VRT Radio news reader Chaima Saysay gets irate with cyclists that believe that they always have priority even over pedestrians at a zebra crossing. Chaima spoke of her irritation at the behaviour recently on VRT Radio 2’s consumer programme ‘WinWin’. But is she right to become upset and who has right of way at a zebra crossing, the pedestrian or the cyclist? The VRT’s traffic expert Hajo Beeckman is clear “Pedestrians always have priority, and an awareness campaign is needed to make cyclists realise this”.
Chaima is even considering taking a hand-held horn out with her when she goes out walking. "Because when I want to cross over the road at a zebra crossing, I first look left and then right like I should. The cars stop, but cyclists often almost run me over! Cyclists always come zooming through from all directions. It seems that they believe that they have priority everywhere all the time. Even when they cycle over a zebracrossing”.
The VRT’s traffic expert Hajo Beeckman says that this can lead to dangerous situations particularly on zebra crossings.
“Cyclists often think that while cycling over pedestrian crossings they have the right of way over other cyclists or cars, but they don't”.
In the first instance zebra crossings are intended for pedestrians. As a cyclist you can ride over zebra crossing, but you don’t have priority over a pedestrian. A lot of cyclists don’t realise that like motorists they have to stop if someone is trying to cross. In order to get right of way, you have to first get off your bike and push it over the zebra crossing”.
A second misconception held by cyclists concerns about bicycle crossings. “These are the crossings marked with dotted line on the carriageway. Many cyclists assume that they also have priority over cars and other cyclists there, but this is not the case either. However, there are also some crossings where cyclists have priority over cars. Those have red road stripped marking, bordered by dotted lines and shark teeth for cars”, Hajo Beeckman says
The authorities have a crucial role to play in making the roads safer. “Smart traffic lights that detect when a cyclist is approaching could help make the roads safer both for cyclists and other road users”.
There is a pilot project where an app on a cyclist's smartphone communicates with the local traffic computer. The information is relayed to the next traffic light on the cyclist’s route and it turns green allowing them to pass.
The new Flemish coalition agreement states that every effort should be made to ensure that traffic lights are made to be as “conflict-free” as possible. However, “this will take 10 years to achieve”.