New traffic rules in Zurich – How cyclists react when they see red
How cyclists react when they see red
As of this year, cyclists can turn red at numerous Zurich traffic lights. The city has reviewed the effects of the new regime. Now we have the results.
Since the beginning of 2021, cyclists have been allowed to turn right in the city of Zurich, even when they are red. 175 intersections the traffic department has meanwhile re-signposted. In order to check how the innovation has proven itself in practice, the city gave an impact assessment on order.
An external company closely observed ten intersections in the city – including on the corner of Kasernenstrasse-Lagerstrasse, Quaibrücke / Stadthausquai and Bahnhofbrücke / Bahnhofquai – and evaluated the data. The investigations started in November 2020 when the city introduced the new regime in test mode. Further reviews will follow in March and November of this year. The investigations focus on possible conflicts between the various road users.
There were serious conflicts in only four cases
The so-called effectiveness check is now complete. The experts evaluated observations of 4331 bicycles turning right. They found conflicts in 34 – 20 of them in the first survey when the regulation was still new. Four cases are serious conflicts. Turning right in two cases resulted in pedestrians changing their direction of travel abruptly because of the approaching bicycles. But there weren’t any last ones.
In the first wave of the survey, 16 percent of cyclists stopped at red instead of using the new right to turn right. The report says that the majority are now making use of it. Conversely, the so-called spillover effect does not play: the cyclists did not automatically transfer the right turn to intersections that were not signposted accordingly.
Overall, the experts draw a positive balance. They did not find any additional conflicts in connection with the new transport regime. The number of incidents in which cyclists turn right across the sidewalk have also halved in the period of the effectiveness check. However, this cannot be ascribed to the new regime alone, but also depends, among other things, on the obvious ones, according to the conclusion of the study.
Tina Fassbind has been working for the Zurich Politics & Economy department since 2008. She studied German in Basel and completed a degree in journalism at the University of Freiburg.
More info
@TFassbindFound a mistake? Report now.