Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the mailout that we sent in May 2021. If you like it, please sign up on our Get Involved section - you will be showing your support for our work and you will receive our free monthly bulletins a month before they appear here.
IN THIS ISSUE…
Code of Conduct – physical copies are out now +++ An analysis of road incidents in the park +++ Collision outside Roehampton Gate car park +++ Farewell to The Royal Parks’ transport boss
CODE AND GET IT
It’s out, chums! After months of being confined to our website and this bulletin, the Code of Conduct for cycling in Richmond Park has finally been set free in the wild.
The full text is pinned on our new noticeboard near the Roehampton Gate car park (you’ll find it on the pathway opposite the ramp up to Colicci) while our friends at Cycle Exchange, Ciclista and Pearsons all have the credit-card-sized version on their countertops for customers to take. The park’s police unit also has a batch of cards to hand out.
Many thanks to all our subscribers who have contributed to the Code and support its aims to make the roadway a more hospitable place for every type of cyclist and visitor to the park – we couldn’t have got this far without you!
DANGER OF ASSUMPTIONS
It’s a common assumption in some quarters that more cycling in the park leads to greater danger for other visitors – but the latest quarterly figures revealed at the Police Panel meeting we attended two weeks ago suggest that is an exaggerated claim. During a period when the roadway has been much busier than it was pre-Covid, there were only 15 reported incidents from January to March, and nine of those were simply cyclists falling off their bikes, either due to an error on their part or, on two occasions, animals appearing in the road (for the record, one was a dog and the other was a goose).
It’s true that four incidents involving cyclists, all of which are currently under investigation, were more serious. As we reported in February, the danger of leaving the park open to through traffic was highlighted when a motorist caused a collision with a female cyclist at Ham Cross before mistakenly hitting the accelerator and smashing into a tree. Then, in March, a driver pushed a member of the public for filming them losing their rag with a couple of cyclists who had been riding two abreast. And later that month, a motorist going down Sawyer’s Hill had to brake suddenly, causing a cyclist to hit the back of the car and suffer concussion, after an oncoming vehicle moved out to overtake. Additionally, in January, a driver pulled an off-duty police officer from their bike, causing minor damage to the bicycle, after he spoke to him about driving carelessly.
There was also an incident in January where a driver and a cyclist had a verbal confrontation in which, the police report states, “one party is alleged to push the other”. Neither of them wished for any action to be taken.
But with cyclists covering tens of thousands of miles in the park during that three-month period, all of these incidents are few and far between. As for the notion that pedestrians face risks getting from one side of the road to the other, there was only one collision on a crossing – and it was a car that hit them, resulting in a dislocated shoulder.
CROSS PURPOSES
Some of you who ride in the park on weekdays may have seen two ambulances parked on the road outside the Roehampton Gate car park three weeks ago. They were called out after a cyclist unfortunately hit a 12-year-old girl.
The rider’s partner who came to pick him up afterwards tells us that he had slowed down for a car pulling out and was travelling at around 15mph. A man stepped out into the road followed by a friend’s three children who he was looking after. The rider shouted and all stopped, except the girl, and the collision occurred. We understand the girl was taken to hospital for stitches, and the cyclist had minor abrasions. The man looking after the children was apparently very apologetic and wanted to know how the rider was.
While pedestrians have priority on the park’s roads, this incident shows that a sense of shared space must be created around the car parks to allow for easier crossing. In our response to the final consultation on the Movement Strategy, we called for such measures to be implemented in various areas across the park.
On the subject of pedestrian safety, we should correct a claim we made in our last bulletin – that “no accidents in recent memory have been reported that have resulted in the hospitalisation of a pedestrian after a collision with a cyclist”. It seems we misheard what Sgt Peter Sturgess told a previous meeting. He points out there were, in fact, two incidents in the park last year where a cyclist colliding with a person on foot resulted in hospitalisation (one with a pedestrian, the other with a jogger) and a further two incidents in the past nine months where a pedestrian was injured by a cyclist but did not go to hospital. We’re happy to set the record straight, sergeant!
MAT’S IT
Finally, we would like to wish a fond farewell and the best of luck to Mat Bonomi, who left his post at The Royal Parks a couple of weeks ago to begin work on implementing transport schemes over in Tower Hamlets. We’ll miss you, buddy!
Mat relocated from Australia to join TRP as its Head of Transport and Access and ushered in the Movement Strategy which has brought lots of ordinary people to Richmond Park on bikes, many for the first time. His willingness to speak to us and encouragement of our work has helped to strengthen our relationship with TRP.
The next step in the Movement Strategy process that Mat’s successors are likely to implement is a measurement of traffic levels in and around the park. The aim should be to find out how traffic patterns have been affected by the year-long extension to the trial, and how much is Covid-related as more people avoid public transport and use their cars instead. We look forward to seeing the results and continuing our ongoing dialogue with TRP.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
As ever, thank you for allowing us to pop into your inbox, and let us know what you think about anything related to cycling in Richmond Park – we reply personally to every email you send us. If you enjoyed this bulletin, please share it with your cycling friends – and if they like what they read, encourage them to sign up to our mailing list too. The more subscribers we have, the bigger our voice.
All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists