Most Dangerous Junction For Cyclists in London! 

I regularly cycle daily in both directions. Tooting upper road is very dangerous to cyclist in both directions. Car drivers around here pay little or no attention to us at cyclist regardless how good you are riding. On top , the cycle lane you will find blocked by delivery riders of lots of food outlets here. They just don’t care pushing you to navigate between the plastic cycle poles into traffic. Something needs to be done here urgently the whole road system in this location is so messed up clogged up with angry motorists!!!

At the weekend i was cycling in Barlow moor road, Manchester and found myself in a lot of conflict with turning cars. I think it was due to this same factor: a semi-segregated cycle lane meant that i had 100% priority up until the point there was a car encroaching, then i was not able to position the bike to safely maintain flow and had to stop rather than just passing the turning vehicle. When the traffic is dense and averaging 8-15 mph, the best place to ride is middle of the lane, claiming a whole first class place on the road. Thanks for articulating this issue.

Couple of things. Firstly I'm not sure I could cope with cycling there, far too busy and dangerous. However if I did, the obvious thing is when approaching a junction like that is to slow down. There is no excuse for a motorist to pull out in front of another road user but it's better to be slightly delayed than dead even if have right of way. In busy traffic there is so much going on that speed will only increase chances of an accident, especially if in a cycle lane which is moving faster than traffic in main lane of road so the cyclists are effectively undertaking the cars etc.

I've ridden these lanes many times each way and the wands don't help as they narrow the lanes in certain areas. The other problem with any kind of segregation is that mechanical road sweepers can't access with in the cycle lane, so invariably all the rubbish from the road surface collects in the lanes.

I lived around there before those wands were installed. They made travelling through Tooting worse for cyclists AND larger vehicles. The cycle lanes were widened which meant the roads had to be narrowed, then with the wands, this means that cars joining from the sides have to pull out much further before they can turn without hitting a wand. They also removed the dedicated bus stops so now, instead of being able to pull over to the side, buses stop traffic 3-4 times in a short space with no room to overtake, meanwhile, the cycle paths go behind the newly positions bus stops but now have to deal with speed bumps! There needs to be a major rethink of this entire section of road and soon.

So true , wands should only be for two way cycle lanes and even then a sloping pavement or road hump design is better. Problem is armature cyclists might not have the instinct to ride defensively or have the skill to anticipate problems whilst controlling the bike. in this case the wands can give a false sense of security I’ve seen it happen many times where a car pulls out taking cyclists completely by surprise (who thought they were in a safe bubble so to speak ) . You have to be scanning all angles whenever your riding , cycle lane or not.

I know this area very well! It’s designed very poorly! From a drivers prospective (that is also a cyclist) I have seen a crash with a cyclist when the car was pulling out from the opposite sides minor road not paying attention(one car in front of me) The problem is that road is on a slight bend so as a driver it’s difficult to see cyclist if they are carrying any type of speed as well as trying to check both sides to join the traffic. I am extra careful when pulling out but still causes me anxiety if I have to join the traffic from here. Normally I try to avoid going this way if I can.

Nice video, definitely important to pay attention and anticipate the worst from any non-stationary objects. And yes unfortunately that sometimes will require application of force to the brake levers, disapating all of the aero and weight gains into the ether! Looking forward to updates of the new build, hopefully it will go super smooth :)

5:00 I had never considered the risk in a situation like that, as it's not a common scenario where I ride. Scary stuff.

Nice video and important topic for everywhere. ❤❤

ha, wow I used to live on Ansell rd (no 44)! I hated tooting for the traffic and that was back in 2007!

Used to do a 30 mile route round London from Lewisham that included Tooting and quite surprised it's a cyclist black spot, but I would ride mostly in the evenings ie. after 7pm most times so wouldn't encounter half the problems you have encountered but even then I found it a place where you had to keep your wits about you more so than other places.

Grazie Federico! Great demonstration of a horrible junction - something that looks quite 'innocent' but is actually really dangerous (11 life-changing injuries and 18 broken bones/cuts/sprains here in 5 years). The point about the wands and the slight-lines is good, but cycling out to 'hold space' in traffic only works for brave people. The physical separation of space through wands, orcas and ideally stepped kerbs is key for enabling lots of future Londoners to cycle, and this space should be safe. We have a more radical proposal for sorting this out - much less traffic! We want Low Traffic Neighbourhoods either side of this main road - the danger here is coming from people driving through residential neighbourhoods to cut 20 seconds off their journey rather than use the main road. This 'rat-running' means there are many drivers trying to push out of these junctions. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods = no through traffic = many fewer turning cars = danger massively reduced The local council (Wandsworth) already put in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods either side of this junction in 2020 during Covid, but pulled them out after a noisy backlash (bikelash...) after just a couple of weeks. We want to see strong leadership from Wandsworth Council to go back and put these Low Traffic Neighbourhoods back in. This will slash dangerous junctions all up this road, which as you can see on the map is lined with danger at every side-road. Explore the map: lcc-dangerous-junctions.streamlit.app/ Would love to see people getting campaigning on this and other horrible junctions - contact your local group to get involved/sign up for local campaigning newsletters: lcc.org.uk/groups/lcc-local-groups/ There's also a detailed report here on how to fix junctions: lcc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/LCC-Dangerous-Junctions-report-July-2022.pdf Thanks again, love the demo and hate that you have to use routes like this. We all deserve so much better.

Great video. I quite like the wands as they do keep most cars out. But the lanes need to be wider

Dicing with death on tooting super highway since 2016. Not sure how I haven’t had an accident though. Even as a savvy cyclist it’s a struggle. So many idiots about. Rat run heaven for Uber drivers, moped delivery drivers and pedestrians. Dont get me started on the pinch points where the traffic islands start and cars squeeze you in the cycle lane because there isn’t enough room for larger vehicles to get through without Encroaching into the cycle lane. The footage is have if I had constant recording would be wild. Stay safe 👊🏼

Grazie Federico, bel veideo. Cycling lanes like those, not separated, are just as dangerous or more dangerous than riding in the road itself. Especially when busy as you said later in the video. Making that street one way would be a good idea, provided the flow of traffic can be diverted.

I think you're being very generous, Fede, in stating that you move to the middle of your lane when passing a junction so as to be more visible. Whilst undoubtedly true, the reason I do the same is because most drivers deliberately overshoot the junction lines.

well explained. and excellent diagram

Federico this was an excellent display of how city engineers don't always have our safety in mind. If they were actually cyclists, they might get it however cycling in the city can be dangerous and there's a risk no matter what. I don't believe we can put blame on them as not all cyclists follow all rules on the road. What's important is as a cyclist in Ca, I must take caution and responsibility for my riding and know to make myself predictable and visible. By visible I mean following local laws, so many times we see cyclists break the rules. They want to keep moving, I get it, but that puts unnecessary risk in the picture. All in all, while cycling in city limits- we need to simply slow down and respect the road rules just as auto's do. It's not a perfect world we live in, so if something goes wrong, we'll be the one who suffers more than a car or bus. There's no winning there. My goal in the city is to always be predictable, visible, focused on the moment, then make it to my destination. That being said, ride safe my friends, then enjoy and have fun doing what we love!

The only truly safe arrangement is complete separation between cars and bicycles each on their own individual road or path. These painted lanes along the sides of busy roads are little more than lip service to cyclists needs and do NOT create safe places to ride. The UK needs to look to the Netherlands for design solutions. Reducing car usage and creating pedestrian and cycle friendly spaces, not only vastly improves safety but massively improves social cohesion, by making spaces in the city that are safe for people to move around freely without worrying about getting run over thus allowing the development of sidewalk cafes, restaurants etc at which interaction can take place. Check the YT channel "not just bikes" for some fascinating insights into the effects of good urban planning.

I like your logic!

Staggered intersections like the example shown here are always going to create danger

great video with importand topic that applies to most of city traffic where bikes and car traffic meet.. in my honest opininon the biggest factor are always humans that try to be "smarter".. as on foot, in cars and also on bikes... until the people will rethink their own position in traffic, nothing will dramaticly change.. not with poles, cycle paths or anything... sorry, my opinion... keep up the good work Federico! \m/

Woah!! That was an excellent yet stomach churning example of traffic innocently turning across the cycle lane. The level of intelligence required to have extra safety i.e. motion detectors as every minor road turn (or entry to a fuel station) that could flag a red light to the cycle lane would be massively costly...but i can't see any other solution to points where traffic can break across the cycle lane. It takes lots of knowledge of all these point before I would be happy to cycle at any pace (which i would then reduce at those points) down that road. There are some good and rather cutting comments pointing out cyclists are doing themselves harm by going at high speeds given they have little time to react ... it's a fair point ...as a cyclist myself i'm pretty fed up with cyclists not having enough regard to their own safety (whether it be deliveroo cyclists on turbo batteries or cyclists going at fast speeds with little/limited visibility). I saw there was one comment even complementing your cycling attire... that made me chuckle🙂

Actually it is unlawful to cross Give Way or Stop lines with any part of the car, while waiting for free main road to engage with the traffic. In every country you would loose 3-6 points, and get ticket, Australia, US, and EU. Also you would FAIL having driving license test drive! NOTE in every country in the World cars are constructed in exactly the same way. Driver MUST wait.

The video at 5:20 highlights how important it is to keep speed down especially when cars are at stand still. Rider should have clearly been ready to stop not being able to see clearly and with a petrol station on the left. Riding way too fast for the conditions. No anticipation awareness at all.

When I look at the street another problem I see is a narrow busy street llined with tall buildings which at certain times create a deeply shadowed main street with sudden bright areas where there is a break in the buildings at the junction. This means that drivers and cyclists moving across may have a space which is suddenly brighter and may even have the sun in their eyes and the eyes don't adjust quickly enough, like how it is when you enter or emerge from a tunnel. I can remember a few times when I stepped into a bright open junction between tall buildings when crossing the road. There were cars turning in and emerging and I just didn't see them but fortunately the drivers were alert. This is one thing that catches drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. BTW I think your body looks sexy in those cycling tights😃😊😊 No homo!!

How do you manage to ride in the darkness now that there is no light after 4.30, do you use front lights?.

If all road users had a small amount of patience the roads would be a lot safer place, probably in a parallel universe! On another note any news on your new build?

Remember, the big white vans hurt, trust me 😉

It’s dreadful. Full of hazards for all road users: 4 wheels, 2 wheels & pedestrians. Very poor sight lines, quick transitions between log jams and short stretches of clear road where cars accelerate too rapidly. Exasperated drivers often in a hurry. Lots of cross roads and junctions. Drivers often park or drop off kerbside blocking the cycle lane. Really random pedestrians - I’ve had more people stop dead in the middle of the road looking at their phones here than anywhere else, no idea why. Fast narrow cyclist path going south, slower going north. Tons of delivery scooters & e-bikes running red lights, riding in the wrong direction, overtaking on both sides, changing direction or stopping/starting without warning etc. Very frazzled & gnarly environment. Bad day & night, rush hour or not, sunny or rainy. Avoid.

In Italia sarebbe la pista ciclabile più sicura

The footage of your friend seems like a naive behaviour by the rider. Filtering blind at speed is for gamblers. Never go faster than you can see ahead.

Wands just add danger

The main problem here is that people buy too fast bicycles with way too fast pedals and on top of that they wear helmets which itself gives people false confidence and encourages them pedal their bikes irresponsibly. The government should ban those fast bicycles for the safety of tax payers and prohibit wearing helmets when on the bicycle. In Netherlands people ride slow bicycles and never wear helmets so there are almost no street accidents.

Stick to Richmond Park and the Surrey Hills, and take the train to work. Drivers in rush hour are at their worst.

I lasted about 4 minutes. Sorry but there was nothing constructive. Perhaps make suggestions on how the infrastructure can be improved?

cyclist starts off a "safety" video by holding a camera up in his hand. self explanatroy from the start about the lack of cyclist safety. cyclists wizzing around (to fast) cyclists slowing down, (to fast) road speed is all ready at 20mph for vehicles, so this shows that cyclists should also not be wizzing around. fast flowing cyclists, excess speed by the cyclists for the road conditions. cars turning across video Rule 74 Turning. When approaching a junction on the left, watch out for vehicles turning in front of you, out of or into the side road. appropriate speed of the cyclist again. flow of high speed cyclists. cyclist too fast for the conditions conclusion for the video is that cyclists need to slow down

SWISS COTTAGE is one of the most dangerous intersections in London , all drivers are coming southbound and want to go across FIVE lanes while there is a cyclist in the middle lane going down to Avenue Road !!!!