Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in February 2024. 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… +++ Park closed tonight as deer cull starts +++ One-way system on King’s Road finally begins +++ Cyclist dragged by motorist after close pass fails +++ Five-year delay for justice +++ Rundown of incidents in the park over the past three months
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FIRST THINGS FIRST
It’s February 1 – which means the park will be completely closed from 8pm tonight as the biannual deer cull begins. The usual rules apply: if you arrive at any of the gates shortly before locking time, you should not enter unless you are absolutely certain you can easily reach your exit before 8pm – or you may end up waiting a long time for The Royal Parks’ team to arrive in their truck and let you out.
For public safety, the gates will be shut daily between 8pm and 7.30am for approximately seven weeks. If we learn that the cull has ended early, we will post updates on our social media. Links to our social media channels are at the foot of this email, and full details of the cull are on our website.
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
If you entered or left the park via Kingston Gate in the past few days, you may have noticed a few changes in the form of planters and no-entry signs. A trial of a one-way system for motor traffic on King’s Road began this week in an attempt to manage the exceptionally high volumes of vehicles which have frequently caused huge frustration, angry confrontations and additional pollution on this residential street.
Motorists on King’s Road can now only drive from west to east – the direction that takes them towards Kingston Gate – but cyclists can go in both directions as normal. New Road, which is south of King’s Road and runs parallel to it, is one-way in the other direction for motor vehicles AND cyclists. A map of the changes is on our Instagram, and you can read full details of the scheme here.
Long-time subscribers might recall that this scheme was outlined in one of our past bulletins (way back in March 2019, to be precise) but it was thwarted by some local residents before it could begin. Now it is finally up and running, you can have your say – so email tmo@kingston.gov.uk, quoting reference MapKing0090 Park Road, King’s Road and New Road, if you feel that the Healthy Streets initiative is a benefit to your safety and experience of King’s Road or New Road. We have already written to the council expressing the generally positive reaction to our social media posts on the proposal, but responses from individual people, in their own words, will carry more weight. The trial will last up to 18 months, although the council’s Kingston and North Kingston Committee could modify or make it permanent within this period based on feedback and data.
Our congratulations to The Friends Of Kingston Gate for their persistence in pursuing this goal for more than five years. If you would like to support their efforts or keep track of further developments, please follow them on Twitter.
STICKY MOMENT
One of our subscribers contacted us to help put her in touch with the park’s police following a distressing incident which left her with injuries to her shoulder and wrist while cycling from Roehampton Gate towards Robin Hood Gate last week.
She says that a motorist was exceeding the 20mph speed limit when he made contact with her while attempting a close pass. Her jacket and the car somehow stuck together and she was dragged while cycling for about 50 metres. She and another cyclist who witnessed the incident pursued the man to a car park, but he appeared to be unaware of what had happened and, our subscriber says, “wasn’t even remotely sorry about the injury they had caused”.
Understandably, the cyclist wanted to get away as quickly as possible as she was injured and had to get home. But it is worth pointing out that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you do not need to hang around the park looking for the police. If it is an emergency, call 999; if not, dial 101. You can also file a report quickly and easily through the Met Police’s online portal (which we also include in the bio attached to our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages – see links to our social media at the foot of this email).
We hope that Sgt Pete Sturgess and his team are able to take action against this driver.
HEARING AID
Our thanks to Sgt Sturgess for writing to the Crown Prosecution Service in an attempt to expedite a court hearing relating to an incident involving a motorist and a cyclist which, incredibly, has been delayed for five years. The CPS provided a very long explanation, which the head of the park’s police unit didn’t divulge, and the driver is now pencilled in to appear at Kingston Crown Court in May.
Sgt Pete writes: “The incident took place on the 13th May 2019 on Queen’s Road, near the junction with Thatched House Lodge. It is believed the driver knocked the cyclist off on purpose following a road rage incident. He was charged with dangerous driving, ABH and failing to give their name and address after an accident.”
Court officials can still decide to postpone the hearing on the day. Whatever the outcome, though, we will keep you updated.
INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS
Time now for our quarterly look at the incidents in the park that the police attended over the past three months, as detailed in their report to the Safer Parks Police Panel. As ever, we are grateful to Sgt Sturgess and his team for collating the figures and helping to keep the roadway safer for cycling. As usual, while cycling accidents outnumber motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents, they are largely self-inflicted, and motor vehicle offences far outnumber everything else.
We are still gathering data on reported cycling accidents in Richmond Park per estimated number of miles ridden, compared with those outside. The London Cycling Campaign has produced a helpful report on dangerous road junctions across all London boroughs, and we hope to tap into the LCC’s resources for our research.
In October, a cyclist who braked too hard on Queen’s Road went over their handlebars and lost four teeth and cut their lip. On the same day, a child cycling down Sawyer’s Hill went to change gear, wobbled and fell, splitting their lip and losing a tooth. A week later, a motorist misjudged entry to Roehampton Gate and collided with the iron gate causing damage to their vehicle, but no injuries.
In November, a cyclist indicated to turn right at Ham Cross and upon starting their manoeuvre was hit from behind by a driver who was either overtaking or driving straight ahead. The cyclist was cut on their left hand and experienced pain in their right hand, on the right side of their body which was hit by the car, and on their left hip and side from hitting the road. The driver didn’t stop, and no registration was taken, so there will be no prosecution. A day later at Beverley Brook Bridge, a dog off a lead collided with a cyclist, causing them to break their hip and arm after hitting the road. The owner is likely to face a civil court action. And at Ham Gate, a motorist scraped their car, causing damage to both their vehicle and the gate’s paintwork, after one of their tyres burst.
There were no reported road traffic collisions in December.
As for offences, four motorists were reported for dangerous driving or driving in a manner to endanger others or themselves, as was one cyclist, and one motorist was reported for driving without due care. A total of 42 motorists were reported for speeding and 136 trade vehicle drivers were reported. Two motorists were found to not have a valid license, one had no MOT and three held no insurance. There were also 92 tickets issued for unauthorised parking or leaving a vehicle unattended and 20 for contravening signs, including no entry, on the roads closed to traffic.
There were no cyclists reported for riding off-track this quarter but 43 motorists were reported for driving “not on a road”.
Finally, as highlighted in earlier dispatches, a cyclist verbally abused an authorised motorist on the road closed to through traffic. This kind of mistaken intervention has largely disappeared, so thank you for spreading the word.
The police no longer provide data on the number of verbal warnings they give due to changing the system for collecting data.
Police priorities for the next quarter, as agreed by the Panel, include pedestrian safety, especially on the courtesy crossings and on the shared-use middle road. Please slow down and stop to give way if it is safe to do so. Another priority is focussing on road users contravening the priority flow system on the Beverley Brook Bridge, which applies to cyclists as well as motorists. RPC has submitted a proposal to introduce a slip lane for cyclists travelling towards Roehampton and we wait to hear from The Royal Parks, but in the meantime please wait until there is a safe gap to proceed, or switch to the adjacent shared use path.
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