Painted Cycling Lane – Changes in Lateral Paths of Cyclists & Motor Vehicles
Further analysis has been completed by Gorski Consulting from the video documentation session of August 29, 2023 on Colborne Street north of St James Street in London, Ontario. The purpose of the research is to document the lateral position of cyclists and motor vehicles in order to provide some objective evidence about the safety of painted cycling lanes.
The research has been ongoing since early April, 2023 and a number of articles have been posted to this Gorski Consulting website. In the spring and summer three video sessions were carried out when a cycling lane had not yet be installed. Then, it August the cycling lane was painted. An additional session was conducted on August 29, 2023 so that this data could be compared to the previous dates when the cycling lane did not exist.
The lateral position of traffic units at the site was enabled by painting orange dots at 5-metre intervals along a distance of 50 metres. The dots were painted laterally across the northbound lane of Colborne at 20-centimetre intervals over a width of 3 metres. The zero point for this dots was the edge of the east concrete gutter of Colborne.
We now have completed documenting the traffic units by separating them into four categories: 1. Cyclists, 2. LTC Transit Buses, 3. Light Duty vehicles and 4. Heavy duty vehicles. The table of all these results is shown below.
This table now contains the data from observations before and after the painted cycling lane was completed.
Along the bottom row we can see the overall averages for lateral paths of all the traffic units. Before the cycling lane was installed the overall average position of all traffic units was 0.94 metres west of the concrete gutter. After the installation of the painted cycling lane the overall average of all traffic units was 1.57 metres west of the concrete gutter. So, overall, traffic was moved further away from the right side of the lane. Yet there are important differences when looking at the categories of traffic.
Looking at cyclists, their paths were moved slightly closer to the right of the lane and this is in contrast to the motor vehicles in the other three categories. Before the cycling lane was created cyclists rode at an average of 0.71 metres west of the concrete gutter. After the cycling lane installation that average was reduced to 0.58 metres. While the difference of 13 centimetres appears slight, it can be noted that the width of the cycling lane includes a junction between the concrete gutter and asphalt surface. This junction produces a potential danger that cyclists could lose control of their cycle when riding along that junction.
With respect to the three remaining vehicle categories their paths were all taken further away from the cycling lane and this is an important improvement. There have been criticisms of painted cycling lanes, particularly by cyclists who consider them of little effect, and some of that criticism is valid. However, it needs to be acknowledged that the findings from the present research indicates that there is some benefit to painted cycling lanes in that they help to separate cyclists from motor vehicles.
However not all painted cycling lanes are the same. Under certain conditions there can be safety problems which do not exist at the Colborne Street site. Situations where there is a curve in a roadway can cause traffic units to wander out of their normal position. Situations of upgrades and downgrades can also cause such wandering. And certain road characteristics such as surface depressions or manhole covers can cause such wandering. Each site and each roadway needs to be evaluated according to its unique conditions and mediation should be applied when necessary.
More broadly it needs to be acknowledged that cycling lane characteristics are not the only causes of danger and conflict to cyclists. In the analysis of motor vehicle causes it has been known for many decades that the acronym “HVE” applies. The Human, the Vehicle and the Environment are all broad categories of influences on collision causation. So too HVE applies to cyclist collision analysis. The Human that operates a cyclist obviously has an effect on collisions much like in motor vehicle collisions. And the cycling Vehicle cannot be ignored. Unusual cycle characteristics such as excessive widths can cause problems even in protected cycling lanes.
The concept of “clear zones” on roadways has been applied for decades so that motor vehicles are less likely to strike an immovable object such as tree or pole. Deformable and displacing barriers reduce the consequences of such interactions. But barriers are of minimal benefit in incidents involving cyclists. Cyclists have minimal protection when contacting anything, even of relatively minor mass, such as a post or a curb. In many instances the initial contact may be less severe than when a cyclist falls and hits their head on road surface or curb. Fatal head injuries, particularly when a cyclist is not wearing a helmet, are not uncommon in such instances.
The collection of objective evidence is a key objective in conducting cyclist safety research. But just as important is the dissemination of that research to the users of the road, the vast majority of whom may be unsophisticated and inexperienced in understanding what is dangerous to them.
Tractor-Trailer Rollover of Median Cable Barrier on Hwy 401 Near Chatham
Police investigating serious collisions in Ontario continually fail to inform the public of dangerous conditions that could result in their injury and death. The latest rollover of a tractor-trailer on Highway 401 near Chatham Ontario is another example of this fact.
A video was posted by the OPP on their Twitter account describing the collision. The video showed the final rest position of the truck that was lying in the median parallel to the travel lanes of the highway. Portions of the median cable barrier could be seen in front and behind the truck. Had the truck been out of control and approaching the barrier at a significant angle the final rest orientation of the truck would not be as shown in the video. Rather, it is more likely that the truck simply rolled over the barrier. For many years there has been no public discussion about issues like these, where a roadside barrier is too low to prevent rollovers of large vehicles. In fact a low barrier can enhance the likelihood that a large truck will rollover and the collision consequences can be increased. But at no time have police made the public aware of this important danger. The latest protocols for proper barrier characteristics are contained in the MASH manual but it is likely that no one in the police community has ever trained investigating police officers about such important requirements. This results in dangerous conditions existing for any occupants of large vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, inter-city buses and similar vehicles. By failing to inform the public the police become enablers of dangerous situations no different than if police simply ignored drivers who drove impaired, or if vehicle maintenance defects were similarly ignored.
The scientific community has known for decades that collision consequences are related to three basic causes HVE: The Human, The Vehicle and the Environment. Conveniently, the Environment, or dangers that exist due to roadway conditions, is often ignored by police because they are paid by those whose responsibility it is to maintain those roads to a properly safe standard. The Ontario government is the agency that is responsible for the conditions existing on Highway 401 yet they are also the same entity that pays the salaries of the Ontario Provincial Police. When such conditions exist checks and balances must exist to insure that this conflict of interest does not endanger the public.
UPDATE: October 6, 2023, 0745 hours
Subsequent photos from other entities suggest the tractor-trailer may have entered the median initially at a significant angle, possibly coming close to opposing lanes, before being deflected back toward its own side of the highway and rolling over. While some benefit would have been gained from this deflection the resultant rollover becomes unpredictable with respect to injury causation. If this had been a fully-loaded inter-city bus where many passengers are often unrestrained ejection could have occurred and the results could have bee catastrophic. Just because the injury consequences to the driver of the truck were minimal only means that rollovers can be unpredictable, but not always benign.
There is no publicly-available tracking of collisions involving the Highway 401 median barrier and therefore much of its performance is kept secret. While police spend a great deal of time documenting the evidence it is never shared with the public that needs to be informed.
How Do Transit Bus & Cyclist Travel Paths Change With Installation Of A New Cycling Lane?
Further analysis has been completed by Gorski Consulting at the Colborne Street site from video documentations completed on August 29, 2023. In a recent article Gorski Consulting reported how cyclist travel paths changed as a result of the new cycling lane. Now additional analysis has been completed which shows how the travel paths of City of London transit buses have also been affected by the new cycling lane.
It can be recalled that the lateral travel paths of four categories of traffic units were reported in recent Gorski Consulting articles. Cyclists, Transit buses, large trucks and light duty motor vehicles were the four categories. This data was from a time when a cycling lane did not yet exist on Colborne Street. Then in August, 2023, the City of London completed installation of the cycling lane. Now we are attempting to compare the travel paths of these four categories of traffic units to determine if and how the cycling lane installation made a difference. Analysis has now been completed on two of those four categories, cyclists and transit buses and the results are shown in the table below.
For example, before the cycling lane was installed the average lateral position of cyclists was 0.71 metres west of the edge of the concrete gutter of the northbound lane of Colborne. After the cycling lane was completed the average lateral position of cyclists was reduced to 0.58 metres. So cyclists appear to have moved closer to the right curb after the installation of the cycling lane. It can also be seen in the above table that the variance in those travel paths was reduced.
With respect to City of London Transit buses the average lateral position was 0.87 metres before the cycling lane was completed. But after completion of the cycling lane that position became 1.57 metres.
An important observation is that, before the cycling lane transit buses and cyclists travelled close to each other (cyclists 0.71 metres, transit buses 0.87 metres) but after the cycling lane installation that gap became approximately one metre (cyclists 0.58 metres, transit buses 1.57 metres). Although there are some negatives with installation of a painted cycling lane this study shows that there are some positive effects on cyclist safety,
It needs to be emphasized that these findings are limited. They only discuss the average lateral positions of these units, not how they behave when they encounter each other. Do transit buses move away from cyclists when passing them and is this avoidance greater when a cycling lane exists? That question still remains to be reviewed. Unfortunately there are very few northbound transit buses travelling through the site so the opportunities of documenting one which is passing a cyclist are few. Our data shows that a northbound transit buses only passes through the site once every fifteen minutes.
Analysis is progressing with the documentation of the other two categories of traffic units: large trucks and light-duty vehicles.
There are actually very few large northbound trucks passing through the site. Instead this category contains over-size delivery vans and some school buses.
There is an over-abundance of light-duty vehicles such that we must take only a small segment of this category. Arbitrarily, we have chosen to commence documentation at a half hour into the video and only through documentation of just 10 observations. Without such limitations we would have far too many observations.
Once this additional analysis is completed we will once again review the findings.
Latest Cycling Data From Colborne Street Traffic Study
Partial completion of analysis shows some interesting results from the latest documentations on Colborne Street in London, Ontario. An earlier article published on September 7, 2023 showed that helmet use was the highest compared to all other sites in London where documentations were conducted by Gorski Consulting. Now further analysis has been completed with respect to cyclist lateral paths within the new, painted cycling lane and these can be compared to the previous analysis where no cycling lane existed.
As shown in the photo below, the lateral path of cyclists was documented by creating orange dots across the width of the northbound lane of Colborne Street. The dots were 20 centimetres apart. The zero reference for these measurements was the edge of the concrete gutter.
As shown in the photo below the concrete gutter was about 41 centimetres wide. The zero end of the measurements was from this edge of the concrete gutter.
The table below shows the detailed data obtained from 26 observations of cyclists on Colborne Street before the cycling lane was created.
The next table shows similar data obtained from analysis of the August 29, 2023 observations when the cycling lane was completed.
Overall the data shows some differences in the lateral paths of cyclists and these differences are summarized in the table below.
As shown in the above table the overall lateral paths of cyclists riding before the creation of the cycling lane was 0.71 metres west of the edge of the concrete gutter. After the cycling lane was added the average path was o.58 metres. Thus, overall, cyclists tended to ride closer to the right curb after the cycling lane was completed.
Also the variation in those travel paths was higher before the cycling path was completed. The standard deviation in those paths was 0.3860 metres before the cycling lane completion and only 0.1894 metres after the cycling lane was completed. The reason for the higher variance in travel paths can be seen in the table of detailed motions shown above. Four cyclists were observed to travel outside of the zone where the cycling lane would have existed. These four cyclists are noted below showing the date of the observation followed by the observation number for that date:
Apr 12-2
Apr 14-7
Apr 14-9
Jun 8-12
The precise travel paths taken by these four cyclists can be seen the table of detailed paths above.
In contrast not a single rider maintained a path outside of the cycling lane after the lane was completed. The closest that a cyclist came to riding outside of the cycling lane is observation “Aug 29-16”. This observation involved a female rider who was passing a slower cyclist as shown in the frames below taken from the videos.
At this time the documentation of the cyclist motions have been completed from the August 29, 2023 study. We still need to document the paths of light-duty motor vehicles, London City Transit Buses and heavy trucks/buses. Such analysis was already completed (and reported previously) for the motor vehicles when the cycling lane did not exist. Once the August 29th data is completed it will be interesting to see how the travel paths of those motor vehicles were changed by the creation of the cycling lane. This research will be reported shortly once it is completed.
Vast Differences in Cyclist Helmet Use Across City of London
Surprisingly, there is a vast difference in cyclist helmet use across the City of London Ontario. Equally surprising is the lack of concern or recognition demonstrated by official entities such as the City of London, Police and organized cycling groups.
These findings stem from recent cyclist observations by Gorski Consulting. The observations are summarized from the 2021 through to 2023. They are comprised of documentations of cyclists riding along streets throughout London, from observations along multi-use paths such as the Thames Valley Parkway (TVP) and from observations from specific sites where traffic studies have been conducted, such as Colborne Street at St James Street.
The observational data from across the City from 2022 shows that, of 1030 cyclists who were observed, 64.4 percent were not using helmets. We also selected the more specific population of cyclists who were observed riding on sidewalks in 2022, a total of 365 riders, and found that 76.7 percent were not using helmets.
Even less cyclists wore helmets in specific neighbourhoods such as along Hamilton Road in south-east London. Observations were made along Hamilton Road between Highbury Ave and Adelaide Street through 2021 up to the first quarter of 2023. This revealed that, out of 64 cyclists, 56 were not wearing helmets, resulting in a non-use rate of 87.5 percent. These numbers demonstrate the lack of basic safety precautions used by some cyclists, many who still do not believe that helmets improve their chances of reducing the severity of their injuries.
In contrast we also looked at cyclist helmet use at three locations along the Thames Valley Parkway. This 2021 data from 452 observations showed that just 27.2 percent of riders were not wearing helmets. Given the numbers involved this cannot be a statistical glitch, but suggests a real difference exists.
Even more remarkable is the data recently obtained from the specific site of Colborne Street at St James. This is the site where substantial traffic documentations have been conducted in 2022 and 2023. Our interest at this site was to understand how the painting of a new cycling lane on Colborne would change the lateral travel paths of motor vehicles and cyclists. While conducting these observations we recognized the large percentage of cyclists who were wearing helmets and we decided to examine this more closely. We found that, out of 54 observations of northbound cyclists on Colborne just 13.0 percent were observed not to be wearing helmets.
Why do such stark differences exist in various neighbourhoods of London? Hamilton Road has experienced several fatal cyclist collisions yet there has been no information revealed about how those collisions occurred and whether helmet use was a factor. Differences in road widths also play a role. Colborne Street, where almost everyone wears a helmet, has much wider lanes than Hamilton Road. The involvement of such factors need further study. As the population of cyclists increases in London the probability that more cyclist collisions will occur is inevitable. Yet no one is conducting cyclist safety studies in London except Gorski Consulting.
Passing Motions On New Cycling Lane of Colborne St – First Session Completed
A successful completion of the first video documentation session of passing motions in the northbound lane of Colborne Street in London Ontario was completed by Gorski Consulting on August 29, 2023.
The next procedures will involve shrinking each video so it can be inserted into a video editting program (Adobe Premiere), where all the synchronized views are combined. Following this the analysis of video content can begin. While there has been no official count, my impression while at the site is that the number northbound cyclists appeared to have increased compared to previous sessions. The official analysis will determine if this impression is accurate.
The video session occurred between 1600 and 1800 hours. The session occurred on a Tuesday so this would be representative of a workday situation. This would be a time when many cyclists would be leaving the downtown area, perhaps on their way home. Motor vehicle traffic volumes would also be expected to be higher during this evening rush hour.
What we hope to accomplish with this data is a comparison to previous video sessions before the painted cycling lane was created. While there is much opinion about the safety, or lack of it, provided by painted cycling lanes there is essentially no objective data collected by anyone to examine the details of how cyclists and motor vehicles interact at such lanes. Our documentations are the only publicly available data of these interactions. Stay tuned as we conduct the analysis and report it on this Gorski Consulting website.
Painting of Cycling Lane on Colborne St Completed – Additional Observations Can Begin
The City of London has finally completed painting the new cycling lane on Colborne Street between Oxford and Cheapside Streets. Gorski Consulting attended the site on August 27, 2023 and applied fresh paint to the orange markers that were painted there prior to observations in April 2023. With these actions completed observations can begin of cyclists and motor vehicles in the same manner as was done earlier this year when the cycling lane did not yet exist.
Additional markers had to be added across the road because the creation of the cycling lane. Thus originally the markers were painted over a width of just 2.0 metres. Now additional markers have been painted to create a width of 3.0 metres. This is needed to capture the lateral position of motor vehicles which will be travelling further away from the east curb due to the presence of the cycling lane. In the original set-up observations were conducted as shown in the photo below. It will be interesting to see if and how the lateral positions of traffic units changes due to the creation of the cycling lane.
In a CBC News article published on August 23, 2023 the City of London claimed that overall cycling volume increased by 15 percent between 2022 and 2023. The City also claimed that cycling volume increased by 50 percent at its counters located at Dundas and Colborne. While that appears to be good news there is still no attention being paid to the safety of riders. Other then counting cyclist volumes at its designated traffic counters there appears to be no other study by the City that examines whether the infrastructure on which cyclists ride is sufficient to keep riders reasonably safe.
Safe Sharing of Sidewalks Between Cyclists and Pedestrians is Achievable
Pedestrians being struck and injured by cyclists riding on sidewalks is one of the main reasons why many jurisdictions make sidewalk riding illegal. Yet, with proper actions by the cyclist, a safe coexistence can occur. In the example shown in the photo above the cyclist is riding on the sidewalk because riding in the right lane of Oxford Street is dangerous to cyclists. Oxford is a main arterial road in London that provides no safe opportunity for cyclists to ride in the right lane. In particular many cyclists simply fail to wear helmets, often due to ignorance but also because many persons and cycling organizations, who ought to know better, tell cyclists that helmets do not matter. When struck from the rear by a motor vehicle a cyclist’s head often strikes dangerously stiff portions of the vehicle exterior when helmet use could be of substantial benefit. Much like a seat-belt a helmet may not prevent all injury but in the vast number of instances they reduce the severity of injuries. Thus when cyclists do not wear helmets it becomes even more important that they stay out of traffic lanes and ride on a sidewalk.
As shown in the next photo, a crucial part of responsible cycling is to warn vulnerable pedestrians, in reasonable time and distance, of their approach. We can see below that the woman pushing the stroller has turned her head possibly because the cyclist has rung his bell thus allowing her to consider how she might avoid the oncoming cyclist. Many instances of collision with pedestrians is that cyclists fail to reduce their speed on approach whereas it is very easy for a cyclist to reduce his/her speed to a level which is less than 5 km/h higher than the vulnerable pedestrian. Such actions can give everyone involved plenty of time to react to each other.
As shown in the next photo, the cyclist has chosen to ride off the sidewalk while the man in the medical cart has also chosen to ride closer to the right edge of the sidewalk. With proper warning given by the cyclist, and a slow speed, such passing motions can be performed in safety.
In the photo below it can be seen that the cyclist can pass the female and her stroller in safety because the female moved over to the right while the cyclist has moved over to the left. This passing motion can be done in safety if both partners perform their actions correctly. This cannot be done if the cyclist does not provide sufficient warning of his approach and he does not reduce his speed.
In summary, pedestrians and cyclists can co-exist on sidewalks in safety if proper procedures are in place. Most importantly cyclists need to understand their obligations when riding on sidewalks. When in the presence of pedestrians they need to give sufficient warning of their presence and they need to slow down such that they are travelling only a few kilometres per hour faster than the speed of the pedestrian. These procedures must to taught to all persons involved but mostly to cyclists who have control over how a passing motion unfolds. Cyclists need not be banished to dangerous travel lanes of arterial roads where they could meet their death from impact by much larger and heavier motor vehicles. With proper guidance and enforcement by authorities cyclists and pedestrians can co-exist on sidewalks.
Guilty Verdict in Cyclist Hit-&-Run Collision Ends Further Inquiry
The only important matter is that we find someone guilty. Then we can move on to the next future tragedy. That seems to be the case in a well-publicized cyclist hit-&-run collision where the cyclist was permanently disabled.
Much publicity has been focused recently on the trial of a motor vehicle driver, Jesse Aaron Bleck, whose vehicle struck a cyclist on Exeter Road near Wonderland Road in London, Ontario, on July 21, 2019. The cyclist who was struck, Tristan Roby, suffered major and permanent brain injuries and is currently reportedly confined to a wheelchair and a very altered future.
A few days ago Bleck was found guilty of being the driver in the hit-&-run collision. Much publicity was given to the fact that Roby and his family could close this difficult chapter and move on. And to some degree, this is a successful end. Yet, the result is troubling.
Although news media focused on the court proceedings with respect to who was driving, essentially nothing was reported on how and why the collision happened. And there has been no concern expressed by anyone that this lack of information existed. Whether it be the police, or news media, politicians or anyone interested in cycling safety, or road safety as a whole, expressed any concern that the public was provided with no information as to how and why the collision happened. And this is a merry-go-round that keeps being revisited after each collision tragedy.
Officially many persons express their desire to achieve the propaganda of Vision Zero. Various improvements are discussed, often related to roadway design improvements, driver controls, vehicle design improvements. Yet very little thought is given to the practical changes that are essential with respect to how we learn from previous tragedies. Details as to how and why a major collision occurred are continually hidden from public view. This leads to the fact that very few persons have even a minimal understanding of the complexity of collision causes. This reality is demonstrated over and over again when various persons express their thoughts about major collisions that occur and these are displayed in social media chats or in official news media articles. In the absence of knowledge and education the standard beliefs exist that all “drivers are stupid” except for the holder of that opinion. Whenever a collision occurs opinions are expressed that the particular road where the collision occurred is “the most dangerous” and that something must be changed, regardless of whether there is any objective data to determine what exactly needs correction. Opinions are given that speeds on a particular roadway are much too fast and the posted speed limits must be reduced, with the belief that reducing the posted speed will magically reduce average speeds. And opinions are expressed that, when average speeds are reduced, safety is improved, with no consideration whether the behavior of the very small group of problem drivers has been changed.
The greater tragedy in the Tristan Roby collision is that, without knowing how and why the collision occurred, we are building the foundations for the occurrence of the next tragedy because we have learned nothing from it.
Highbury Ave Fatal Collision at Dingman Drive
Not unexpectedly little of educational value was provided by police and official news media about the fatal collision that occurred on Monday morning, August 14, 2023 at 0800 hours at the intersection of Highbury Ave and Dingman Drive in south London, Ontario. The best coverage was given by CTV News in London which quoted a resident who complained about the high volume of traffic using Dingman Drive ever since the new Costco location was opened up a few kilometres west of the intersection.
What needs to be emphasized is that Highbury Ave has seen an increase in traffic volume and this causes problems for drivers on crossroads who need to enter HIghbury or cross it.
On March 17, 2022 Gorski Consulting reviewed the safety issues on Highbury Ave in a Gorski Consulting website article entitled : “NO PRETTY WAY TO DISCUSS SOMEONE BEING BURNED ALIVE – SO OUR RESPONSE IS TO HIDE IT”. In that article we discussed some of the serious and fatal collisions that have been happening in recent years on Highbury Ave. While all these are tragic, one was particularly so in that it led to a local woman being burned alive after a serious head-on collision in October of 2020.
Since the article was published several other collisions have been reported by news media along Highbury Ave but very little useful information has been provided. On November 18, 2022 the OPP reported on their Twitter page that a single vehicle collision occurred along Highbury Ave but the precise location was not given except that it occurred somewhere in Central Elgin County. The driver sustained serious injuries but no further information was provided.
In February of 2023 two collisions were reported. On February 4, a three-vehicle collision occurred on Highbury Ave within the curve between Carr Road and Weber Bourne. Extensive damage was reported but there were no serious injuries. The roadway surface was reported to be “extremely slick” but there was no official indication what relevance the surface conditions had to the collision cause.
On February 24, 2023 the OPP reported on their Twitter page that a two-vehicle collision occurred on Highbury Ave between Ferguson Line and Truman Line. An on-site photo taken by CTV News showed that a garbage truck had collided with a passenger vehicle and that both vehicles had come to a stop close to an intersection. Four persons were reportedly taken to hospital but none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. The photo would suggest that this was an angle collision related to the intersection but no official confirmation of that was provided by police.
On May 23, 2023 reports were available of a collision between a transport truck and a van at the intersection of Highbury Ave and Wilton Grove Road. No information was provided about the basics of the collision except that one person was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. It would have been helpful if officials had reported if this was an intersection-related collision but even that basic fact was no disclosed.
On June 6, 2023 it was reported that a collision occurred between a transport truck and a car on Highbury Ave near Ron McNeil Line. It was reported that a southbound car crossed the roadway centre-line and collided with the rear wheel of a northbound transport truck. The car subsequently rolled over. The car driver was taken to hospital with unknown injuries. No information was provided as to why the car crossed the roadway centreline.
While the above five collisions have been documented by Gorski Consulting and we try to maintain a reasonable vigilance of collisions occurring in the region it is not possible for us to become aware of every reported collision and it is impossible for us to know about the many non-reported collisions that occur. Thus it is up to the authorities whose responsibility it is to keep the public safe to maintain a detailed account of collisions occurring in the region and to conduct a reasonable analysis that will flag those areas where safety may be in jeopardy. Given the high traffic volume along Highbury Ave between London and St Thomas there should be some attention given to problem areas that would appear to be obvious. Even from minimal observation it is possible to note that drivers on crossroads such as Dingman Drive, Westminster Drive, Manning Drive and Glanworth Drive experience significant difficulties in crossing or entering Highbury Ave, particularly at morning and evening rush hours.
The details of the present collision at Dingman Drive will likely never be divulged and nothing is likely to be learned from any information collected by official entities. However some further details can be gained. Gorski Consulting visited the collision site later in the day on August 14, 2023 once police re-opened the site to the public.
The photo below was taken at approximately 1720 hours or a little more than nine hours after the collision which reportedly occurred at 0800 hours. The collision time would be at the morning rush hour and the photo below shows the conditions during the evening rush hour. The photo shows a view looking southbound on Highbury Ave and the crossroad of Dingman Drive can be seen beyond the concrete barriers. An eastbound van/SUV is stopped on Dingman Drive and this allows us to see what portions of the stopped vehicle would be available to the driver of a southbound passenger car.
The Dump truck involved in this collision was southbound so its driver would have seen a similar view to what is shown in the above photo. However an important difference is that, while the eye height of a passenger car driver might be in the range of 1.2 to 1.3 metres above the pavement, the Dump truck driver’s eyes might be in the range of 2.4 to 2.6 metres high. Thus the Dump truck driver should have been able to see a larger portion of the stopped eastbound vehicle than what is depicted in the above photo.
The line of southbound vehicles shown in the above photo is typical of the conditions that were observed, although there were also temporary conditions where lines of traffic were clear. Some of gaps in traffic can be seen in the northbound vehicles approaching Dingman. The variability of traffic congestion means that drivers intending to cross or enter Highbury do not understand that, if they wait long enough, the lines of traffic will disburse somewhat and a better opportunity to make a motion will become available.
Congestions and gaps in Highbury traffic occur for many reasons but one common reason is that slower traffic, including large trucks, imped the intensions of many drivers who want to go faster. This often creates a long line of traffic behind the slower vehicle. Sometimes dangerous passing motions occur when impatient drivers attempt to pass the slower vehicle, often in areas where passing is dangerous. Thus we have areas along Highbury where traffic volume is variable and this causes problems for drivers on crossroads who believe that the line of traffic they see is likely to be endless and they must take chances if they are to cross or enter Highbury. This leads to situations like the one shown below, which was also taken shortly after 1700 hours on August 14th.
Given the lack of basic information about the present collision it is not possible to know why the driver of the eastbound pick-up truck came to be positioned in the middle of Highbury Ave when his vehicle was struck on the left side by the southbound Dump truck. All we know is that a long length of skid marks were caused by the Dump truck commencing at the point where the impact occurred, as shown in the photo below.
When event data from a event data recorder (EDR) is not available to tell us about the speed of the Dump truck, we must use the length of the skid marks to make that calculation. However, although the skid marks begin at the point of impact, this does not necessarily mean the the front end of the Dump truck was at the beginning of the skid marks when they were made. It is often that the rear wheels of such a truck produce the first skid marks and therefore we sometimes need to subtract the truck’s length from the skid mark distance in order to conduct the speed calculation.
Furthermore we also need to look at the characteristics of the skid marks to be certain that they are indicative of a vehicle sliding with full wheel lock-up through to the final rest position of the vehicle. The photo below shows the skid marks as they lead toward the west ditch of Highbury where the two vehicles came to rest.
We can also look at the evidence on the west roadside to confirm if maximum braking likely continued to final rest, as shown in the photo below.
Measurements at the site indicated that the front of the Dump truck came to rest approximately 78 metres south of the beginning of the skid marks. If we concluded that this represented the distance that the Dump truck moved while sliding to rest then we could apply a typical “speed from skid” calculation to estimate the truck’s speed at impact. Using the skid distance and an estimated level of deceleration of 0.6g would result in an impact speed of the Dump truck of about 109 km/h. The maximum posted speed for Highbury Ave is 80 km/h. So we might question if there is sufficient grounds to conclude that the Dump truck was speeding.
If we conclude that the start of the skid marks was produced by the rear wheels of the Dump truck we would typically subtract the truck’s length (about 12 metres) from the skid distance and, recalculating, come up with an impact speed of about 100.5 km/h. We might then consider other factors such as the speed loss from impact and whether certain complications existed in these simplified calculations. But overall police ought to be examining evidence such as this to provide a proper explanation about how and why this collision occurred. And these facts should be properly reported to the public who also have a stake in these consequences because any member of the public could be the next victim.
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