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Cyclist sues Edinburgh Council £50k for tram fall

(15 posts)

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  1. spytfyre
    Member

    EEN story

    "It is said that when cyclists cross tram tracks at an acute angle there is a risk that a wheel will catch or slip on the groove of the track."
    It is said??? How about it happens... FACT

    "Liability in the action is contested. The council said the presence of the tram lines was or ought to have been obvious to all careful road users. It is said: “They were clearly visible and did not present a significant risk of an accident to any careful cyclist exercising reasonable care.” “Careful cyclists requiring to cross tram lines should do so at as large an angle as possible, at slow speed and when taking care. If that cannot be done a cyclist should dismount,” it is said."

    It is said again.

    It is said the EEN sucks manure through a rancid hose.

    I just said it so it is said.

    Slow speed, aye try that with a taxi right up yer chuff.
    Dismount? Aye and walk the entire tram route...

    Posted 6 years ago #

  2. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    The least that can be said for those words is that they are grossly disrespectful of the parents of Zhi Min Soh.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  3. unhurt
    Member

    (And entirely impractical - dismount in the middle of the road???)

    Posted 6 years ago #

  4. dougal
    Member

    If I didn't think that was a far more dangerous proposition I'd be well up for "commuting to rule".

    With a copy of the Council's Rules for Cyclists Sharing the Road in hand I would stop in front of every tram track, dismount and walk the bicycle gingerly across the tracks, reposition, remount and move off - at least for another ten paces.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Careful pedestrians requiring to cross rifle ranges should do so as low to the ground as possible, at high speed and taking care. If that cannot be done a pedestrian should dig a trench underneath the stream of bullets.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  6. mgj
    Member

    This surely calls for a mass observance of the advice...

    Posted 6 years ago #

  7. Rosie
    Member

    @dougal, mgj - the thought of a mass cycle to rule vis-a-vis tram tracks had crossed my mind as well

    Posted 6 years ago #

  8. mgj
    Member

    Perhaps given the location of the Court of Session, similar actions could be taken in relation to the brass cobbles marking the Culloden Wall

    Posted 6 years ago #

  9. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    "The truth is I’ve hardly ridden the thing on the roads since getting it stuck in Edinburgh’s tram tracks. Thanks are due to the little old lady who came to my aid and of course to the bus driver who crunched to a halt in the nick of time. Lying in the middle of Princes Street after this most public of forced dismounts, I gazed up admiringly at this man who’d demonstrated completely control of his 12-ton charabanc, its wheel stopping just inches from my head. But I was lucky, and don’t feel like tempting fate, so the bike is mainly used off-road now."

    http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/aidan-smith-the-perils-of-inner-city-cycling-1-4550868

    Sounds like the bus driver was a bit close in the first place, unless there is some artistic embellishment going on.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    "Sounds like the bus driver was a bit close in the first place"

    Sadly, probably.

    Far too many bus drivers exhibit 'must get to the bus stop 1 second sooner' tendencies.

    Bus cos- esp LB - really need to regularly tell drivers to hold back ESPECIALLY where there are tramlines.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  11. Tulyar
    Member

    Crossing the tram lines SLOWLY at a shallow angle is THE GUARANTEED WAY to have the front tyre deflected to line up with the groove and fall off - I'll happily proove that, and have tested it - cross fast and with firm but not rigid control of 'bars' nd the momentum of the bike counteracts the turning moment whan the tyre rests only on 2 smooth steel edges.

    When you get slowed down by a vehicle blocking the clear route through (like a bus) then you fall

    The other type of fall is when you put a side force on the tyre contact patch when it sits straddling the groove on those 2 smooth steel edges and the bike slides sideways. This happens regardless of the crossing angle, especially when the rail - road transverse profile is substandard relative to the standards both advised by ORR guidance (2006) and set out in the Tramways Act 1870.

    The MAXIMUM overall differnce in road-rail levels is 6mm and the case Roe vs Sheffield Supertram further recognised the standard for metalwork standing proud of a road surface is 3mm MAXIMUM*. The Edinburgh street track installation has struggled and largely failed to deliver on this.

    * as previously posted a whole raft of standards for vertical discrepancies in road pavements, tactile paving, rumble white lining, thermoplastic road markings, steelwork in the carriageway, dropped kerbs, level crossing panels...
    sets the limit at 6mm for high friction materials and 3mm for low friction (road markings/steelwork).

    I measured some of the installed rail and embedding system with a ridge of nearly 10mm in addition to the rail groove just perfectly set to bring down a cyclist - without any help from the rail.

    And additionally these details hardly help..... with chunks of concrete falling out of the concrete track slab ...

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/h52/36211824983/in/datetaken/

    https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4285/34987974492_42ac8ecf56_z.jpg (Haymarket - right beside place where folk cycle)

    Posted 6 years ago #

  12. wingpig
    Member

    A cyclist came off on the tracks on Princes Street on their way up to the right-turn to South St David Street this morning; they were back up on their feet within seconds. The other cyclist immediately behind them immediately stuck their bike protectively sideways on their traffic side, but fortunately the bus-jam at Waverley Bridge hadn't yet unclogged itself, leaving a bit of vehicle-free space.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  13. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @wingpig

    You know cycle infrastructure is working well when cyclists dress and behave like infantry soldiers. Helmets with cameras, drills to protect wounded comrades and so on.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  14. Rosie
    Member

    @IWRATS - I look forward telling the young 'uns as they cruise around safe, rational infrastructure how they don't know they're alive. In my day you had to go through SAS training to be fit for cycling and it toughened you up and made a man cyclist of you.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  15. Tulyar
    Member

    Anyone know when FAI is due for Zhi Min Soh.

    Added comment to

    http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/aidan-smith-the-perils-of-inner-city-cycling-1-4550868

    Bear in mind that a very basic move to fit the same style of lifeguards to buses as are already fitted to the trams, to prevent the 8-10 ton axles from crushing you, and near certainty of death or life changing injuries, there is surely one intervention that is blindingly obvious?

    Posted 6 years ago #

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