Cyclist knocked down in St James this morning

[Icycling]

The city should also be taken to task - when building the new road they made they payment wider and the road narrower. Off the top of my head their is a solid white line down the length entire of the road which means by giving a cyclist room (1.5m) a motorist will always break the law. The city has not put any signage up stating no over taking of cyclist or caution while over taking cyclist road is narrow! The speed limit is 40km/h and I would argue to enforce this they should reduce the road to a single lane every say 750m (they do this in Europe) with a cycle lane inside the reduction. This new road has been very poorly designed and the city / city engineers need to take some responsibility - this week scientist in tally have been charged for an earth quake killing people!

[Meezo]

 

I don't really want to get into the definition of murder and what can be constituted as murder, but if the bus driver intentionally drove closely to the cyclist and a reasonable person could have foreseen that such an action could have caused the cyclist's death, the driver should be charged with murder.

 

Absolutely I'm not disagreeing with you. But as much as the cyclist that was killed could be my father/mother/sister/brother/aunt/uncle etc. so could the driver of the bus.

 

Sorry not gonna cause further discussions on stories we don't have facts RIP fellow cyclist.

[Rikish]

Very very sad. Went past two cyclists who were heading up boyes / main road via Kalk Bay..hope they safe. RIP and condolences to the family

 

The driver should be punished and sent to prison. How can you over take on that road?!

[Wet Ears]

Somebody Tweet Helen - WC are trying to encourage public transport and commuting. Whilst the cycling lanes are a start greater protection is needed. This has to make major news. How many parents out there would let their children commute alone in these conditions.

 

You pose a great question which really encapsulates how our collective respect for the laws of the road as well as our fellow road users have gone out the window. When I was a laaitjie in primary school I used to cycle to and from school from about std 2 - it was great fun and gave you a sense of independence. Not in a million years would I let my kid (when he gets to that age) cycle to school - or anywhere on our roads for that matter. In my first week of commuting to work I almost got cleaned twice!

[jules1976]

RIP mate

 

Condolences to the family !!

[JGR]

You pose a great question which really encapsulates how our collective respect for the laws of the road as well as our fellow road users have gone out the window. When I was a laaitjie in primary school I used to cycle to and from school from about std 2 - it was great fun and gave you a sense of independence. Not in a million years would I let my kid (when he gets to that age) cycle to school - or anywhere on our roads for that matter. In my first week of commuting to work I almost got cleaned twice!

Exactly! I also remember riding home after school or to the beach, it was a fairly busy road (as far as roads in EL go) but never once did I feel unsafe or that cars were to close. Whenever I have to deal with a driver whilst cycling or running for that matter and I have an opportunity to confront the person I ask if they have children that cycle or use the road and if they would like there child to be hit by a driver driving in the manner they are (ok maybe not as PC but the same msg)

[Tubehunter]

Just got a response from the Public Relations Manager at GA similar to GWhite's post. She however mentioned this thread directly (without me providing a link) and asked me to post up her contact details:

 

Bronwen Dyke ­

Public Relations Manager

Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd

 

tel: 021 507 8800

fax: 021 534 1520

email: bronwendyke@gabs.co.za

 

 

Please lets use this channel for any further issue we experience out on the roads in altercations with GA buses. It is more than refreshing to see they are open to dealing with this internally!

Edited October 24, 2012 by Tubehunter

[DJR]

Very sorry to hear.

 

Want to add my voice by saying that Golden Arrow busses are a menace to cyclists. I've had several near misses with them. It always happen when they pass you. They come extremely close, as if the driver doesn't really know where the left side of his vehicle is positioned in relation to the cyclist. Secondly, this is even worse on a left turn, where that rear wheel takes a shorter route cutting the cyclist off or forcing you into the pavement. Thirdly, they often travel too fast when overtaking a cyclist, causing a lot of turbulence, especially when passing closely. This throws you off balance and again that rear wheel seems to suck you closer. It is much worse when the Southeaster is howling. None of the above can be called world class driving.

 

Can someone please send this on to Golden Arrows management on my behalf? I'm not sure how to do that.

 

Edit: I gather from the above that they are following this thread. Good

Edit 2: I've sent an e-mail to them, thanks

Edited October 24, 2012 by DJR

[sluiper]

Just got a response from the Public Relations Manager at GA. She mentioned this thread directly (without me providing a link) and asked me to post up her contact details:

 

Bronwen Dyke ­

Public Relations Manager

Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd

 

tel: 021 507 8800

fax: 021 534 1520

email: bronwendyke@gabs.co.za

 

 

Please lets use this channel for any further issue we experience out on the roads in altercations with GA buses. It is more than refreshing to see they are open to dealing with this internally!

 

What will be more refreshing will be to see the company being held liable for their employees' actions.

 

GA put that driver on the road and he/she killed someone during the course of their employment. GA should be held liable on the basis of vicarious liability.

 

I hope the family takes them to the cleaners.

 

It seems that the only thing that will make a company such as GA care about others is when it hurts their bottom line.

[LeTurbo]

God, how horrible! How terrible. Huge condolences to his family, may he ride safer roads wherever he is.

 

Ironic that I read this today, posted on Facebook by Bicycle Maintenance Company:

 

There’s something of the ‘prodigal son’ in Cape Town’s planning for utility cycling: the impacts of climate change, declining urban quality, and a high regard for international best practice, have seen the city begin to beckon drivers from their vehicles with alternative infrastructure.

But the cyclist who has kept the pedals turning all along is left behind.

Take Muizenberg/Kalk Bay main road, for example. One of Cape Town’s most popular and scenic roads, it has been in continual use for more than 200 years, and was by 2006 in need of major repairs due to the weight of 19 000 vehicles travelling it daily.

The road is also one of the most popular with recreational and utility cyclists – it is one of only three routes connecting the south peninsula to the southern suburbs. The other two are the steep mountain passes of Ou Kaapse Weg and Boyes Drive (both with gradients of 7% in places).

It is a vital commuter route, albeit narrow and heavily congested with on-street parking on either side of the road. It was earmarked for bicycle infrastructure as part of the City’s Velo-Mondial award-winning (2007) Bicycle Master Plan. Transport engineers prepared a concept plan for the road upgrade, including ‘excess land’ from the rail reserve (owned by state entity Transnet) to widen the road and include a narrow (1.3m) bicycle lane. However, bicycle lanes were not included on the final plans, and have as a result not been implemented.

The local authority cited lack of road space, no evident need nor sufficient request for bicycle lanes, and a budget for upgrade only (not capacity improvement) as the reason. However, cycling is now safer, says the City, as the road camber is flatter, and the drainage channel is less steep, so ‘cyclists can now ride almost on the channel edge [ie, the gutter].’

Public participation meetings were advertised in the local and neighbourhood press and radio, as well as with mail drops and posters. Interested and affected residents also commented on the plans by email. But Cape Town’s Pedal Power Association (South Africa’s largest recreational and racing cycling club with 15 000 members), among the 400 interested and affected parties on the City’s, says that it did not have an opportunity to comment.

Weekday mornings and evenings see approximately 30-40 utility cyclists travel this narrow stretch of road, a number which the City of Cape Town regards as “very few’. Interviews with these commuters points to perhaps 10% of them living within the public participation ‘catchment’ area; most live some 12-20 km beyond the area in question, and traverse this route on their way to work. When questioned, they were not aware of public participation opportunities, and are not listed as interested and affected parties.

AJ, 50, who works as a gardener and has been commuting by bicycle for four years along this road. He said the road was not safe for cycling, but ‘I save money when I travel on my bicycle.” He said he had narrowly escaped being knocked over by a car twice last year alone. ‘With bicycle lanes it could have been much better,” said January. ‘Sometimes I get so frustrated I just turn back for home. They are fixing the pipes and parking but they don’t provide for bicycles. Why must we come short,’ he asked. Harbour worker

HS, 67, who had been cycling on and off for eight years, said that once the roadworks were finished it was going to be “OK” for motorists, although it was still going to be difficult for cyclists. ‘Sometimes you just have to put up with things,’ he said.

To date [May 2011], the road upgrade has cost ZAR 100-million in public funds.

Extract © Gail Jennings: SOUTH AFRICAN CITY STUDIES CONFERENCE: 7-9 SEPTEMBER 2011 Cities for two wheels: rethinking bicycle planning for the rapidly urbanising context

[milky4130]

Has the 1,5m passing distance from a bicycle been passed as the law yet or by-law?

[Tubehunter]

The irony is hanging like a mist covering that whole stretch of road this morning Le Turbo. Would be awesome if we could track down the original City spokesperson and get their take on that stand today!

[ccc2]

i have had my run ins with GA buses on the road from P Eiland to Table View at 5.30 in the morning. i eventually emailed GA and had a very supportive response. since then i (we) have had no problems. they used to hoot and pass very close to us even though we were the only ones on the road at that time of the morning.

[I FLY]

Decent enough response. Hopefully it's backed up by some action! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the digits from now on!

 

When I used to commute through Randburg (Jhb) some Putco buses came quite close to me. I would remember the bus's registration number and call it into the Putco Report Line number (083 919 4287)

 

It seemed to help as the drivers started giving me more room

[slowpoke]

I have never bothered to sort out a spare bike to leave in CT at my folks' place because the roads there are so dangerous. Even in a car I am always wary of the GA buses. Glad to see that management there seems to be serious - the replies posted here are certainly not "spoeg en plak" type platitudes.

[DJR]

For the record: I got a reply from Golden Arrow re. my earlier e-mail to them. Details similar to that posted above.