Fernando Alonso cycling in Lugano, where he crashed in February (photo by reporter El Larguero on Twitter)
TRAFFIC authorities in Spain have used Formula 1 legend Fernando Alonso's bike crash in Switzerland to illustrate how to avoid accidents on two wheels, but 'without prejudice' as the actual cause of the racing driver's mishap.
Alonso suffered a dramatic collision involving a car turning into a supermarket near his home in Lugano on February 11, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery on multiple face fractures, but left just days later in good health.
He has already taken part in pre-season test-drives for his new team, Alpine Rénault, and is expected to hit the F1 circuit again this weekend for the first date of the 2021 season, which will mark his long-awaited comeback after announcing his retirement from the top echelons of motor racing in 2019.
Although he has been pronounced fit to drive, the ace from Asturias will be competing all year with titanium plates in his face.
Now, Spain's General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), part of the highways, transport and infrastructure ministry, has 'borrowed' Alonso's crash to explain in the latest issue of its magazine how to stay safe on a bike and how to ensure cyclists around you do so if you are driving.
A diagram shows a blue car needing to turn left into a side road, and states that it should remain stopped in the central filter lane to wait for oncoming vehicles.
It warns those in the position of the blue car to 'observe vehicles and pedestrians' and 'calculate the distance and speed they are moving at', then to 'start the turn once there is no risk to either'.
The DGT's ‘without prejudice’ reconstruction of Alonso's accident to show correct turning procedures (photo from the DGT's magazine Tráfico y Seguridad Vial, or ‘Traffic and Road Safety’)
On the opposite side, a cyclist is shown travelling down the right-hand lane, towards the turning car, and the diagram legend states that drivers coming up behind bikes should 'remain in their lane if it is not possible to overtake safely'.
“Overtaking without leaving enough space could cause a risky situation to the cyclist and other road users,” says the caption.
Until now, the minimum distance required between a car and a bicycle when the former overtakes the latter has been 1.5 metres (4'11”), but this has recently increased to two metres (6'6”).
Cars are permitted to cross an unbroken central white line to enable them to give cyclists a wide enough berth, provided it is safe to invade the opposite lane; if a driver cannot leave enough space alongside a biker without risking a head-on collision with another car, he or she must wait until this is possible, however long it takes.
The diagram shows a man walking across a zebra crossing on the side street the blue car is waiting to turn into, and the text warns the driver to wait until the pedestrian is safely on the other side before turning, even if the oncoming lane on the main road is clear.
An inset shows a collision between a bike and a turning car and is titled, 'Fernando Alonso's accident', with a text which reads: “The racing driver from Asturias was riding his bicycle along a street in the Swiss city of Lugano when he collided with a car turning to enter a supermarket.”
Cyclists, additionally, are warned not to overtake parked or waiting cars unless they, too, can keep a safe distance, and should modify their speed when in the presence of motor vehicles, staying on the cycle path if there is one.
The DGT says it has used Alonso's accident as an illustration, since his high profile helps to raise awareness of cycle crashes, but stresses that its 'objective' is 'not to make an interpretation as to the possible causes' of the racing driver's collision.
