Continuing with our reports of passing motions of cyclists on Colborne Street in London, Ontario has us examining the observation labelled “Jun 8- 7” as shown in the list of observations in the table below.
The above table shows the 14 instances where passing motions were documented during three video sessions on April 12, April 14 and June 8, 2023. No observations were made during the April 12, 2023 session.
The figure at the top of this article shows a northbound cyclist who crosses the Zero marker of the site at timecode 01;19;39;28. The cyclist’s path along the road for the full 50 metre distance is shown in the table below.
The above table shows that the cyclist rode through the site at an average lateral location of 0.59 metres west of the concrete gutter. This is generally closer to the gutter than the average cyclist.
As the cyclist continued northward a Grey Car approached from the rear and it crossed the Zero marker at timecode 01;19;40;16, as demonstrated in the figure below. At this time the Grey Car was located 2.05 metres west of the concrete gutter. This was at a time when the cyclist was just approaching the 5-metre marker and the cycle’s lateral location was 0.60 metres west of the concrete gutter.
As shown in the figure below the Grey Car passes the cyclist and then comes to the 25-metre marker at timecode 01;19;42;28. At this time the Grey Car is located 1.50 metres west of the concrete gutter.
As shown in the figure below a Silver Car is observed crossing the Zero marker at timecode 01;19;41;39. At this time the cyclist and Grey Car are located between the 10 and 15-metre markers.
As the Grey Car passes the 25-metre marker we see in the figure below that the timecode is 01;19;42;28.
A curious action took place during this incident. As seen above the cyclist seemed to make somekind of hand gesture. It was questioned if perhaps the gesture was made to the drivers of passing vehicles. Yet, as seen in the next figure, it would seem that the cyclist raised his left arm because he appeared to be looking at a wristwatch. The figure below shows the cyclist crossing the 25-metre marker at timecode 01;19;43;49, a time when his cycle is positioned about 0.75 metres west of the concrete gutter. This figure also shows the Silver Car passing him and the car appears to be a wide distance away from the cyclist. Meanwhile the Grey Car is seen passing the 40-metre marker.
In the next figure below we see the scenario as the Grey Car passes the 50-metre marker at a timecode of 01;19;44;14. At this point the right front tire of the Gray Car is positioned 0.90 metres west of the concrete gutter. So the Grey Car moved from being 1.50 metres from the concrete gutter to just 0.90 metres from the gutter. Again this confirms what typically occurs: that as vehicles pass cyclists they steer wide of the cycle and then steer back into the northbound lane once the cycle has been passed. Note in the figure below that the Silver Car has also passed the cyclist and the left side of the vehicle is over (west of) the roadway centreline.
In the next figure we see the Silver Car passing the 50-metre marker at a timecode of 01;19;45;28. At this time the right front tire of the Silver Car is 2.10 metres west of the concrete gutter and this is at a time when the cyclist is just crossing the 35-metre marker.
In the final figure below we see the situation as the cyclist crosses the 50-metre marker. The front tire of the cycle is located 0.30 metres west of the concrete gutter and this distance is smaller than typical distance ridden by typical cyclists.
Once again we can use the information obtained from the video to determine the speed of the traffic units. The Grey car travelled the first 25 metres of the observation zone in a time of 2.20 seconds or 11.36 metres per second or 40.90 km/h. In the second half of the 50 metre distance the Grey Car covered that distance in 1.77 seconds or 14.12 metres per second or 50.85 km/h.
Similar analysis shows that the Silver Car travelled the first 25-metre distance in 2.18 seconds or 11.48 metres per second or 41.28 km/h. In the second half of its travel it crossed the 25-metre distance in 1.63 seconds or 15.34 metres per second or 55.21 km/h. So the Silver Car increased it speed substantially between the first and second halves of its travel.
With respect to the cyclist it took 4.18 seconds for the cycle to travel the 25 metres between the Zero marker and the 25-metre marker. This is an average speed of 5.98 metres per second or 21.53 km/h. In the second half of its travel it took 3.75 seconds to travel the distance or 6.67 metres per second or 24.00 km/h.
These detailed observations are being shown to provide some data with respect to how passing motions occur on a residential street where no cycling lane exists. The City of London is preparing to create a painted cycling lane at this location. Some cyclists have expressed concerns about the safety of such painted lanes. And it is known that many cyclists have been struck in the past by motor vehicles approaching them from behind. While these problems exist there is essentially no data available to guide anyone as to how these collisions occur. Police investigations are made but they are never shared with the general public nor, even more importantly, with the cyclists, some of whom pay for this secrecy with their lives. It is for this reason that Gorski Consulting has decided to conduct the detailed studies of cyclist passing events. Once the painted cycling lane comes to existence it is expected that further observations will take place to see if and how these passing motions become different from when no cycling lane existed. It is this kind of base data that may help in providing objective evidence of what factors are relevant.
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