Cycle Lane Law?

[WALKERMAN]

Can someone enlighten me about what the law is when vehicles park in cycle lanes?

Yesterday I turned right onto a cycle lane which goes to a cycle / pedestrian tunnel. A car was stationary on the cycle lane and the driver was talking on his mobile phone.

I had to go round his vehicle which meant going into opposing traffic as the cycle lane is only on one side of the road.

 

[essexman]

Can someone enlighten me about what the law is when vehicles park in cycle lanes?

Yesterday I turned right onto a cycle lane which goes to a cycle / pedestrian tunnel. A car was stationary on the cycle lane and the driver was talking on his mobile phone.

I had to go round his vehicle which meant going into opposing traffic as the cycle lane is only on one side of the road.

I think ( theres a similar thread running on ctc at the minute), that unloading is allowed, but parking isnt. Enforcement is via whatever the local authority does, so its a bit random.

It does sound a dangerous situation though. If its a frequent occurence on a frequent route, take photos and log it and alert your local authority (If you have a local cycling campaign group, they might be able to raise your concerns for you. Alternatly try a CTC right to ride rep).

 

[HarryB]

Islington usually park their CCTV cars in the cycle lanes - not sure quite what that is about but I usually yell something along the lines of get out of the cycle lane.

 

[Rad]

I see this around Norwich all the time. It really ain't good enough. Now I know it's down to the LA to sort I may well report it.

 

[Hooligooner]

Islington usually park their CCTV cars in the cycle lanes - not sure quite what that is about but I usually yell something along the lines of get out of the cycle lane.

Could you stand in front of the camera until they get the hint?

 

[Barnowl]

A car was stationary on the cycle lane and the driver was talking on his mobile phone.

On the plus side at least he wasn't driving.

I've encountered all manner of vehicles and pedestrians in the bikelanes. Biggest problem anywhere near a school.

Just out of interest. If there's a cycle lane on only one side of the road are you allowed to use the lane and cycle against the traffic? I'd assumed you could only make use of the lane if it was on your side.

 

[stranger]

Round here the so called cycle lanes seem to be the permanent home of all the crap and rubbish that are needed these days, for the never-ending cycle (no pun intended) of road-works that seem to be forever on-going.

They are also incredibly DANGEROUS in their own right, with their broken drain covers, nasty potholes and strange 'lumps' of vari-coloured tarmac, usually cunningly placed about halfway down a nice sharp downhill run. I can't speak for anyone else but ye olde Powabyke is not realy designed for 'wheelies' and other acrobatics (and come to think of it--neither am I) especially when I have, rather quaintly perhaps, filled the basket on the front of my Shopper with SHOPPING!.

And of course, there are always the moveable obstacles-- the parked cars/motor bikes, vans and even lorries.

I don't think 'the law' as such is terribly involved. It seems to be a Local Authority thing. And they don't seem to care that much.

 

[Grumpy1]

Can someone enlighten me about what the law is when vehicles park in cycle lanes?

Yesterday I turned right onto a cycle lane which goes to a cycle / pedestrian tunnel. A car was stationary on the cycle lane and the driver was talking on his mobile phone.

I had to go round his vehicle which meant going into opposing traffic as the cycle lane is only on one side of the road.

No one gives a crap about cycle lanes. But drive in a bus lane and that's it........£30 thankyou very much.

 

[Barnowl]

I hadn't realised the difference between the dotted ones and solid ones:

Mandatory, (marked with solid white lines) where other vehicles are excluded for at least part of the day, or

Advisory (marked with broken white lines) where other road users can use them if necessary and may be allowed to park in them at certain times.

 

[WALKERMAN]

On the plus side at least he wasn't driving.

I've encountered all manner of vehicles and pedestrians in the bikelanes. Biggest problem anywhere near a school.

Just out of interest. If there's a cycle lane on only one side of the road are you allowed to use the lane and cycle against the traffic? I'd assumed you could only make use of the lane if it was on your side.

The road goes to the Tyne Pedestrian / Cycle Tunnel north entrance. It was origionally two way and wide enough for lorries, etc but in order to have it classified as the CTC Route they plonked a cycle lane on it next to the pavement reducing the width of one vehicle lane in doing so. The cycle lane is used by cyclists going in either direction which is another hazard. Then there is a junction at the end of it but not many vehicles give way at the give way sign, so there's another hazard. Now in addition they have an access nearby for works traffic to the site of the new Vehicle Tunnel which is currently under construction. This area is supposed to be a 'cycle friendly' zone!

 

[Haku]

Just pondering something here, are car drivers in large towns/cities more accustomed to having to pass cyclists? as it seems like the most times I see someone saying how they almost got knocked off, the person lives/commutes through large towns/cities.

I live in a relatively small town (and much to my dismay, houses popping up all over the bloody place) in the countryside-ish and rarely have cars overtaken me so close that I wonder how I wasn't knocked off, usually they give me a wide berth - especially at night with my pretty good rear light setup.

Something I have found though since getting an ebike is that I'm able to go faster (especially with an unrestricted throttle ) and cars probably take more note of me because I don't appear to be almost stationary in comparison with their speed.

 

[Grumpy1]

I think town drivers are used to squeezing their cars into small gaps. saying that I've come across some idiots in the countyside too!

 

[carpetbagger]

I think that if they made everybody do a cycling proficiency test prior to taking a full driving test, then it may make drivers more aware of cyclists and maybe give us a bit more respect.

 

[Footie]

I've always said that ALL drivers should be made to drive a motorcycle for 12 months before being allowed to drive any other vehicle on the road. I would not advocate restricting the bike either as "sensible use of power" on the roads is the backbone of safe driving.
This would help straighten them out as to what is acceptable and safe and what is not. They will either progress on to a safe "cage on wheels" after 12 months or die being stupid and dangerous.
.

 

[carpetbagger]

agreed,pedal cycle first,then motorbike,,,then if you prove your ability on those then you attempt the box on wheels.....are you going to email Gordon Brown with the proposal then....

 

[Footie]

agreed,pedal cycle first,then motorbike,,,then if you prove your ability on those then you attempt the box on wheels.....are you going to email Gordon Brown with the proposal then....

If I thought it would do any good I would.
.

 

[Footie]

Just pondering something here, are car drivers in large towns/cities more accustomed to having to pass cyclists? as it seems like the most times I see someone saying how they almost got knocked off, the person lives/commutes through large towns/cities.

I live in a relatively small town (and much to my dismay, houses popping up all over the bloody place) in the countryside-ish and rarely have cars overtaken me so close that I wonder how I wasn't knocked off, usually they give me a wide berth - especially at night with my pretty good rear light setup.

Something I have found though since getting an ebike is that I'm able to go faster (especially with an unrestricted throttle ) and cars probably take more note of me because I don't appear to be almost stationary in comparison with their speed.

You get the same effect on our roads here. Cornish roads are narrow and most don't have slips along the side so there's nowhere for cyclists to pull in to allow vehicles to pass easily. Because theres no slips drain covers are in the road along the edge so cyclist are forced further out into the road (or suffer the sunken covers that knock your teeth out) - This results in vehicles learning to overtake rather than wait. Unfortunately, this means vehicles get very close and in most cases their speed remains unchanged, in fact it usually increases.

Regrettably, drivers seem to ignore the fact that this scares the crap out of vulnerable road users when they barrel past at 60mph, at less than 12 inches. When I took up cycling again this upset me a lot at first, I now except it as part of the ride. So it's the ignorant, uneducated driver not the vehicle that’s the problem.

Edit: If you want to see this in action take a look at a recent recording I made of a trip - posted on YouTube
YouTube - Kanal von FootieCorn

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Cougar Mountain Electric Bike (Jul07)
fitted with LiFePo4 battery (Apr08)
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[Mussels]

Cornish roads are narrow and most don't have slips along the side so there's nowhere for cyclists to pull in to allow vehicles to pass easily. Because theres no slips drain covers are in the road along the edge so cyclist are forced further out into the road (or suffer the sunken covers that knock your teeth out) - This results in vehicles leaning to overtake rather than wait. Unfortunately, this means vehicles get very close and in most cases their speed remains unchanged, in fact it usually increases.

A nice thing about riding in London is the roads are usually quite wide with lower speeds, I rarely ever feel in danger from overtaking vehicles.

 

[carpetbagger]

Sometimes the advantage of living on more rural areas ie less traffic is out weighed by the increased speed..The roads are wider here than in cornwall but i have had cars pass me at 70/80mph....on a 50mph limit road

 

[the_killjoy]

You should try one of those orange 'floppy' indicator arms that people had on their bikes in the 70s(?), because they wave around they can be quite disconcerting to a car driver.