Light will alert drivers to bike riders at black spot

Cyclists, residents and others are looking for Tamaki Drive solutions. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A warning light alerting drivers to the presence of cyclists will be added to an accident black spot on Auckland's Tamaki Drive after a safety meeting with cyclists and residents yesterday.

The safety forum - set up by city transport chairman Ken Baguley after four cyclists were hit by a car at another intersection on Tamaki Drive last month - generated dozens of suggestions for ways to help cyclists and motorists share the road more safely.

The Auckland City Council has agreed to create a working party to consider the suggestions.

These included reducing the speed limit, a code of conduct for cyclists travelling in bunches, and improving public transport along the popular cycling route.

Changes to the Ngapipi Rd intersection - which the Transport Agency says is the city's worst place for cycling injuries - will be in place by February, including an electronic trigger and sign system to alert turning drivers to the presence of cyclists obscured by cars.

More than 30 residents and representatives of the police, the AA and cycle clubs attended the meeting.

The working party will also include members of different groups.

The council said it would launch an education campaign next month to encourage cyclists and motorists to look out for each other on the popular route.

Barbara Cuthbert, deputy chairwoman of Cycle Action Auckland, said the formation of the working group was really good news and the meeting had been extremely useful.

However, she believed more was needed to prevent crashes than installing a warning light at Ngapipi Rd. Speed was a factor in many accidents involving cyclists.