Campus: Is the new road safe?

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne week, one road, two accidents. After spending all last year rebuilding the roads through campus, is the result a more dangerous system or is there more to it?

The University has implemented a shared space road system, whereby the separation between road and pavement is minimised, and there is greater integration between car and pedestrian traffic. In practice this means lowered curbs, and little distinction between road and pavement. The idea behind such a road system is that it encourages priority of pedestrians over cars, and without any signage drivers are forced to drive slower and be more aware of the situation. They are claimed to have a positive effect with regards to both road safety and traffic volume.

However, they aren’t without controversy. A survey of 600 people found that 63% rated their experience with shared spaces as poor, and 35% avoided them completely. So, with such a mix of opinion on their safety, was it really the best idea of the University to build a shared space road?

The pedestrians involved have both admitted that they were at fault in some way.

At first glance, the accidents suggest not. But before I dismiss the road as a complete failure and suggest we are tormented with yet more roadworks, let’s look a little deeper. For a start, the pedestrians involved have both admitted that they were at fault in some way; one was not paying attention and the other mistimed her venture into the road. There is rarely one cause of a situation, so pinning the entire blame on the road is like pinning the blame of the whole financial crash on one or two bankers.

Secondly, the idea that you can somehow label a road as dangerous without reference to its danger prior to the new layout is absurd. In that vein, the last two years there have been no accidents on that road, although a student was tragically killed on the Cannon Park road in 2014.

Only time will tell just how dangerous the road really is.

Finally, two accidents in one week is bad, but their timing could be pure coincidence and there may not be another all year. Of course, there is no actual way of knowing whether this is the case without a time machine. At the same time, common sense also needs to be used. There is no longer a pedestrian crossing; whether the shared space is dangerous or not, there can be no doubt of the increased risk in removing a crossing. So, only time will tell just how dangerous the road really is, but it looks like there is already an increased risk compared with other years.

With so little structure to the road, and with no crossing, it’s easy to understand how confusion could arise between traffic and pedestrians. That’s not to say the fault lies in one place only. While there really should be a crossing in such a busy area and the University should continue to monitor the safety of the new roads, students need to be aware that this is still a road and should be treated as one.