The council confirmed today that there are just under 500 Advanced Stop Lines installed at road junctions in Edinburgh, but they admitted that they do not have information about how many of those also have double yellow lines, although they believe that most do. They confirmed that it is only possible to install the boxes at junctions which are controlled by traffic lights.
Green Councillor Chas Booth who represents the Leith Ward in the city, and who is a keen cyclist himself, had posed a written question about this before today’s council meeting. He explained to The Reporter that he had asked the question about the double yellow lines as it is more difficult to enforce the ASL if there are no double lines in place, since a police officer has to witness a vehicle entering the box while the lights are at red.
Booth also asked what steps are being taken to enforce these safety measures, and was advised that as part of the citywide “Streets Ahead – Drive Safe, Cycle Safe” programme the council and the police ran a series of roadshows in May 2012 to educate all road users on how to share the road space. The Transport Convenor, Lesley Hinds, was able to confirm that there is a penalty of a £60 fine and three points being meted out to offending drivers, and that also cyclists face the possibility of a fine of £30 if they jump a red light.
The Convenor also advised that Lothian and Borders Police had stopped 106 motorists and 32 cyclists on The Bridges to speak to them about safety, ahead of an enforcement campaign. Now there are at least 6 police officers operating one day a week in the city to enforce adherence to the Advanced Stop lines both by motorists and cyclists, who will continue to do so until November 2012.
The convenor warned that anyone parking on double yellows at ASL junctions would also risk their car being towed if spotted by the firm of parking attendants employed by the council.
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
2 steps that would improve cycling in Edinburgh:
1. Employ people who have actually tried to cycle once or twice to design the cycle paths and advanced Stop Lines being painted on roads. The current design is probably making it more and not less dangerous to cycle in Edinburgh.
2. Force all citizens of Edinburgh to cycle in the city for 1 week (probably not doable 🙂 )
Being Danish and thus having grown up in a country where cycling is very common, the solutions employed in Edinburgh are not very impressive, although probably expensive. And its very clear that most of the motorists here have never been on a bike themselves.
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