Don't fall for it! 'Optical illusion' cycle lane installed on busy high street has seen 59 people injured by falling in the last year
- The number of falling cyclists in Keynsham High Street, near Bristol, has risen
- Cyclists have blamed an 'optical illusion' caused by kerbs and painted white lines
Cyclists have blamed an 'optical illusion' cycle lane on a British high street for causing them to fall off and injure themselves.
Almost 60 people have been hurt after crashing on Keynsham High Street, near Bristol, since the new street layout was put in place last year.
Riders have blamed the similar appearance of the grey kerbs on one side and the white painted lines on the other for causing an 'optical illusion' that means the path looks level and catches out cyclists who aren't looking closely enough.
It has been revealed a total of 21 people have started personal injury actions against Bath and North East Somerset Council, which spent nine months installing the cycle lane.
And one local councillor has warned that if the situation does not improve, a cyclist could be fatally injured on the tricky section of road.
Dozens of bike riders have been injured after falling off on a new cycle lane in Keynsham, near Bristol
Cyclists say the 'optical illusion' lane is causing people to injure themselves as the kerb on one side and painted white lines are a similar colour
Alan Hale, a councillor for Keynsham South, said figures he had obtained through a freedom of information (FOI) request to the council showed that 59 people had been hurt.
Of these, 21 have sought damages from the council for their injuries, and although seven of these have been rejected the rest remain open and under investigation.
Mr Hale told Somerset Live he had been contacted about people falling 'since day one' but had simply been told by council officers that they were 'monitoring' the situation.
He said: 'There can be no other local authority in the country that has created a development that has succeeded in seriously injuring 59 people at least and have done nothing to address the situation. We are elected to make our community safe, not to inflict significant injuries.
'To make it safe we need the administration and officers to take positive action, not sit on their hands.'
Some work has been done on the cycle lane with the hope of reducing the number of falls. The lane, which had been plain tarmac, was painted red in August in response to - at that time - 46 incidents of people falling.
Mr Hale said: 'At my suggestion they changed the colour of the tarmacadam of the lane but that did not achieve a cessation in injuries, and since then there has been no further action, save the monitoring.'
A total of 21 cyclists have launched personal injury compensation claims against the council after their crashes
Bath and North East Somerset Council spent nine months installing the new cycle lane
Mr Hale has called for the cycle lane to be removed in the interests of public health and safety.
Some locals commented:
The post office - in a picture above - became a first aid point for people injured falling over the kerb. A reader personally saw a poor old man with his head covered in blood and severely shaken sitting on the bench outside the post office.
It's not just cyclists falling off their bikes, but pedestrians tripping and falling too.
A reader today saw a lady slip over the edge. it is a nightmare for the elderly It needs the edge of the curb highlighted in bright yellow
Lots of pedestrians injured themselves because the kerb height is at different levels along the High Street.
It's a trip hazard as in some places the "kerb" is level with the road/cycle track and others it's raised up to a couple of inches above it. It's just not been laid level!.
many people have had minor falls that have not been reported.
Its now a hazard for pedestrians from invisible steps
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