preferred-google-button
log in
register

Road Verges problem

  • Creator
    Topic
  • November 27, 2013 at 11:55 pm #20274
    saladfunky

    I commute down the busy A5 and am frustrated at the state of the verges which means i end up having to ride further out into the road. The road is plenty wide enough and I could ride close to the edge and the other side of a white line which seems a sensible place to be away from the lorries, BUT the verges are rough and full of debris and so NO GOOD for cycling. When they resurfaced the A5 this year they didn’t even go to the edge which also needed doing!!! What!!?? This doesn’t make sense!! if they could keep the edges clean with sweepers and when the resurfacing do it all the way to the edge then we could cycle in a safer place!!
    thats my moan X(

  • Creator
    Topic
Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • November 29, 2013 at 12:26 pm #764405
    0
    Matt eaton

    Update – from what I can tell
    Update – from what I can tell the solid lines that we are talking about mark the edge of the carridgeway. I would conclude that if you are to the left of the line you would not be considered to be ‘on’ the carridgeway but alongside it. It’s splitting hairs but I suppose it might affect your rights if you were involved in a collision as you might be considered to be riding off-road in close proximity to the carridgeway. It would be interesting to know for sure.

    November 29, 2013 at 12:12 pm #764403
    0
    Matt eaton

    Personally I generally stay
    Personally I generally stay to the right of the white line, however much the lorry drivers get annoyed. The area the other side of the white line is generally full of junk. On a practical level you are more likely to pick up punctures and from a safety perspective being on the carridgeway proper gives you room to manuvere in the case of a close pass or other silly action by a driver (better than ditching into the hedge). It also means that you can avoid potholes and other obsticles by moving around them to the left rather than darting out to the right into the traffic flow.

    The only exception that I make to this is if I’m climbing particuarly slowly, I don’t mind keeping out of the way in this situation and hazards in the road come up slowly enough to avoid them without too much trouble.

    I’m not sure what the official advice/law is on this, but I’m sure that the line doesn’t indicate a cycle lane. I think that it’s actually a hard shoulder and have a feeling that it should only be used in emergencies but I’m not certain.

  • Author
    Replies
Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.