Tram fall cyclists to sue Edinburgh council

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-30951833

A lawyer is taking City of Edinburgh Council to court on behalf of 60 clients who claim they have fallen off their bikes due to tram tracks.

Stewart White, of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, said the council was responsible for injuries his clients had sustained while riding.

The injuries include broken jaws, cheek bones and collarbones as well as a broken foot from a bus driving over it.

He has urged cyclists to report falls to the council.

Mr White told the BBC Scotland news website: “There is massive under-reporting from cyclists who are falling off their bikes as a result of hitting tram tracks.

“Even if a cyclist is uninjured I would urge them to report the fall to the council so we can keep pressure on the council.

“Cyclists are not being considered as the most vulnerable road user, it’s really frightening stuff.”

He added that those claiming for cycling accidents included a senior police officer, a firefighter, a teacher, a professor, two doctors, a golf professional and an advocate.

The first test case is due to be heard at the Court of Session by November.

Mr White believes the design of tram lines and warning signs amounts to negligence by city transport authorities.

Individual payouts of up to £10,000 are possible if claims are successful, leading to a potential bill for the council of more than £500,000.

David Steele, 55, an elite cyclist and engineer who clocks up 7,000 miles a year on his bike, said he was in a lot of pain for six weeks after falling off his bike on 4 January at Haymarket.

He told the BBC that the way the road was marked forced cyclists to cross the tram tracks at an angle of 15 degrees.

He said: “You need to be crossing tram tracks at a 90 degrees. Less than a 45 degree angle should be avoided but at Haymarket you are forced on to them at a 15 degree angle, its criminal.

“I never fall off my bike but I couldn’t see my back wheel and it caught in the tram tracks and I was off my bike before I knew what was happening.

“All my new cycling clothes I had got for Christmas were ripped, I ripped my shoulder, hurt my hip and elbow. For six weeks I had a very painful haematoma in my groin, which meant I couldn’t sleep, ride my bike or wear underpants.

“I am very angry about this. I think it is negligent and criminal that the council haven’t tested the system for cyclists.”

Lesley Hinds, Edinburgh City Council’s transport convener, said: “Obviously we cannot comment on a pending legal case as that is sub judice.

“Road safety is of utmost importance to the council and its partners, and we make every effort to communicate this to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

“With the launch of Edinburgh Trams, our ‘careful now’ campaign successfully targeted other road users to raise awareness of the new service and advise on how best to take precautions when travelling nearby.

“In terms of cycling, the council advises: ‘Anyone cycling near to and around the tram tracks should take care while they get used to them, especially in wet weather conditions as the tracks will be slippery.

“It’s best to cross the tracks as close to a right angle as possible and to take extra care to avoid getting wheels caught in between the rail grooves.”

Not sure the chap has a case actually. There are quite a few signs around warning cyclists of the tracks.

Yes, but building a dangerous piece of infrastructure & then putting up a sign about about it isn’t really how it should be done.

Do signs admonish them of all responsibility? Serious question.

This. Bike lane in a tram line ? WTF.

Do signs admonish them of all responsibility? Serious question.

No, they do not.

Its an awful “cycle lane”.

falls happen all the time in melbourne.

doesn’t look good to cross

David Steele, 55, an elite cyclist and engineer who clocks up 7,000 miles a year on his bike, said he was in a lot of pain for six weeks after falling off his bike on 4 January at Haymarket.

If he does so many miles a year he should probably know not to cross tramlines at a shallow angles, even if the signs/road markings advise him to. Still, terrible bit of infrastructure. The bikes lane really needs to re-routed to avoid the situation above.

Less than a 45 degree angle should be avoided but at Haymarket you are forced on to them at a 15 degree angle, its criminal.

yeah, i think this is key, they’ve designed it in such a way that you’re forced to cross at an inherently unsafe angle. Plus, you’re also forced to ride between the two tram lines or (as above) between the curb and a tram line.

If he does so many miles a year he should probably know not to cross tramlines

Just ignored the rest of what he said then?

Cycled along some tram lines in Sheffield for the first time this week. I’ve got to be honest I didn’t find it that problematic and I’ve not exactly got mad skilz. I was crossing tram lines at a shallow angle and just ensured I lifted the front wheel when crossing. This was with 28cc road tyres, not some sort of fat bike.

That being said it was dry and not the most relaxing experience but it does help keep you focused. I can see how in the wet if you’re not paying attention it may cause you to come undone.

Not very well thought out infrastructure, if experienced cyclists are being caught out.

P.S.
Curb – the act of limiting or curtailing something.
Kerb – edge of pavement, where it meets the road.

It never ceases to amaze me how spectacularly Edinburgh screwed up with it’s tram “network”.

Manchester managed to build nearly 7x that amount of tram-line for less than half the cost of Edinburgh’s line over the course of 10 years. Edinburgh took 6 years to build 15km and managed to completely balls up any form of integration with any other traffic. I dread to imagine the weapons-grade bellend who thought that a cycle lane down the middle of a tram-line was a good idea…

Just ignored the rest of what he said then?

In true STW style, yup 😉

Another classic train line, road, cycle path interface is outside Portmadoc station where the welsh highland line crosses the road.

A few signs and quite a few falls.

It never ceases to amaze me how spectacularly Edinburgh screwed up with it’s tram “network”.

Part of the problem is that the issue became such a political hot potato the council decided that they just had to get it finished. Any problems that cropped up took second place to completing the project on (its inflated) budget & on time. Questions of integration, or of using the tram project to significantly improve the cycling infrastructure in the tram’s vicinity were ignored. That’s politics for you.

IIRC there are some very specific legal tolerances for how far proud of the surrounding road rails are allowed to protrude.

I’ve only cycled in Edinburgh maybe once or twice with the tram/lane stuff. Round Haymarket Yards is a bit iffy for sure, and it was dry. I don’t think forcing the lane to cross at that shallow angle is great, and don’t imagine putting up signs warning of this is enough – like putting a rough path alongside a dual carriageway and then saying “you must take care, walkers, this is dangerous stuff”.

There is a similar issue with motorcycles. When councils resurface roads, particularly rural roads, they tend to put down a lot of fine gravel and let the traffic bed it in before coming back a few weeks later to finish it off. Along comes a motorbike, with perhaps a one inch square contact point (and significantly higher speeds the bicycles), hits the gravel on a corner and loss of control can occur. Councils don’t accept that it’s a safety issue and as motorbikes are a minority group they don’t give a damn. I doubt this Edinburgh case will get anywhere unfortunately.

I cross the tramlines all the time on my road bike. They are not difficult to cross in any way shape or form. FWIW, the “elite” cyclist is fond of wearing team kit and polka dot jerseys…. 55yr old elite cyclist who cannae bunny hop. Hmmmm CHINNY RECKON.

Hardly a great advert for Edinburgh’s get folk on their bike policy though, eh?

Can, or should, the majority of cyclists have to bunny hop or be competent / confident to negotiate them? in all weathers?

However it’ll be another year or maybe more before before I’ll be there again, so maybe I DGAS.

bigrich – Member
falls happen all the time in melbourne.

but the tram network has been around for over 100 years in melbourne – I’m sure if implemented today a cycle friendly solution would be found 🙄 *

(*but only in some council areas and then VicRoads would then stuff them)

in melbourne most of the tram lines run in the centre of the road and crossing them (even in the wet) is OK – I previously lived in Sheffield and hated riding on sections of tram track that shared the only road space as in the Edinburgh scheme – (Middlewood road through Hillsborough) experienced a couple of near miss incidents that are in the “lucky i got away with that” category

I thought Edinburgh council had sorted the problem with this simple solution available on the council website – so much better than ignoring all the input given at the design stage

“Know your limits. Depending on the situation and your cycling experience, you may prefer to get off your bike at a safe point on the road to continue your journey.” which translates as get off and walk

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20126/trams/176/tram_safety

I hope a successful class action will help remind road planners that cyclist safety has to be designed in

To answer your bunny hop question – yes, because that’s how you ride over tramlines.

To answer your bunny hop question – yes, because that’s how you ride over tramlines.

Yeah. Right. So, in order to ride on the roads in Edinburgh you have to learn to bunnyhop? I don’t really think so.

That picture in the OP says it all. What **** idiot decided to include cyclists and trams in the same lane.

Sorry, I think the council needs to rethink.

No, you don’t need to learn to bunny hop to ride a bike round Edinburgh. Edinburgh tram line has around a mile at most of tramlines that you may need to ride on compared to a few hundred miles where you don’t.

Edinburgh tram line has around a mile at most of tramlines that you may need to ride on compared to a few hundred miles where you don’t.

That’s even worse!
The solicitor quote in the OP says he’s representing “60 clients” who have fallen off their bikes due to the tram lines.

If there is only 1 mile of conflict where cyclists have to cross lines then that’s a huge problem. 1 mile of cyclelane/tramline interaction with 60 crashes? That’s a problem with route design and integration, not just a couple of idiots who can’t ride bikes.

There’s only 9 miles of tramline anyway but if there’s a 1-mile segment of it which has been the location for all these 60 crashes, that’s your problem right there. Shit design.

To be frivolous for a second, this wouldn’t be a problem if we all rode fat bikes.

So the answer to the question where can you ride a fat bike other than the beach or on snow now has to include Edinburgh streets.

Maybe if the council bought everyone a nice fat bike the problem would go away.

But yes, the design looks flawed from the two pictures.

There are some dodgy tram line / cycle lane interfaces in Edinburgh for sure.

For those above implying that all that’s needed is madder skillz and proper concentration. That’s all well and good, except like when I was riding home tonight and you have a horrible dark, wet evening mixed with having buses and taxis to contend with, and stag dos staggering across the roads all over the shop.

You can’t cover up something that’s dangerous with a couple of warning signs.

My concern is the likely response to counter litigation will be to ban cyclists from cycling along certain stretches of road

Obviously the solution should include ramps so cyclists can jump over the tracks to avoid getting their wheels stuck

How about some north shore installations to allow cyclists to ride safely a few metres above the nasty four wheeled vehicles?

Stewart White, of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, said “Kerrrrrrrchiiiiiiing!” as £ symbols appeared in his eyes.

The easiest solution is to paint the crossing sections with gritty tar resin stuff (not sure what is called) like they do on some rail crossings in busy places job done! No then have it checked and topped up as part of a routine for the council roads team, boom jobs done.

How is Edinburgh different to Amsterdam? I lived near there for a while and the bikes and trams seemed to play together nicely. I don’t recall seeing scores of Dutch rolling around the floor in a daze because of the tramlines. Lots of (mainly) British tourists, yes, but that was caused by something else.

It’s down to the fact that lots and lots of people in Edinburgh are more than a bit special.

Tramlines are just a regular hazard, but the bit outside Haymarket is bad design.

The Dutch planners involved at the beginning of the project recommended seperating the bike lanes and the trams, it appears this was ignored by TIE. The Section at Haymarket force cyclists to cross the tramlines at an acute angle, contrary to the advise given to cyclists. Hopefully this legal action will force the council to rethink cycle infrastructure.

Good luck to them; I hope the action is successful.
Edinburgh Council just didn’t bother designing safe, effective cycle infrastructure into the tram project. They ignored cyclists, and then tried to bodge a solution at the end of the project. That’s unforgivable in the 21st century.
Haymarket is a confusing, dangerous mess and I’m not surprised people are having accidents.
Edinburgh cycling infrastructure is pretty poor overall, and it speaks volumes that the Council didn’t even bother doing things properly on their flagship transport project.