seemingly minor rollovers into shallow or narrow ditches can also be deadly as they have demonstrated for many years. When a vehicle occupant becomes incapacitated and their vehicle comes to rest upside down in shallow water the scenario could easily lead to a death from drowning. Focus needs to be applied to areas where such roadside water might exist and to erect some form of barrier to protect from vehicles entering those roadsides.
In summary, there are many dangers that exist on roadways that have existed for decades without much change. Propaganda campaigns from politicians and various safety groups are too often “bags of hot air”, designed to impress with minimal safety success. Regrettably, catch phrases such as “Vision Zero” turn out to be “Zero Vision” as many official players in the game are not there to make a genuine and significant contribution to road safety.
Cycling Data From London Ontario For 1st 6 Months of 2024 – Previous Trends Continue
Gorski Consulting has continued to gather observations of cyclists along the streets of London, Ontario in 2024. While some riders and residents express concern about cyclist safety no one is actually conducting any objective observations to provide the basis for those concerns. The table below shows the latest cyclist observation data for the first six months of 2024.
As can be seen in the above table a total of 525 cyclist observations were made by Gorski Consulting in the first six moths of 2024. The observations were rather low in the first 4 months of the year and then the numbers increased dramatically in May and June. The percentage of female riders was 10.49%. The numbers of persons riding, walking or stopped on City sidewalks was 63.34% for males and 83.33% for females. The female percentages are likely not reliable because of the very small numbers of observations (only 54).
The trends shown in the above table are similar to what has been observed in previous years. For example the percentage of female riders in previous years is noted below:
2021 = 12.54%
2022 = 13.11%
2023 = 14.60%
While the percentage of females riders appeared to be rising slightly the 10.49% in 2024 is disappointing so far.
The numbers of cyclists observed on City sidewalks has also been generally above 50% as noted below.
2021: Male 64.89%, Female 64.94%
2022: Male 65.25%, Female 72.59%
2023: Male 66.79%, Female 65.22%
The City of London obtains data from an increased number of its cyclist counters imbedded in the pavement of various cycling tracks and lanes but no one has examined the accuracy of those counts. Cyclists are observed passing by the counters outside of the range of their sensors and it is also unknown how well the sensors can separate cyclists from other traffic units. And there is no information about the characteristics of the cyclists that are counted.
The City of London is also increasing the number of video cameras permanently installed at select intersections and it is unknown what type of analysis is conducted to obtain details of cyclist characteristics. The City has also increased the number of portable video systems, also positioned at select intersections.
In late March, 2024 an unusually large number of portable video installations were observed in south London at various intersections. Examples of these are shown in several photos below.
The “Scout” video hardware is operated by a private vendor who appears to have been hired by the City of London to conduct detailed video documentations at the noted intersections. Often only one such pole is installed per intersection yet on several occasions this spring two poles were installed at diagonal positions at an intersection. Also such hardware is normally installed for a 24-hour period but in several instances such as on Southdale and Millbank the hardware remained installed for more than one day. It is not clear why the City was so focused on obtaining such details from the area in south London. Detailed documentations of cyclist volumes and characteristics could be obtained by such hardware yet there has been no publicity that the City has conducted any such analysis. This lack of transparency is typical of the City’s actions.
On June 19, 2024 a cyclist was struck and killed in London Ontario on Hamilton Road just west of the intersection of Rectory Street. This is an example of how any meaningful information about the causes of such collisions are not revealed to the cyclists who are its victims. Even motor vehicle drivers could gain some insight and perhaps be more vigilant if they were informed of the scenarios in which these collisions occur.
Some basic information can be obtained from the cyclist observations conducted by Gorski Consulting however it is clearly insufficient. The details of how cyclist collisions occur must be made available to the public if any meaningful solutions can be found. But recent research from Toronto has shown that only about 8% of cyclist collisions are ever documented in police reports. So there must also be a concerted effort to change this lack of transparency by focusing on documentations of a much greater percentage of cyclist collisions. This change cannot occur without the recognition and cooperation of politicians, police, news media and cycling groups.
Failures To Focus 0n Vehicle Fires
In a June 29, 2024 Twitter (X) post by Grenville OPP a photo of a burned out vehicle was shown along with the following comment:
“driver reported having medical distress – lost control, hit 18 guardrail posts, crossed into opposite side ditch, car caught fire. Miraculously, no injuries – pull over if you’re feeling ill.”
The advice to “pull over if you’re feeling ill” in helpful but the greater importance of the incident is that a fire occurred after a vehicle struck a guardrail. The occurrence of a fire is much more important because of the danger posed to any occupant who might not be able to escape it. Furthermore, vehicles should not catch fire striking a guardrail unless there are some unusual circumstances. A fire in this instance would be very rare even 30 years ago and vehicle safety should be improving with the advance of time, not deteriorating.
The above photo does not indicate that there has been any massive deformation to the vehicle such that the commencement of a fire would be explained. And massive deformation should not occur from a simple impact of a guardrail where the deceleration of a vehicle is prolonged as a vehicle is dragged along a guardrail and its velocity is reduced over an extended time.
Gorski Consulting has been raising the red flag of danger for a number of years now as the number of vehicle fires seem to be increasing. Yet no one appears to be paying attention to this danger. We have stated a number of times previously that vehicle fires should not be inevitable nor should they be accepted as commonplace. All modern safety installations such as seatbelts, air bags, and various crashworthiness improvements become nullified when a vehicle catches fire because, even when an occupant survives a crash, they could become victim to the aftermath of a fire.
School Bus Collision in BC Re-Ignites Seat-belt Issue
The Premier of British Columbia responded that his province will consider updated seatbelt regulations after being asked about a school bus collision that occurred near Lac La Hache last week where 14 persons were taken to hospital. He was quoted in a CTV News Article (June 24, 2024, by Andrew Weichel) as saying the lack of mandatory seatbelts on school buses was “strange”.
This is not the first time that someone has made such comments. CBC News ran a series of documentaries suggesting that Transport Canada was incompetent on the seat-belt issue. The Weichel article did some research on Transport Canada’s website and reported the following wording from the site:
According to a statement on the Transport Canada website, seatbelts can provide “added protection” for school-age children on buses – but they can also have a “negative impact” on safety if not installed or used properly.
“Making sure all children are properly secured in seatbelts is a lot more challenging in a 70-passenger school bus than in a five-passenger car or seven-passenger minivan,” the website reads.
“This is one of the reasons we allow provinces, territories and school bus operators to decide whether to install seatbelts.”
We focus again on the wording that seatbelts “…can also have a ‘negative impact’ on safety if not installed or used properly”. What does that mean? Surely we have been told for many decades now that wearing a seatbelt is an important factor in improving one’s chances of reducing injury or preventing death. So what can this “negative impact” mean? Transport Canada continues to refuse to elaborate. And the public, including a Premier of British Columbia, continually fails to understand the meaning of that phrase. Much of the seatbelt issue is rapped up in emotion and far too little understanding.
While seatbelts have been shown to be a tremendous benefit in the wide scope of prevention of injury and death one needs to understand that there are challenges with respect to what seatbelts can do in select instances. Most collisions occur in very short time frames. The velocities of human bodies in collisions must be reduced rapidly and in a controlled manner. Seatbelts help by beginning “slowing” at an earlier time and they also help in reducing the velocity of the human body in a controlled manner. Seatbelts were designed to apply their force, or load, over specific portions of the body that can accommodate those loads. For shoulder (torso) belts the webbing lies across the chest and onto the collar bone (clavicle). The lap belt lies across the pelvic region below the bony ilium. When located properly those two webbings can apply their loads relatively safely. But bad things can happen when a seatbelt is not worn properly and this is the important issue with children on school buses.
When Transport Canada wrote those words “negative impact on safety when…not used properly” they mean that there is a real challenge in placing children properly in a seatbelt and keeping them in that proper position. By far the greatest danger lies with not placing the lap belt across the lower pelvic region, below the iliac crests. If the lap belt is positioned above that bony pelvic region it can apply a dangerous load to the abdominal region that cannot accept those loads. A narrow webbing applied along the abdomen can cause major injuries to vital organs in that region. When this happens organs may be torn or ruptured requiring immediate critical care. When a school bus is involved in a major collision at a significant distance from a major hospital there is a high likelihood that children will die from seatbelt injuries when a seatbelt is not worn properly. This is part of the concern of Transport Canada, but written in a way that does not provide the public with this critical, detailed information.
The discussion of “compartmentalization” has been long with respect to school buses. Compartmentalization is a way of keeping children in local compartments where they are seated and using the surroundings of the compartment to protect children rather than using a seatbelt. It is sometimes advantageous for example to allow a child’s body to strike a broad surface such as the seatback ahead of them so that the load is distributed across a wider portion of the body. And if the seatback is relatively forgiving (“soft”) then this is a benefit. This benefit is not as great however when buses roll over or sustain a substantial lateral impact. So there are some drawbacks to compartmentalization.
Seatbelts that are similar in design to what is used by adults may be dangerous to children. But there could be restraint solutions that are similar to child seats and booster cushions that might work better for children. If such a solution exists Transport Canada has not found its application yet. And this may be nothing to do with Transport Canada being incompetent. It is not a simple fix. When we look at issues such as economy it may be expensive to produce these solutions. And while one might say that children’s safety is far more important than economy we are not understanding the issue. If we all drove million dollar race cars we would be much safer because of their advanced designs, components etc. that go into protecting race car drivers. But we can’t afford to place everyone in million dollar race cars. It is a similar reality with school buses.
Seatbelts on school buses are not as simple as many believe them to be. One of the biggest problems is that, for their own reasons, Transport Canada is not being clear enough in their explanations of those difficulties. Looking back some 50 years the introduction of seatbelts came with great resistance by some who vowed they were restricting the public’s freedom. There were many groups who searched from every negative occurrence where seatbelts did not perform properly and this negative publicity was worrisome to Transport Canada. So for such reasons Transport Canada became a proponent of secrecy, hiding instances of bad performance from persons who were working hard against seatbelt laws. If these groups of radicals had come to a less biased stance Transport Canada may have felt more comfortable publicizing the challenging circumstances where seatbelts were not functioning properly and where improvements were needed. As a result it took far too long to make improvements such as the development of child seats and booster cushions that could put children in a better orientation with respect to seatbelts that were designed for adults. And other improvements such as webbing pretensioners were far to long in their implementation into adult seatbelts.
The best that can be achieved from everyone involved is to take time to truly understand the challenges of protecting children on school buses and not just sound off because of misinformed frustration. At the same time pressure must be kept on Transport Canada to make sure they are making every effort to improve the status quo. The scenario of children flying in an uncontrolled manner through bus interiors during rollovers or angled impacts is not desirable. While in most instances concussions and fractures may not be life-threatening they are also not benign. Costs of improvements to designs of school buses are a practical roadblock but obviously children’s safety must be adequately appraised in any cost-benefit analysis.
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