A public service announcement for the Bicycle Awareness Group: Advice to Cyclists about Sliema Promenade With regard to the recent ban on cycling along the Sliema Promenade the Bicycle Advocacy Group would like to offer cyclists and non-cyclists the following public service advice. In line with the Bicycling Advocacy Groups top ten tips for riding safely, there are three key components to cyclists being visible on the road. These are visual acuity, positioning and awareness. Cyclists can improve visual acuity by wearing appropriately bright and contrasting colours in daytime and using lights and high visibility reflectives at night. All the reflectives, colours and lights however are to no avail unless you place them where a driver can see them, so positioning above all else is key. Place yourself in a position where you are most visible to other traffic. Remember parking in urban areas is often right up to the side road due to space restrictions in Malta so safe sightlines for drivers may be compromised. Riders should position themselves where it gives drivers a fighting chance of seeing them. Travelling in the gutter or to the extreme left is not always the best way to achieve this. The final component of visibility is awareness of cyclists. This is where ‘be aware of cyclists’ signage should have preceded the prohibition signs, creating an awareness of cyclists on Tower Road by good road management. Drivers and pedestrians are asked to be aware of far more cyclists, particularly younger and slower cyclists, on the road due to the ban and are asked to patient and drive with due care. While car drivers and their passengers have a duty not to open a car door into the path of a cyclist, these can be very difficult to avoid as drivers are often looking for other traffic (part of the awareness issue). The best way to avoid this is to pass parked cars with a door width to spare, roughly where a ‘sharrow’ lane marking would be. The saying taught in UK schools is ‘more than a door’, a considerable distance on some larger cars and SUV’s while movement in car windows and mirrors might indicate if someone is about to open a door. Detecting this can be even more difficult to see at night especially for cars with darkened windows. Extra care should also be taken when passing cars parked front to kerb, where drivers have a restricted view of where cyclists are traditionally supposed to ride, or where cars are double parked, quiet common along the Strand. Please remember owners of double parked cars are often hurrying to and from their vehicles and are more likely to miss seeing a cyclist. The BAG group would like to ask the authorities to take action on motorists speeding on both Tower Road and the Strand in Sliema as well as any vehicles that are double parked, that also hinder traffic flow, the safety of all road users.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 11:53:19 +0000
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