This is Ipley Cross, in the middle of the
New Forest, in south-west England. I couldn't find any official statistics for
the most dangerous crossroads in Britain, but this is certainly a contender. Because even though it's quiet and rural here,
there's not much traffic, there's an average of
two incidents a year here. Two cyclists have died in the last ten years
in near-identical crashes: both times, a driver failed to stop and hit a cyclist who had
right-of-way on the main road. But the visibility is excellent here. It's well-signed.
Actually, really, really well signed, now I'm here it's obvious there's
a lot of road markings for such a rural junction. But people keep getting hurt here. So why is it so bad? For the research here, I'm indebted to
someone called Bez. That's the only name I could find,
I couldn't track them down, they didn't reply to messages, but Bez wrote the definitive article
on why this place is such a disaster. Let's say there's a driver approaching on
the side road at around 40mph. They're not slowing down,
because they're reckless, and they can see the main road is clear. Here's their view. The cyclist, until the very last second, was
exactly in the blind spot caused by the driver's door pillar. The driver didn't slow down for the stop sign,
which would have shown them the cyclist. They didn't move their head, which would have
shown them the cyclist. The speed involved doesn't have to be some
magic bad number. Because of the angle of these roads, for every possible speed that
a reckless driver might be travelling at, there is a reasonable speed for
a cyclist on the main road that'll keep them right in that blind spot
all the way. But why won't the cyclist see the car? They have right of way, yes, but surely they'd
notice that the car's not slowing down. Well, if these two roads were crossing at
right angles to each other, yes, they would see them. Don't get me wrong, the driver would still
be reckless, but at least the cyclist would notice
and be able to take evasive action. But these roads aren't at right angles. There's one other subtle thing here: in this situation,
the car is approaching from behind the cyclist. The cyclist won't see it until it's too late. And even if they do, when both car and bicycle
slam on their brakes, simple simulations don't work any more . Because it's not up to trigonometry
at that point, it's up to human reactions and how both of them try to avoid the collision. This junction is at the worst possible angle. And it happened by accident:
you can see on old maps that this was just the angle at which
two paths happened to intersect, and those were the paths that
happened to become roads over time. This wouldn't be built nowadays: but at some
point in the early 20th century, before it was possible to travel by road
at these sorts of speeds, this was a reasonable junction. The local council has made some changes. Not only the paint: but you can see on Google Street View that
the signs here used to be 'give way', not 'stop'. Stop signs are really rare in Britain, they're only meant to be used in
exceptional circumstances like this, and almost everyone just
rolls through them anyway. And they're clearly not working, because people
keep getting hurt. So why hasn't it been redesigned? Speed bumps or a chicane on the approach would
solve the problem, but it's not legal to have those
unless you also have street lighting, which would mean laying miles of
new electrical cable at enormous expense. That's assuming you could get around
all the regulations that define this area
as a conservation area, and the objections from the locals
about putting bright lighting in a place famed for its dark skies. Same problem with a traffic light. The best solution is to stagger the crossing,
to curve the two side roads so they meet the main road at right angles,
force the drivers to slow down. But again: conservation area,
conservative locals, and a budget estimated at around £100,000. The cheapest and easiest way to solve it,
of course, would be for drivers to stop at
the stop sign. But road safety, and anyone's safety,
shouldn't require faith in human nature. Thank you to Bez, whoever you are! The research for this video
started with that article, so I've put a link in the description,
please do go and read it.
Great timing that someone bombs it through the stop sign right at the start haha
He filmed so many people blasting through the stop sign.
"Road safety shouldn't require faith in human nature"
That phrase right there defines how I approach vehicles and crossings while out running/biking. Always assume the idiot in the car cannot see you and will run you over given the chance.
Watching that first car plow through the stop sign was amazing to me
1:29 another driver not stopping. Holy shit actually almost no one stops.
Infrequent Driver’s of the area usually will abide by the stop sign. These are the locals or the everyday users who blow the sign because they know their isn’t enforcement and they are to smart or to good a driver to follow the rules. It’s literally a human condition known as an “asshole”
What a brilliant video!
Although I've cycled in the New forest, I don't think I've crossed this particular junction but the same principles apply to other, similar junctions as well.
There is a lot to be learned from this short, informational film.
I love driving. I hate other drivers. 10 seconds tops added to your journey to stop at the stop sign and potentially save a life, but nah can't be bothered!
£100,000.00 is considered too much to improve the junction so lives may be saved?
Fuck right off Hampsire County Council!
That road was pretty busy while he was filming, more than I expected for a rural area...