A video on social media showing drivers “unaware” that they are crossing a contraflow cycle lane, marked by red paint on the road, and knocking down not just cyclists, but also scooters and motorcycle riders, and even running into other cars in Brighton city centre has left people shocked, with campaigners once again urging the Labour council to implement a car-free environment in the area.

The multiple collisions on Church Street were caught on video by a shop owner’s camera in the space of just a couple of months, at the intersection between Portland Street and Spring Gardens.

road.cc stalwart Jo Burt (better known as VecchioJo), corroborated the dangers on the street, saying that “it’s a shockingly badly designed bit of infrastructure“.

“The road is one way all the way up the hill but there’s a contra flow bike lane all of the way down. It’s dangerous at every junction but this is the worst,” he added.

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Crashmap, which logs collision data, shows seven crashes between 2017 and 2021, with nearby junctions having contraflow bike lanes on North Laine such as New Road, and Trafalgar Street and Blackman Street, also being hotspots for similar crashes.

Nader, who posted the video on Twitter, however wrote that this was a “daily occurrence”, reports Brighton and Hove News. He added that the most recent collision was captured on the camera this Tuesday.

Church Street and Portland Street intersection, Brighton (Google Maps)
Church Street and Portland Street intersection, Brighton (Google Maps) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
Church Street and Portland Street intersection, Brighton (Google Maps)

He said: “Cars [drivers] absolutely do not look right when coming out of Spring Gardens. They sometimes don’t even realise it is a give way junction and you can often witness someone go straight through.

“In the past month I’ve witnessed two people turn into Church Street to go the incorrect way down the one way road. I’m not sure if the building site is obscuring the signage or if it’s getting lost in the visual noise.

“Thankfully there haven’t been any serious injuries yet.”

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A spokesman for Bricycles, a campaign group for cyclists in Brighton and Hove, called on the council to ban cars from the North Laine entirely. He said: “This whole area in the city centre should be a car-free environment.

“This was the number one recommendation from Labour’s own Climate Assembly in 2020. The Labour council now needs to get it in place as soon as possible.”

Church Street, Brighton (Google Maps)
Church Street, Brighton (Google Maps) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

The Labour-dominated Brighton & Hove City Council has come under fire by campaigners in recent months for not showing support for cycling policies and described as being “actively against active travel”.

Just a week ago, cyclists had questioned the development, or lack thereof, about the cycle lane on Marine Parade, next to the pavement, from the Marina to the Palace Pier, for which the former Green council had secured a £1.2 million funding for in May.

Jamie Lloyd, former Green Councillor and lead for Active Travel, had told road.cc: “Now that the anti-active travel Labour Council are in full control, they will almost certainly not do anything to deliver on that.”

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The council was also quizzed if there were any plans to make the junction in North Laine safer, to which the chair of the Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Trevor Muten replied: “I’m shocked and disturbed by the contents of this video, and my thoughts go out to everyone who was affected by these collisions.

Councillor Muten urged people involved in these collisions or those who witnessed them to report them to the Operation Crackdown, the joint initiative run by Sussex Police and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme to investigate anti-social driving.

He said that they analysed the collision data based on collisions reported to the police that result in an injury, adding that he believed it could be possible that they were not made aware of “some of the incidents” shown in the video.

He continued: “As part of our strategy to improve road safety in the city, have also recently introduced a new process for prioritising safety-related improvements. This will take into account other factors beyond collision data alone. One of these is around the perceived risks to pedestrians and cyclists.

“We are committed to making further improvements and investing in high quality infrastructure which makes on our city accessible, enjoyable and safe for all.”

A Brighton resident and cyclist, Sarah Forbes, meanwhile, questioned Muten on social media: “Will there be immediate action to improve this junction? I really didn’t want to cycle down here after seeing this but realised it would add so much time to my journey, especially without VG3 link either. Hard to keep going with those images running through my mind.”

Another person tagged Muten and the council on social media, saying: “We desperately need improved and safer cycle infrastructure, not more delays.”