Investigation of separation distances between cyclists and motorists in Cape Town

Abstract

Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 8-11 July 2013 "Transport and Sustainable Infrastructure", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

Road safety is a major consideration in one’s decision to cycle and, there are various factors influencing safety for a cyclist. A very important factor is road space, as most roads in South Africa have not been designed and built to accommodate both motorised and non-motorised transport; the roads are built around the needs of motorized modes of transport and this has exacerbated the low modal share of cycling in South Africa. Therefore the aims of this investigation was to find out what are the passing distances between motorists and cyclists, how do these distances compare to the recommended distances that should be given for cyclists in different driving environments and what factors influence the passing distances such as gender, weather conditions, different types of roads. To obtain the passing distances a survey was carried out. The survey was conducted by means of collecting video footage. The footage by means of having a cyclist cycle along selected roads, and the bicycle was fitted with a GPS and video camera, therefore as the cyclist would cycle, the video camera would be recording footage of the lane in which the cyclist was travelling and all motorists passing or overtaking the cyclist were recorded too. The footage was then downloaded onto a computer and the VideoLan player used to analysis and measure the passing distances. The findings of the survey have revealed that the passing distances were less than the recommended distances on the Pedestrian and Cyclist Facilities Design Guidelines. This brings to question, is the fact that cycling has such a low modal share in South Africa due to the fact the road users do not feel safe to cycle on the roads. Recommendations regarding safe passing distance legislation are made based on the findings.