Safer cycling

TonyOX3

I’m a cyclist. There, I’ve said it. Not every day, and not when it’s cold or wet, but I do find a bike’s a good way of getting around the city. I’ve always cycled so I feel generally at ease in traffic. I try to be a courteous road user, so I don’t jump lights, ride on the pavement, or knowingly commit any of the other misdemeanours that get pedestrians and motorists annoyed – not least because I am both of these too.

There’s been a lot of discussion about cycle safety recently. Locally the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum has been busy with the subject. Nationally The Times has launched its “Cities Fit For Cycling” campaign. I even got my picture in the paper at the Headington crossroads, a junction which someone had said was the most dangerous in Oxford.

It got me thinking about how safety at junctions could be improved without further upsetting other road users. I don’t like the idea of allowing cyclists to filter on red lights because it would take a long time for other users to get used to it and it would just add to the perception of cyclists being a nuisance. Instead I came up with another idea.

I think as many traffic-light controlled junctions as possible should have those areas ahead of the stop line where cyclists can wait in front of the other traffic. It gives them a safe area and should mean fewer riders waiting on the left kerb alongside buses, lorries and cars, which I’m sure must be one of the most dangerous places to set off from. And then there should be a short phase on the lights when there is a green light just for cyclists. (Some pedestrian crossing lights already have this symbol, and with modern LCD lights and computer control it shouldn’t be too expensive to install.) This phase only needs to be long enough for cyclists to get started and cross the junction in whatever direction they’re going – say 30 seconds – then the light turns to green for all traffic.

This would mean cyclists are not competing for road space at the junction when they are more vulnerable than normal: starting off, maybe wobbling a bit, perhaps trying to signal with one hand, maybe having to stop in the middle of the junction to wait before turning right, and so on. For sure some motorists will grumble at a 30 second delay, but I think it would be worth a try.

Does this sound a good idea? Would it work? Or is there a snag I haven’t thought of? Leave a comment and let me know. Remember, you read it here first!

Oxfordshire Academies

TonyOX3

There was an astonishing interview on Radio Oxford on Tuesday evening. Melinda Tilley, Conservative Councillor and Cabinet Member for School Improvement on Oxfordshire County Council was being interviewed on the James Cannon programme about the planned conversion of ten County primary schools to academies. This is a coalition government initiative which they hope will improve failing schools.

However, Ms Tilley’s first comment was that “we don’t really know what’s gone wrong” with our schools. Strange, given her job title, and it immediately begs the question that if we don’t know what’s wrong, how can we expect to fix it? Next she was asked if academy status would improve the schools. “Probably”, she replied, “we have to do something”. Could she guarantee the schools would improve? “I’m not going to guarantee that … it’s not my job”, she said. Doesn’t academy status mean the County loses control over the schools? “We don’t have any control now, really”, was her astonishing response. “There’s not much point in your job then, is there?” asked the interviewer. Her reply, “I’m just waiting for the music to stop .. [something about finding another chair] .. No, not really.”

She strongly implied without saying so in so many words that this was a government action forced on an unwilling County Council. In The Oxford Times she is quoted as saying “The Government has set out the method through which change will occur at these schools. We therefore need to move on from that decision and focus our energies on making the change to academy status happen as smoothly as possible.”

So to summarise: the County cabinet member for School Improvement doesn’t know what’s gone wrong and why Oxfordshire schools perform so badly; doesn’t have any ideas what to do about it; believes the Council doesn’t have any control over the schools they run; is being forced to implement a controversial government policy in which she has no faith, and admits her job is just about meaningless. Jaw-dropping stuff.

I should point out I don’t know whether converting these schools to academies will improve the education of their pupils or not. I’m not an expert and I haven’t sought out what evidence there may be which might help reach an informed decision. Nor do I know why the schools perform so badly – it really isn’t my job, and my uninformed opinions aren’t worth anything. But for a responsible member of the Council to admit to such a level of ignorance and incompetence is astonishing.

You can listen to the interview for a few more days on BBC iPlayer – scroll to 1h06:00. The full list of schools is in the Oxford Times

Headington Headlines #48

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 30 January – 5 February —

Strong feelings about traffic signs in cycle lanes and the design of road ‘improvements’ in the Lime Walk and Highfield areas continued to be expressed on the e-democracy forum.

Costa Coffee were refused planning permission for a change of use to open a coffee shop where Cartridge World used to be.

The Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas The Wonderworker in Ferry Road, Marston was given planning permission to ring its bells. The bells are a gift to the Church from Voronezh in Russia.

There was a robbery in Barton Lane last Friday. @TVP_Oxford appealed for witnesses or information.

Retired Headington dentist Raymond Read has died at the age of 89. He had a surgery in Windmill Road.

A ferret called Chaos has gone missing from his home in Lime Walk.

This map shows the location of some of the places mentioned in this report.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Road signs in cycle lanes
  • Latimer Rd London Rd Jct
  • New Lime Walk and All Saints junction “improvements”
  • Church Bells in Ferry Rd, Marston

I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.