Traffic Safety Products that Help Ensure Cyclist Safety

Originally Posted at:  www.impactrecovery.com

Traffic safety products play an integral role in ensuring the safety of bicyclists in urban areas.  Their use is part of a specialized sub-discipline known as bicycle transportation engineering.  It seeks to create bike-friendly areas along and within existing roadways.  It also focuses on the layout and construction of dedicated paths for cyclists as well as pedestrians.

Some of the ways that transportation engineers have tried to make streets safer for cyclists include the following modifications:

• Shared use paths – These are bikeways that run parallel to conventional roadways, yet are physically divided from them by delineators or safety signs.
• Bicycle lanes – These are portions of roadways meant specifically for use by cyclists.  They’re normally marked by a solid white stripe on the pavement.  They’re much narrower than motor vehicle lanes and run alongside the edge of the road.
• Shoulders – These are traditionally used as a place for inoperable vehicles to pull over.  However, in many areas, they have been modified for use by cyclists and those on foot.
• Wide outside lanes – One of the chief complaints motorists have about sharing the road with cyclists is having to slow down to accommodate them.  Wide outside lanes are intended to eliminate this problem by giving vehicles more room to pass bicycles safely.  They are chiefly used in rural areas where shoulders are frequently underdeveloped and unsafe for bicycle traffic.
• Shared bus lanes – These are dedicated bus lanes that also permit cycle traffic, depending on the local public transport schedule.  These are especially popular in France and the UK.
• Shared space streets – These are simply public streets that give equal priority to all types of vehicles.  Motorists must accommodate the rate at which cyclists travel.  While widespread in parts of Europe, they have only recently been introduced to the United States.
• Bike paths – Often built on the sites of abandoned railroad tracks, these paths are completely independent of public roadways.  They’re normally shared by cyclists and pedestrians, as well as horses in some locations.  Bike paths are also popular features of greenways.

Other Bicycle Safety Measures
In addition to creating special routes for bicycles, transportation engineers are taking other measures and developing additional traffic safety products to ensure the safety of bike riders.  These include:

• Modified traffic lights that are able to detect the presence of cyclists, taking their presence into account when issuing signal changes.
• Modified road surfaces that move potholes, surface markings, storm drains, and other impediments to bikes away from their path of travel. 
• Bicycle parking lots that allow bike owners to secure their cycles to secure metal stands, discouraging theft.  Some of these parks have staff members on-site, while others are routinely patrolled by law enforcement.

Factors Involved in Creating Bicycle Safe Zones
Not all urban roadways can be converted to bike-friendly areas with the same degree of ease.  Planners normally give priority to those zones that can be transformed with minimal effort.  Some factors that guide the decision process include the following:

• The level to which motor vehicle traffic in the area can be reduced.
• The prospects for establishing traffic calming measures.
• The level to which danger zones for cyclists, such as junctions and crossways, can be monitored and improved.
• The prospects for establishing reasonably secure bicycle parking facilities in the area.

The Role of Traffic Safety Products in Ensuring Cyclist Safety
Infrastructure features that promote bicycle safety fall into two categories:

1. Signage that alerts motorists to the presence of cycles.  These often feature messages like “share the road” along with a graphic showing a bicycle. 
2. Elements like raised curbs, walls, fencing, and bollards, which create physical barriers between motorists and cycles.

The trend towards greater cycle use is part of a new emphasis on physical fitness and a greener environment.  As such, it has the potential to do great good and should be encouraged as much as possible.  Modest infrastructure modifications and new traffic safety systems are small prices to pay in exchange for creating a healthier, more active populace, which is what cycling is all about.

Pedestrians Crossing Signs at Roundabouts: Ensuring the Safety of Foot Traffic

Roundabouts have helped promote traffic safety since they were first used over a century ago.  While they have reduced the frequency and severity of vehicle crashes, they have been less successful at safeguarding people on foot.  To meet this challenge, safety officials are using pedestrian crossing signs to direct walkers away from the circular portions of roundabouts, where they are at greatest risk of being struck by automobiles.

This article will provide a brief review of roundabout history, the primary benefits of roundabouts for motorists, and, lastly, examine ways to extend their safety-enhancing effects to pedestrians.  As persons on foot make up an increasingly large percentage of the traffic in most urban areas, the time to take their needs into consideration when designing roads is now.  Creating safer conditions for those who choose to walk rather than drive will reduce pollution and promote public health, two goals that are well worth pursuing.

The History of Roundabouts

The use of circular junctions to direct traffic began with the construction of the Columbus Circle in New York City in 1904.  The British followed suit by building similar junctions in Letchworth Garden City in 1909.  Originally intended as safe havens for pedestrians, their traffic calming functions soon became apparent, and their use began to multiply.

The roundabout as it is known today first emerged in the 1960s, when the rule that vehicles must yield to oncoming cars was adopted internationally.  Traffic engineers and safety officials noticed how effective the intersections were at reducing vehicular crashes, particularly the so-called “T-bone” and perpendicular wrecks that are the most dangerous types in terms of injuries and death.

Ironically, the country that first adopted roundabouts, the U.S., was the most resistant to their widespread use.  Nonetheless, during the 1990s, the junctions became common sights in most municipalities.  As of 2011, there were some 3,000 roundabouts in the States.  In contrast, France had more then 30,000, despite being much smaller.

Benefits of Roundabouts

As mentioned before, roundabouts are effective traffic calmers.  They also have other desirable features, such as the following:

• They’re far safer than conventional, signal-controlled junctions.  Crashes are far less likely at roundabouts, but, when they do happen, they occur at lower speeds and at slighter angles.  This greatly reduces the resulting property damage, injury, and loss of life from wrecks
• Roundabouts reduce delays and congestion, since vehicles do not have to come to a full stop before proceeding (except in cases where they must yield).
• Traffic flows more naturally at roundabouts than at signal-controlled junctions.  Drivers are not controlled by an artificial traffic signal.
• The circle of land within a roundabout makes an ideal spot for a monument or other public decoration (though the choice of what types of decorations to use should be guided by concerns for public safety, as will be discussed momentarily).

Issues with Pedestrian Use of Roundabouts

One of the key limitations of roundabouts is that they have insufficient safeguards and/ or pedestrian crossing signs to protect local foot traffic.  This is due to the vehicle-centric approach that spurred their invention.  This issue is normally dealt with in two ways:

1. By not placing benches, fountains, or similar items in the centers of roundabouts.  While attractive, such decorations would induce pedestrians to visit them.  The central portion of the junction is not a park, and it should never be made to resemble one.  Statues, works of art, and ornamental trees are fine for use in these areas, but should be surrounded by fencing or other impediments to curious pedestrians.
2. By routing foot and bicycle traffic away from the roundabout with crosswalks marked by traffic safety systems, such as signage and caution lights.  These measures prevent foot traffic from crossing at unauthorized locations, while also making drivers more alert to the presence of walkers.

Installing marked crosswalks at roundabouts is imperative to the safety of drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  With due caution and planning, all citizens can use public routes safely.

Originally posted at www.impactrecovery.com