Interesting Links for 02-06-2017

[andrewducker]

Edinburgh Tram lawyers: ‘We warned you 2 years ago a cyclist would die’ (tags: edinburgh trams death OhForFucksSake viaSwampers ) JRR Tolkien book Beren and Lúthien published after 100 years (tags: Tolkien books ) Uber lost another $708 million in the first three months of the year (tags: business transport money ) Older Adults Learning

Comments

[gonzo21]

There was a woman on channel 4 news last night talking about how the worst part of Trumps withdrawal is that he can't actually withdraw from it until 2019, when there is a window of opportunity for signatories to withdraw.

So all he did yesterday was actually announce his intention to withdraw. WIthout actually withdrawing.

Just like he built a wall without building a wall. And everything else he just lies about.

[skington]

That tram fatality article is another example of "better journalism, please". Nowhere does it say what other cities do to prevent cyclist accidents (presumably involving wheels getting caught in the tracks?), which is the only other interesting thing about this sorry story.

[nojay]

The accident happened at a point on the tram route where the roadway/tramway is very narrow, a single lane running between a pedestrian traffic island and the pedestrian pavement[1]. There's no space for a dedicated cycleway or even a marked cycle lane on the road there. Other cities probably do better in that regard, or you just don't hear too much about cyclists elsewhere having accidents due to tram tracks.

The best bet would be to ban cyclists from certain parts of the Edinburgh tram route completely but it's not going to happen because people are being encouraged to cycle in the city centre despite the density of traffic along Princes Street and neighbouring streets during rush hour.

[1] I was on a tram a while back which had to stop at that location because someone standing on the crowded pedestrian island had a wheeled luggage bag behind them on the roadway protruding into the traffic. They didn't cotton on to the problem they were causing for quite some time.

[despotliz]

I think the answer is that they design trams with cyclists in mind (wide separated lanes for cycles, crossings at 90 degree angles), while the Edinburgh tram system for various reasons was designed wth the tram layout going in first and everything else fitting round the sides, and it doesn't really fit. There's some background on the Spokes website and their instructions about how to deal with tram tracks safely and there's video embedded here showing what happens if you hit the tracks at the wrong angle. I don't know if it's also damper on average in Edinburgh, which makes slippery tram tracks more dangerous.

There's also various rail inserts which allow cyclists to pass safely but compress when the tram goes over them, but if you watch the video it seems that getting your wheel stuck in the tram tracks in the Netherlands is a thing that happens fairly regularly. But probably doesn't lead to fatalities because there aren't motor vehicles around to hit you when you fall off.