Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in November 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… +++ Deer cull starts tonight +++ Can 20mph limit for cyclists be introduced? +++ Action taken on blind spot by car park +++ Three frightening incidents involving motorists +++ Rundown of quarterly police stats +++
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CULL TIME
Before this newsletter begins in earnest, a quick reminder that the park will be closed to everyone from 8pm TONIGHT as the biannual deer cull commences for the usual seven-week period. If you arrive at the park shortly before closing time, please do not enter unless you are absolutely certain you can easily reach your exit before 8pm – otherwise you may find yourself temporarily locked in. The gates officially reopen at 7.30am each day. For more details, see our website.
LIMITED APPEAL
Can The Royal Parks succeed in imposing a unilateral 20mph speed limit on cyclists in Richmond Park and its other green spaces? It doesn’t seem that likely to us.
There was surprise among many cyclists, including us at RPC, when it emerged two weeks ago that TRP has written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport requesting a change to its regulations so that the maximum speed limit of 20mph could apply to cyclists as well as motorists. The move comes after the negative media coverage, and subsequent public outrage, surrounding the inquest into the pedestrian fatality in Regent’s Park two years ago which involved a cyclist.
Any changes to the park’s regulations can take a long time to implement, or may not even make it through Parliament. Moreover, the existing regs are clear, easily enforceable, and actually quite stringent: as we make clear in our Safer Riding Guide, they stipulate that “you must not ride in a manner that would endanger the safety of other park visitors or yourself” – and you can be stopped by the police for cycling inconsiderately even if you are moving at less than 20mph. Any attempt to impose a speed limit on cyclists is a distraction from what TRP should be focussing on – the effect of cars in its parks, particularly through traffic. (A number of worrying incidents in the past month, which feature in one of the items below, illustrate this point.
It’s also notable that when the Highway Code was updated, speed limits for cyclists on Britain’s roads were never on the cards. Two years later, would the Government now have the inclination to impose a limit on the few dozen miles of roadway across the Royal Parks, given that they don’t apply to the 246,000 miles of GB roads? And would it have the appetite to get involved when there are so many bigger and unprecedented national challenges to tackle?
In a few days, we are meeting with Darren Share, TRP’s Director of Parks, for the second time. Our series of meetings, as regular subscribers to this bulletin will know, concern the development of a new cycling policy for his organisation – and he assures us it will be guided by data. We are confident that, ultimately, TRP will look at the evidence and see that cyclists in its parks do not pose a significant threat to anyone’s safety, and a 20mph limit will not make its roads any safer.
LOGGING ON
A word of appreciation for park manager Paul Richards, who has taken action on a hazardous blindspot.
While one of us from RPC was cycling down Dark Hill a couple of months ago, a motorist exiting the car park near Kingston Gate pulled out in front of us, necessitating a quick pull on the brake levers to prevent a collision. Neither we nor the driver could see each other because the view was obscured by a vehicle which was parked at the corner on the edge of the exit. But after contacting Paul about this incident, his team has placed logs on the same spot to prevent motorists inconsiderately using it as a parking space.
Our thanks to him for this. In a separate development, Paul tells us that parts of the Tamsin Trail, which subscribers have flagged for their poor state, are being monitored for future improvements to the path’s surface.
REPORT RUNDOWN
Time for our regular look at the incidents on the park’s roads and the Tamsin Trail that the police have attended. (For the benefit of newer subscribers to this bulletin, this information is collated over a quarterly period and is presented to the Safer Parks Police Panel, which we sit on alongside the park manager, local councillors and other stakeholders.)
In July, there were two collisions on Queen’s Road. The first involved a cyclist overtaking a motorist and resulted in a fractured pelvis, while the second led to a rider suffering a broken ankle after a driver turned to go towards Pen Ponds car park. Elsewhere, a cyclist came off worse when they collided with a pedestrian on Dark Hill, leaving them with a broken elbow, ribs and a hairline fracture. In the same month, there were four crashes which were either cyclist-on-cyclist or did not involve any other party, with all but one resulting in cuts and abrasions. The exception was a cyclist who broke their leg in a collision on Priory Lane after an oncoming rider clipped the wheel of a person they were riding with and swerved into their path.
In August, there were two solo cyclist crashes on Sawyer’s Hill and Dark Hill respectively, with the second suffering a fractured hip after their chain snapped. There was also a head-on collision involving two cyclists at Ham Gate, resulting in grazing and cuts.
In September, a cyclist and a motorist collided after they both pulled out of the junction at Ham Cross at the same time. The cyclist, who suffered shock, landed on the car’s windscreen and broke it. The cyclist and the motorist exchanged details.
Traffic offences and relevant breaches of park regulations were as follows:
Trade vehicles – 235
Unauthorised parking/unattended – 78
Driving not on a road – 45
Speed – 36
Off-track cycling – 9
Contravening signs (including closed roads) – 5
Cycling to endanger any person – 2
Driving a vehicle to endanger any person – 0
Driving without due care – 0
Using a mobile while driving – 1
No valid license – 2
No insurance – 3
No cycle lights after dark – 1
Faulty vehicle lights – 1
As part of their priorities for the current quarter-year, the police will continue to send traffic officers to the park on some weekday mornings to keep an eye out for speeding motorists, which was a request we originally made at the previous panel meeting in July. Our thanks to Sgt Sturgess from the park’s police for continuing this initiative.
TRIPLE THREAT
More recently, in the space of little more than a week, there have been three frightening incidents that weren’t presented to the Safer Parks panel as they took place outside the three-month timeframe of the police report (and the third was not reported).
On October 10, a driver tried to overtake two cars on Queen’s Road between Ham Cross and Pembroke Lodge, then swerved to avoid an oncoming car, careered off-road and hit a tree. The park’s police have recommended that the motorist, who was using his brother’s car, be charged with driving with no insurance and without due care.
The second incident occurred five days later near Robin Hood Gate. A motorist on Priory Lane turned right towards the Pen Ponds car park, cutting across the roundabout and hitting a cyclist who had come down Broomfield Hill. The cyclist was struck with such force that his pedal went through the car’s bodywork, and the top tube of his bike snapped. He and the driver were shaken by the collision, and the cyclist was taken to hospital. Although both parties believed they were each partly responsible – the driver said he had not seen the cyclist, and the cyclist admitted he had been going too fast – we know from making our own investigations prior to the incident that the plethora of infrastructure and large signs at sight level obscures and distracts road users from all directions, leading to avoidable dangerous manoeuvres like the ones made leading to this accident.
On October 18, one of our subscribers witnessed a driver in a grey SUV on the single-lane section across Beverly Brook Bridge overtake a group of cyclists at more than 40mph and then drive towards an oncoming rider who had to go off-road to avoid being hit head-on. The subscriber started a thread on Reddit about the frightening incident and, like us, many of the respondents agree that the park is no place for through traffic.
As we have said before, the incidence of dangerous and inconsiderate driving in the park is probably relatively lower than that of a busy London road. Nevertheless, addressing incidents like those above would do more to improve the safety of the park’s roads than trying to implement a speed limit for cyclists.
TRAIL AND TRIBULATION
On a final note, a polite reminder about two aspects of safety as we enter the winter months.
At this time of year, some of you may be taking to the Tamsin Trail more often as an alternative to road cycling. If you do, please ride considerately around other cyclists and those on foot. Pedestrians have priority, and on this relatively narrow trail, not all of them are mindful that they share the space with cyclists, so watch your speed. Some are elderly and may not hear you approach. Also look out for dogs and children.
Secondly, always use lights in the park at night and be mindful of hazards. Last week some people walking through the park found a cyclist on the ground after the rider hit a deer on the descent from the Ballet School at around 9.45pm. They required hospital treatment. Please take care at night so you don’t come a cropper as well.
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