Traffic Cohesion: Improving Bike Safety
Here we are in April. On the West Coast, the days are getting longer and significantly warmer. Such conditions will want to make you go out for a long hike, drive, or bike ride. And why shouldn’t you? Living a true west-coast lifestyle entails an inherent love for exploration. Nothing should stop you — especially not shenanigans in traffic.
When it comes to riding your bike, you become a hazard as soon as you start peddling because you can’t go too slow, but at the same time you can’t go too fast. When it comes to driving, you need to always be cautious yet weary of everything around you. And finally, for the rest, pedestrians just need to weave through whatever chaotic situation may occur.
Cars and bikes are naturally incompatible. Considering that 7500 cyclists are severely injured every year, it’s evident that the lack of congruence does not call for bridging the two streams of traffic together. Rather than that, it seems that separating them proves to be safer. A study by the American Public Health Association showed that adding bike lanes reduced accidents by 50 %. Whether you are for them or not, adding bike lanes in the streets of Vancouver has created a safer atmosphere while also encouraging more people to hop on a bike.
All considered, bike lanes themselves cannot eradicate these hazards. Victoria itself boasts of its many bike lanes and the iconic Galloping Goose and Lochside Regional Trails. However, a recent study by bikemaps.org showed that a common place for accident is not the road itself, but the intersections where the two streams of traffic from the Galloping Goose and the Lochside trail cross through traffic. Whether it was an issue of a driver failing to yield or a cyclist failing to look both ways, it’s apparent that, in Victoria, improving total safety can only occur when we improve the places where we meet.
Another study by the CAA Bike Safety division, found that cyclists were most likely to be injured or killed at a crossroads where traffic lights or signals exist. So it becomes apparent that the only way to really tackle this problem is by fixing our intersections.
Sounds simple enough, but how do we do that? Sure we can add more stop signs, more yields, more traffic lights, but statistics have shown that such controls are not of much help. Most accidents, in fact, tend to occur because a driver, cyclist, or pedestrian ignores all the signs and signals put in place for overall safety. Why? Because the human eye is deceiving — but that’s another topic for another day.
I for one, through my experiences as a driver, cyclist, and pedestrian, have often found that the best way to slow someone down was physically. Whenever I drive, the one thing that always keeps me alert is any disruption in motion that forcefully slows me down. Whenever I ride my bike, any source of forced friction similarly forces me to be more attentive. And of course, whenever, I’m walking, any obstruction from the norm — especially a change in terrain, causes anyone to adjust their dynamics and be more watchful.
What did I really just describe — a forced-terrain speed bump.
Speed Trap Intersection
As seen in the pictures above, this design is purposed to slow down all streams of traffic.
In general, the whole design is a speed bump for the two streams of traffic. However, since it does expand for the entirety of the intersection, this mechanism functions as an elevated intersection.
The entry to the intersection is a sharp 21.1 % gradient with a 190 cm elevation and 900 cm displacement. As mentioned earlier, the intensity of such an intersection is purposed to slow down cyclists, vehicles, and pedestrians.
The steepness also doubles its effectiveness by giving drivers an extra physical aid. Specifically, the rise in elevation is an added indication for drivers to know that they are at an intersection. This is especially important because this reduces the chance of a driver overshooting the white line for which they’re supposed to stop at.
Adding these speed trap intersections are an added safety measure for Victoria’s streets. Will it end all hazard? Certainly not, but it is a great answer to a lot of questions and it will certainly set an example for better traffic cohesion world wide.
