Derbyshire

• Derbyshire Road Safety Committee meeting – March 2007 - the BMF and MAG were invited to meet a working party of DCoC councillors and officials who are looking at what can be done in the county to reduce the number of motorcycle KSIs. The consensus of the BMF and MAG representatives present was that the single biggest improvement that could be made was the reintroduction of BikeSafe - unfortunately this does not seem to be a high priority for Derbyshire Police.
• Derby and Derbyshire Motorcycle Forum – a small group that meets three or four times per year, usually at the Derby Assembly Rooms, to progress the Motorcycle Strategy.

Next meeting Tuesday 15th January 2008

Everything is slow – the next two items to get implemented (from our viewpoint) are improved parking and use of the IHIE motorcycle road design guidelines. So any biker who wants to attend, even if it just for one meeting to see what it is about, is very welcome – contact Rod Nuth. The latest set of minutes can be read here.

May 22: the bikes in bus lanes trial in Derby has been now been made permanent for the two bus lanes that were subject of the scheme. All new bus lanes in Derby will now be considered for bikes "where appropriate". Derby is the only area in the East Midlands where bikes can use bus lanes. Two articles appeared in the local Derby Evening Telegraph covering the change - these can be seen here and here.

March 2007: A new bus lane has been added to Duffield road between the A38 island and Broadway - PTWs are NOT allowed in for reasons that have not been explained. This is made worse by the fact that the remaining driving lanes are very narrow making filtering almost impossible and definitely dangerous. 

Do you travel on this road - want to comment - I am told that you should contact Adrian Astle 01332 715018 e-mail adrian.astle@derby.gov.uk if you have any comments to make - or the Derby Evening Telegraph.

• Bike parking in Allenton Shopping centre: March 2007 - two dedicated PTW parking areas have been installed with the parking refurbishment in Allenton - in the worst possible place - at the far end of the parking area, by the exit, and as far away from the shops as possible. In addition, they have installed floor level chain rings for security that you have to lift up out of the mud - a total waste of an opportunity and a waste of money.
• Investigation into Derbyshire's use of "ArmourStud" cats-eyes – a small glass dome instead of the traditional reflector – known in one instance in Northamptonshire to have unseated a rider.

Feb: update - studs now being deployed are the 'smaller' variety that have an abraded surface that improves grip - questions about testing still to be answered.

29 April: still waiting for response from the DfT to request for further testing information and from County regarding actual deployment

May 2: Response from DfT - the ArmourStud in use now is not the one tested by the DfT in 1998 - DfT to contact the manufacturers to determine its status.

June 3: Still waiting for Derbyshire County Council to reply to questions asked in February and again in May

• A50/A514 junction – an anti-skid surface has been put down on the roundabout at this junction and on the approaches and on some of the exits. The net result is that you can be leaning over on a bend and suddenly find you go from a high-grip anti-skid surface to normal tarmac – potential disaster. Currently waiting for a response from Roads Connect – their road marking for loose chippings and subsequent 'sweeping' also leave much to be desired.

29 April: some 6 months after initial contact on this issue, Atkins have still not responded to the engineering and safety issues.

June 3: It appears that the person dealing with the query at Atkins left in February but their E-mail address still - a new contact is supposedly dealing with the query.

June 13: A response from Atkins says that they have now secured funding to modify the anti-skid surface on this junction and expect to carry out the work in July or August - although it has taken a long time this may turn out to be a modest success.

Sept 2006: Most exits now have anti-skid - one left without for some unknown reason

• A5102 Via Gellia – discussions with Derbyshire County Council over the condition of the road (now resurfaced on the lower stretch) and the dangerous positioning of rumble strips close to bends. Update - Derbyshire County Council to review positioning of at least one of the rumble strips.
• A50 Alvaston spur – the slip road design is potentially lethal – an ideal opportunity to get knocked off by a speeding car driver – discussing with Highways Agency

29 April: The Highways Agency has no intention of making any changes to this junction as there have been no reported accidents and the cost of the change would be in excess of £100,000. This is now a closed issue unless anything new occurs.

• High-Stars – traffic monitoring device temporarily fixed to the carriageway and used by Derbyshire Safety Camera Partnership – after two years 'discussion' where DSCP refused to recognise the obvious safety issues for bikers we can make no further progress unless someone actually comes off as a result of riding over one of these devices.

March 2007 - confirmation has been received from a Derbyshire County Council officer who is associated with the Derbyshire safety Camera Partnership that Hi-Stars are no longer used.

This is now a closed issue unless anything new occurs.

Any other issues for the Derby area please contact Rod Nuth