Cyclists set to get their own traffic lights The readiness to go further was signalled by Norman Baker, the local transport minister, in a parliamentary written reply earlier this week. He told MPs cycle traffic lights will be considered as part of an overall review of traffic signs regulations currently under way in Whitehall. Where special lights have been introduced the casualty rate has dropped. One junction in Davis, California saw the number of collisions involving bikes drop from 16 in the two years before they were introduced to none in the following two years. In London a set of cyclists" priority lights have been introduced at one of the capital's black spots, the Bow roundabout in east London, where there were two fatalities last year. They are in particular designed to give them a head start of other traffic turning left, which is frequently the most dangerous manoeuvre. But under current legislation the lights cannot be placed at cyclists" eye level which, TfL experts fear can lead to confusion among motorists who may believe the signal applies to them. In addition the law does not allow the signals to display a red light for cyclists which makes it harder to control their movements. It has asked the Government to change the law to allow full cyclists traffic lights to be introduced at key junctions across the capital. "We've recently held early meetings with the Department for Transport to explore options for new traffic signals which we believe will make cycling safer," Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport. Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, sounded a note of caution. Looking at the casualty data, it is clear that we have to make cycling safer. Evaluating a trial such as this one may offer us a useful way forward," he said. At the same time, the presence of a green light at eye level for a car driver may lead drivers to think that the light applies to them as well as to the cyclist. In such circumstances, any safety benefit could easily be lost. Edmund King, the AA's president, also questioned whether the initiative would make a big difference to safety. "If you have an advanced cycle line and a green block, then they already get a head start," he said. I would have thought painting a bit of the road green was an easier way to do it. Obviously turning left at traffic lights is a bit of a problem but whether it is worth the expense of an additional light is debatable.