[Gkam84]

Anyone point me in the right direction to any or all laws surrounding cycle lanes?

Today i decided to go see a mate in Aberdeen, so took my bike so far on the bus and then jumped off and used a lane going into the centre of town.

I had a couple of run in’s and this is why i never use the lanes provided, but as this one is pretty much drain free and well kept i decided i was safe enough

Run in number one was with a young guy on a 50cc moped with L plates, was using the cycle lane the whole time and not using the proper part of the road, So in my wisdom, i thought it would be a good idea to move past him at a set of lights because he was holding me up, i guess he thought this was an invitation for a race, so on a slight climb he pulled along side and started some friendly banter and joking about, so i said he was holding me up a bit and he dropped behind and followed me to the end of my journey, turns out he was going to the same shopping centre anyway.

So i had a yap with him at the centre, just to find out why he was using the lane that was designed for cycle’s, seems he’d only just past his CBT on Tuesday and wasn’t very road confident, which i thought to myself, at least he’s honest and told him, the only way he’s going to get confident about using the road is to hold his place in traffic, keep to the middle of his side of the road and dont be bullied off, the whole length of the lane runs through 30 and 40mph zone’s, nothing faster, so i explained that he’s not holding anyone up if he’s doing the speed limit and not to be afraid of other road users.

Thats sensible isn’t it??

The second thing was, coming back out of the town, again using the lane, so f**kwit crossed from oncoming traffic and parked right on the lane infront of me, so i gave him a right mouthful and got a fair one back, isn’t it against the law to park in a cycle lane?

There was around 5 cars on the way in and 9 including this guy on the way out, he was the only driver i encountered else they would have all had a blast of the airzound and a mouth full of words about how stupid they were and how they were blocking the appropriate use of this lane by cyclist’s

Just looking for somewhere to clarify the laws about lanes for me as i’m clueless and if i’m going to say something to drivers i’d rather know what i’m speaking about 👿

Topic

[giff77]

Also meant to say that it is
Also meant to say that it is pretty ironic that the council’s are not interested in issuing FPN’s for this abuse of cycle lanes. I mean, it is a cash cow for them as so many people flout the parking restrictions that come with them. There’s one road here in Paisley that daily has at least half a dozen vehicles parked in the cycle lane at any given time.

[giff77]

Thx Jonusher that was going
Thx Jonusher that was going to be my spiel. Personally I do not go near them as I don’t want my tyres cut up.

[jonusher]

I’m a bit surprised by the
I’m a bit surprised by the lack of knowledge… after all how can we moan about car drivers when we don’t know the laws ourselves?

A mandatory lane is marked with a solid white line, this means motorised vehicles must not cross the line within the hours of operation of the lane – they are marked on a vertical sign at the beginning of the lane (although the majority are 24 hour). There is no need for double yellow lines within a mandatory lane (although most authorities mark them anyway). Any driver crossing the white line is guilty of a traffic offence which the police should enforce. One exception to this is vehicles loading to shops or businesses, unless a separate loading ban is also in force.

An advisory cycle lane is marked with a dashed white line. It is not illegal to cross into one of these lanes as a driver. They are there simply to indicate to motorists the likely presence of cyclists on the carriageway – and a cyclist doesn’t have to position themselves in the lane.

Parking in an advisory lane depends on the parking restrictions in force. Only parking wardens are able to enforce a parking offence – this isn’t something the police can deal with, unless the vehicle is causing an obstruction.

And breathe… but we seriously ought to be clued up about these things…

[Gkam84]

I dont for one minute think
I dont for one minute think that reporting it to the police would make the slightest bit of difference as they dont give a toss

BUT i’d still like to know the laws, just so i can have my rant at idiots 👿

[SideBurn]

rbx! You are as cynical as
rbx! You are as cynical as me!

[PeteH]

I’ve not crossed paths with
I’ve not crossed paths with the police very often but I’d have thought if you made a complaint they cannot just ignore you.

Whatever, photographic evidence is doubtless important. I commute in central London and have now got a camera on my helmet, just in case….

I’ve only used the camera in anger once, I wanted to highlight the poor state of one of my local roads so filmed while riding along a stretch. Then put the film on YouTube and contacted my MP. I’m sure that they always planned to repair the road a month later anyway, but you never know…. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ28fZSjsfM&feature=channel_video_title)

I know this isn’t directly related to parking in cycle lanes but maybe there’s room for some unorthodoxy in making your point.

[rbx]

No idea about the law but
No idea about the law but don’t think anything’s gonna get done about it.

Bike lane invasion is so common here in LDN I don’t bother getting worked up about it anymore. I was just hoping that they’ll spare the new ‘Cycle Superhighways’. Doesn’t look like anyone bothers – seen all kinds of vehicles parked in those lanes too, including police cars, cabs and those lovely big white vans.

[SideBurn]

It may be illegal to park in
It may be illegal to park in a cycle lane but round here even the police do it. They don’t seem to care. I would not bother reporting anything to the police; experience tells me it is a waste of time!

[Gkam84]

Ok, just to clarify, its a
Ok, just to clarify, its a bike lane the whole way, BUT, there are parts of plain road and red parts, some has single yellow lines, some has double yellows, some has a solid while line, some is broken whites

It seems like a mess to me and because i dont know the laws, i dont even know if he broke the law, but it was a bloody dangerous move right infront of my bike

If you go to google maps and search, peterculter a93, then zoom in to the road view and follow the road either way, you’ll see what i’m talking about, if you head towards Aberdeen, it’ll show you all the different parts 😕

[zzgavin]

afaik it depends on whether
afaik it depends on whether the bike lane has a solid white line, which cars are not meant to cross or a dashed line, which they can. Not sure about the legality of parking, but there are certainly cycle lanes in London with a single yellow painted on the kerbside , I think that a red painted lane is no parking.

[stewieatb]

Yep, illegal to park in a
Yep, illegal to park in a bike lane, they should be regarded as double yellows IIRC. Pulling across from oncoming to park in a cycle lane with a cyclist in it is well out of order, they only do it because they’ll get away with it. There’s a parcel delivery van who parks in the same bike lane in Lancaster at about 3pm every day, and what makes it worse is that there’s off-street parking 10 yards up the road, behind the place he’s delivering to (Waterstones). I should start taking pictures and sending them to the police…

[Author]

Replies