Safety concerns raised over ‘cycle lane delineators’ - See more at: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5279.html#sthash.08sWYm3h.dpuf

Two of the UK’s leading motorcyclists organisations have issued a joint statement expressing safety concerns over ‘cycle lane delineators’.

Cycle lane delineators are a method used to prevent vehicles from entering cycle lanes. Taking a number of forms, they are designed to provide a visual separation between vehicle and bicycle lanes.

However, there are concerns that motorcyclists can be destabilised by the devices, and over the trip hazard they cause to pedestrians.

In their joint statement published on 26 August, the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) and the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF)* say that forms of ‘light segregation’, including ‘Armadillos’ and ‘Orcas’, are hazardous to riders and pedestrians alike.

The statement points to evidence from the monitoring of a ‘Mini-Orca’ scheme in the City of London which, according to MAG and BMF, which caused 55 pedestrians to trip in the first 24 hours following installation. The statement says the scheme has now been removed.

MAG and BMF are calling for an ‘urgent review’ of all current and pending light segregation schemes.

The statement reads: “The use of light segregation devices, including ‘Armadillos’, ‘Orcas’ and ‘Mini Orcas’, on our roads raises serious safety concerns in respect to riders of Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs). Inadvertent contact with the devices can quickly destabilise any two-wheeled vehicle with the potential to throw the rider into the path of other road users.

“These devices are easily damaged and broken by heavy vehicles, leaving fixing bolts exposed and protruding from the road surface, thus creating a further hazard to riders and pedestrians alike.

“Visibility is easily compromised by scuff marks from contact with tyres, poor light and weather conditions, a build-up of general road grime and the presence of other road users.

“Neither the BMF nor MAG wishes these devices to be fitted to our roads due to safety concerns for all vulnerable road users (VRUs), not just motorcyclists.

“Both organisations call for an urgent review of all current and pending light segregation schemes in light of the evidence demonstrating their hazardous nature.”

*The BMF and MAG, two of the country’s longest-running riders’ rights organisations, campaign on behalf of riders’ rights both in the UK and abroad.

Whilst the report dates back to September 2016 LBE are still installing the delineators along the A105 corridor