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news
Drayton Park Road Cycleway artist's impression via Islington CouncilNorth London school head blocks new cycleway with cones, claiming cyclists endanger pupils
The head teacher of a North London primary school is using traffic cones to block a cycleway that runs past it, claiming that cyclists are putting children’s lives in danger. However, London Cycling Campaign has pointed out that by blocking the route, the head is endangering cyclists – including parents and children who choose to ride to and from the school.
Completed in May this year, the northern section of Cycleway 38 runs from Finsbury Park to Highbury Fields.
A four-week consultation by Islington Council in autumn 2019 found that 83 per cent of local residents were in favour of the scheme.
A fully segregated section of the route passes Drayton Park Primary School, a couple of hundred metres from Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium.
However, the Islington Gazette reports that the school’s headmaster, Damien Parrott, has started blocking the route during school run times.
In a letter sent to parents of pupils at the school, he said: “A number of near misses between cyclists and children, have caused aggressive confrontations in front of our children.”
He said that he “came to the conclusion that the situation is a very dangerous one” after going to look at the cycle lane himself.
“I watched someone cycle down the lane sitting up, not holding onto their handlebars and thus with no quick access to their brakes,” he continued.
“As the cycle lane is curved before our gate, with cars parked on the road side, visibility for both pedestrians and cyclists is limited.
“The consequences of a single mistake, in which a cyclist hit one of our children, could be disastrous. Cycling accidents lead to serious injury and death.”
He added: “I want to stop putting the cones out as soon as possible, because a better solution has been put in place by the appropriate authorities.”
The head teacher will be meeting with council officials shortly to highlight his concerns and try and resolve the situation.
A spokesperson for Islington Council told the newspaper: “We’re determined to create a fairer, greener, healthier Islington for everyone, with more pleasant, safer spaces for people to walk and cycle.
“The safety of children is absolutely vital to this, and we’re meeting with the executive head of Drayton Park School this week to discuss the concerns that have been raised.
“The cycleway offers a route for people, including families with children, to travel more safely in our borough, and will help to improve air quality and reduce emissions.”
LCC Senior Infrastructure Campaigner Simon Munk welcomed the fact that the head teacher and council will be meeting to discuss the issue – but pointed out that blocking the lane would endanger cyclists, including parents and children travelling to and from the school.
He said: “It is obviously right that Islington Council and the school work to mitigate any specific issues around the design of the track and car parking next to it. But it is dangerous for this cycle track to be blockaded with cones – this poses serious risks for children and parents cycling to and from the school, as well as everyone else.
“More, we need schools to work with councils to reduce the climate emissions and road danger of the school run – that primarily comes from cars and driving, not people cycling,” he added.
When the route, which was designed by the council and funded by Transport for London, was opened in May, Councillor Rowena Champion, Islington’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are determined to create a fairer, greener and healthier future for Islington, where everyone is able to travel easily around the borough and incorporate exercise into their daily routine.
“This new route will help make it safer to walk and cycle as we move out of lockdown, enabling local people to enjoy our borough in a way that cuts down on air pollution and congestion by reducing unnecessary car journeys.
“Walking, cycling and wheeling are convenient, inexpensive and fun ways to travel around the borough, and we look forward to seeing local people enjoy the benefits of the new Cycleway.”
Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, added: “Enabling people to walk and cycle around London is absolutely vital to ensuring a green recovery from the pandemic, and I’m thrilled to see this innovative new cycle route open in Islington.
"New infrastructure is being delivered at record pace across the capital and new routes such as Cycleway 38 mean more people are able to leave their cars at home and get on their bikes instead.
"We’ll continue to work closely with Islington Council to make the borough an even better place for walking and cycling for all.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 5 min 28 sec ago
Ah - yes, they've got an American Star the wrong way round (means the child carrier needs rearranged though). Or it could be a Facile but inverted?
- MrSimonMills 15 min 22 sec ago
I have one, it is lovely to ride - easily my favourite bike (although pretty useless on anything techy due to quite a steep head angle)
- Legin 1 hour 2 min ago
The earlier version of this camera was branded by Chilli-tech and I purchased one of those. Delighted with it, a cracking camera with a good light....
- lesterama 1 hour 58 min ago
What a bunch of ases
- GMBasix 2 hours 13 min ago
Well, naturally: I thought that was a given
- quiff 2 hours 51 min ago
It was only your comment in the carousel that first brought me here, and yet I still managed to read most of the page before remembering this isn't...
- quiff 4 hours 19 min ago
That comparison might work in answer to the ill-considered "you can't bring your bike in, it's got dirty tyres" but not sure it's apposite here as...
- gazza_d 4 hours 58 min ago
Acts like this should be regarded as domestic terrorism, because that's what it is.
- eburtthebike 6 hours 23 min ago
The Daily Mail, Telegraph and GB News.........
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96 comments
The cones themselves might not directly be a danger, but being forced by them to use the road rather than the segregated cycle way is, especially as the remaining carriageway is now narrower. And we all know how much motorists (who may not have noticed the cones) like it when cyclists use the road instead of the cycle lane.....
i managed to collide with a cone on a contraflow on the (back then) newly built Frimly Bridges, I was concentrating a bit too much on the tailgating motorist who was desperate to get past, in a very tight lane. My front wheel crumpled immediately. Slightly bigger and heavier Traffic cone, but those things are built strong and heavy.
Re cones, from a risk assessment perspective, they are obstacles, they reduce options for the rider, they are not secure and will be moved or knocked over.
If the head can provide his analysis for the reasons for using them, placing them in this particular location, how this affects the dynamic of the road way, whether other risks become apparent with their use, and whether they will actually be effective in their intended use (he would have to state what he intends with them and demonstrate that that is achieved), then,.....
...he should forward his report to to the relevant people via the proper channels.
His illogical actions have actually opened himself (possibly the school if considered acting in his leadership capacity) to legal action should anyone be injured, and be able to demonstrate that the unlawful obstruction of the highway was a material factor.
It was a facking stupid thing to do, an act borne out of arrogance and prejudice against those on 2 wheels. His motivation was certainly nothing as lofty as the safety of his students.
"I watched someone cycle down the lane sitting up, not holding onto their handlebars and thus with no quick access to their brakes."
unless the hands are occupied with something else, I don't think it takes any longer to reach the bars and apply the brakes, than it takes to lift the right foot from the accelerator and move to the brake pedal. Does he expect drivers to drive around with their left foot alsways on the brake pedal? This is not approved driver training.
It's not a good look though, and it will add to your braking/collision avoidance times in an emergency situation, I'm not sure I'd be too pleased to see people cycling no hands on handlebars next to a primary school however in control they seem.
And regardless of how others drive, they shouldn't be the benchmark we as cyclists aim to match.
If he applied the principle that blocking the path of all users because he saw one bad user, then he should block off every road to car traffic in London. Those cars blocking the view of pedestrians and cyclists are the real problem.
And that is the main point. If he had blocked off the whole road because of one person speeding outside of the school, fine. However he decided one person represents all cyclists and did the exact same thing as closing a road by illegally blocking the cycle lane, with the added item of pushing more cyclists into the road AND as they are in the road, they might actually go past faster.
Oh and hyperbole from a parent as well. Knows how fast every vehicle is going andm, considering most of London see empty cycle paths everywhere else, are they just cycling past that school in one big loop?
Just because I think riding hands free next to a primary school is bad form for a responsible cyclist, doesnt mean I remotely support the actions taken by the headmaster here.
I agree riding no hands should definitely not be done around children, animals or even other roads users, but a minor time delay in applying brakes is neither here nor there.
I think my point was that it is explicit inthe highway code that there is a reaction time of 2s to apply brakes, drivers are not expected to cover the brakes at all times but cyclists are expected to be ninjas able to apply them within milliseconds.
riding no hands should definitely not be done around children, animals or even other roads users, but a minor time delay in applying brakes is neither here nor there.
Not sure that's a direct or helpful equivalence. Drivers may not be expected to cover the brakes at all times, but (a) cars and bikes have different controls - it is easier to cover the brakes on a bike; and (b) drivers are expected to remain in control of the car's steering. Riding no-hands affects not only your ability to brake, but also your ability to steer. (Obvs this doesn't justify coning off the cycle lane though)
Wasn't that all something that was discussed during the Alliston
lynchingcase?Indeed they pointed at the lack of brakes, but never considered that he had less than a second which is less time that it would take to decide to apply the brakes in response to something unexpected. With the police demonstrating how they could stop within x metres in response to a signal they were expecting 100%.
I'm not saying that he wasn't stitched up, but as I understand it, Alliston did begin "braking", but then decided to give up on that to instead aim for a gap that the pedestrian then tragically stepped back into.
It's similar in a way with the London cyclist/pedestrian collision where the judge awarded 50/50 liability - the cyclist used his IIRC air-horn to try to get pedestrians to move out of his way and didn't instead slow down to avoid a collision.
What's important is that avoiding a collision by braking is far more important than whether you think you have priority or not.
agree with this, avoiding a collision through steering can be effective, except that pedestrians are flighty creatures prone to panic. Especially when they are crossing without looking and then someone makes them aware of you at the last second, once a clear line has been selected.
Exactly. Braking early has the advantage that any collision is going to have less impact and it also gives you more time to steer around them. My personal favourite is to also shout "Oi!" to get them to pay attention.
You surprise me Nige. You're normally a stickler for following rules regardless of context*. Y'know, rules like not obstructing the public highway...
*Obvs apart from rules about not deliberately running down cyclists with cars. They're more guidelines than rules, and it depends how you're feeling at the time anyway. And whether the cyclist showed proper respect...
Nige is so transparent.
Common tactic is to distract a thread by making a reference to the subject as he has done here and then throw in one of his pet references looking for a reaction.
'Top lawyer' reference is just looking to hi-jack the story once more.
Obvious, but tiresome.
Quite
Is Nigel and Nick the same person? He keeps referring to that solicitor whose main line of work is bottom feeding defence of traffic offences as a 'top lawyer'.
Who cares. He just posts random drivel to try and get some attention from people. Ignore him and he'll get tired and move on.
He would have had to conduct a formal risk assessment for that, and so would need to have accounted for the risk posed by cars too.
As he was not part of the design team for the cycleway he is in no place to access that data. (Although of course, he is clearly entitled to raise concerns via proper channels)
What he is really not justified in doing is breaking the law by obstructing the public highway to vulnerable road users. Neither is it in any way an acceptable risk mitigation measure.
Best you leave the H&S stuff to folk who actually understand it. What am I saying, it's never stopped you opining before...
Edit, did you really just suggest that we follow Taiwan's lead in marking kids out as potential perps..🤦♂️
Why stop at children ?
Quite, as the bulk of serious crimes are caused by adults, why indeed.....
Barcodes on the forehead. It's the only way to be sure...
No, the only real way to be sure is to take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.....
No, Cap'n! Don't be giving him ideas...!
I think it's more likey dangerous to children alighting from cars directly into the cycle lane. as there is great visibility on approach to the crossing due to crossing a side street, which ensures no parked cars obstruct the view of the crossing for a reasonable distance.
What is not so clear to see is cildren alighting cars as the cycle lane bends left then right before passing the parking bays. The issue is people generally treating cycle lanes as pavements, parents will discharge their children directly into them without checking, and even the lollipop man in the photo uses the cycle lane as a waiting area, until the next crossing event.
Removing the parking would likely remove all the risk, but that would probably upsegt the parents of the school children so he can't suggest that.
So yet again, the perceived rights of drivers trump the actual rights of cyclists.
Another craking joke, keep it up.
Most heads of schools are educated, intelligent people, able to analyse a problem and reach a sensible solution, but there is always the exception to the rule. This head has not logically analysed the problem and as a result has reached a bizarre solution, which endangers people and doesn't solve the problem.
Schools are now supposed to be part of the community, but when the head objects and takes illegal action against a decision supported by 83% of the community, it certainly isn't part of the community. The head must have been consulted on this scheme, which will reduce risk to his pupils, and blocking the road for bicycles but not cars is absurd and illogical. Surely any reasonable person would be in favour of measures to reduce car use and to allow his pupils to ride to school, rather than be driven?
One is left wondering whether he is one of those cycle-haters who literally can't abide proper cycle provision; perhaps his brother drives a taxi.
As others have pointed out, he is leaving the school and himself open to being sued by any cyclist who suffers injury as a result of his illegal, stupid decision. The Police Bill going through parliament now, voted for by every tory MP, would of course make his actions illegal, if they aren't already.
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