Traffic Calming with demi drives

Its becoming apparent that the driver behind this week's crackdown-on-cyclists was not a central council plan, but driven by the local police from their local community engagement, the PACT process. For the Cotham beat, inconsiderate cycling was seen as important. Though they haven't defined whether inconsiderate cycling means "being in my way in a car"


So, interestingly enough, is "Obstruction of dropped kerbs by parked cars.". Really? Gosh, we shall be expecting a high publicity enforcement of that problem soon too then shall we? Their previous issues/successes were :
1. Traffic offences, namely speeding on Hampton Road and No Entry signs contravened on Nugent Hill and Grove Road.
2. Pavement parking on Meridian Road, causing obstructions.
3. Wheelie bins and skips obstructing pavements on Cheltenham Road.

Although they have apparently issued 21 tickets to cars contraflowing the Nugent-Hill one-way system, its clear that isn't a very good deterrent for all the other cars. And a tour of Meridian Road will show if that has been fixed.

Returning to the photo above, its in Kingsdown, which doesn't list cycling as a problem. Which is a success. It's a success for those people in the community who, by carefully placing a car in the demi-drive with the two-bar sticking out, can be sure that anyone who attempts to cycle down this pavement will come off.

This area's priority is : Parking - particularly Nugent Hill, Dalton Square and Clarence Place, with particular concerns regarding access for emergency vehicles. Which could explain why we had that incident of cars blocking the pavement getting tickets or warning notes, but cars on the pavement not getting a mention. Nobody complained about pavement parking.

The next PACT meeting for this area is Thurs Jan 22, The Centre for the Deaf, King Square, Kingsdown. This would be a good opportunity to infiltrate this bit of the city and demand a harsher treatment of cyclists.