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 This
is the last resting place of a young lad on a scooter in SW London.
Travelling home a few nights ago he crashed, hit the street sign
and died. After a thorough investigation neither the Metropolitan
police nor the local traffic authority could find any reason for
the accident. So we thought we'd better tell them.
Looking at the picture on the right you'll notice what the sign
is. Yes, it's a Red Route sign which proclaims "No stopping
at any time". Unfortunately it stopped the scooter rider ...
dead.
Why is it necessary to have a steel pole mounted 18" from
the kerb? Could the sign not be fixed at the far edge of the pavement,
away from vulnerable road users? Why is it there at all - you can
see another Red Route sign a few yards further on. Surely the bright
red double lines painted along the side of the road are indication
enough of a red route? Mind you, they are also pretty lethal to
cyclists and mopeds in the wet.
But why did he fall off his scooter? Take a look at the picture
on the left. This is the granite kerbstone by the crash site. That
tape measure is showing 8". Yup, you've read that right, a
kerb 8 inches high!
Now a scooter wheel and tyre is usually under 16" in diameter,
so the middle contact point, the pivot point, is below the top of
the kerb. So if you hit that kerb on a scooter you are off. No marks
for road safety there, then.
And why did he hit the kerb?
Well, just before the crash site is a road junction. Exiting this
junction in the direction the scooter was travelling you have to
bounce through a large depression, the result of zero maintenance
of London roads. It may not look much in the photo, but it has a
pronounced affect on a little scooter, unsettling the suspension
and throwing the bike off line.
The scooter rider was 19 years old. He was probably gassing it
a bit to get through the lights. He's bounced through the damaged
road, been thrown off line and not been able to react quickly enough
to stop the scoot hitting the kerb. Unfortunately the kerb in question
is more suited to terrorist prevention than a simple road perimeter,
so the scoot's gone down. Last in the catalogue of errors is the
"No stopping" sign, an unecessary piece of road furniture
which unfortunately acted in direct contravention of its own instruction.
All two wheel users of urban roads have to get used to the fact
that this society is only concerned with 4 wheel traffic and pedestrians.
No thought is given to the need of the most vulnerable road users,
so we have a plethora of road paint, unyielding metal signs, vast
granite kerbs, central bollards, projecting bus stops, abrupt speedhumps,
all things which can dismount a two wheel rider with frightening
ease. Add the usual pot holes and poorly filled service trenches
and the south east of England is a dangerous place unless you have
your wits about you.
What will the authorities do about all this? Bugger all, unfortunately,
but we thought they'd like to know why little matey-peeps died.
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Check
out that police traffic incident sign in the top photo - August
2003 was the date of the accident. Well, it's now September 2004
and the road remains gloriously unrepaired. The surface has continued
to deteriorate and the depression has increased, making the junction
more and more dangerous.