It has been reported in local online media that around £1.2 million has had to be paid out in compensation by the City of Edinburgh Council to cyclists since 2012. The compensation has been paid to cyclists who have either suffered injuries or damage to their bikes after they slipped on the tracks or got their wheels stuck.
There have been a total of 442 reported accidents involving cyclists on tram tracks since 2012 – two years before public services commenced – and 196 successful claims have been made as a result. Most of the successful claims have unsurprisingly come around Haymarket and along Princes Street (with this being where the trams interact with other traffic the most).
Cllr Scott Arthur, the Council’s Transport Convener, said: “It is important to note that some of these claims pre-date the opening of the line and the many safety improvements made since then. Nonetheless, the number of claims submitted is concerning to me. I am committed to ensuring the safety of all road users, and I know that over the last five years the council has been working on a phased package of improvements to cycle safety along the tram route. The council is now in the process of completing phase three of the project, which includes significant changes to the road layouts at six junctions to give greater priority to people on bikes.”
If cyclists paid more attention to the state of the road they are using then many of these claims would not arise. Holland a country with a large number of cyclists seems to manage the mix of road users far better then us. In Holland there is much more disapline between the mix of road uses.In this country a small minority of cyclists treat the road as if they where on the Tour De France. Pavements and jumping red lights are the norm so dont expect them to have any respect for tramway infrostructure.
Obviously the compensation culture is alive and well in Edinburgh! Up until very recently I rode a bike in Blackpool, very often along the whole length of the promenade and across to the ‘road side’ crossing the lines very frequently, and also riding parallel to the tracks. I was always mindful that grooved track was not compatible with the profile of bicycle wheels, hence I never had an accident. Whatever happened to common sense and logic? It’s about time that the City of Edinburgh Council, and other authorities responsible for LRT systems, stood up to these ‘compensation leeches’ and call them out for what they are, ‘opportunists’.
When I was schoolboy in the far off days of London trams every cyclist accepted the tracks as a permanent hazard and was very wary of them. To even have thought about
suing because of getting caught in either the track or conduit slot would have been laughable.
I support cycling, it is a healthy and environmentally positive means of getting around, and should be encouraged. However, cyclists should be told firmly that they are responsible for themselves, and that the whole world cannot be altered to suit them.They are riding a two-wheel vehicle with narrow tread tyres; it requires to be balanced. If there’s a track set in the road, and it cannot be crossed at a wide angle, they should avoid it. Their own British Cycling website map for Edinburgh does not recommend the Haymarket-Princes Street section; they are advised to use Melville Street- George Street, which will take no longer. They cross Princes Street only at Hanover Street/The Mound junction – at a wide angle. I do think the Council should take a firmer line. And even with the Newhaven extension open, there will still only be one tram route in the city, and even that west of Haymarket is on reserved track.