What is the Law (UK) when it comes to cycling in the road?

[roadracerash1]

Thank you for all your comments. I originally posted this thread to make sure i wasn't deliberately peeing motorists off. But being a cyclist, as many of you will know, automatically makes you hated by society. Best of luck to all that are surviving the urban environment.

 

[GrasB]

It's not always as daft as it seems.

From your (secondary) position you'll not see very far into/around the bend but a car driver, who has a view from much further out to your right, will see more, and the further out he is the better view he'll have.

There is only a small window where you won't be able to see if it's clear & the driver of the overtaking vehicle will. Remember to overtake safely you need to have confidence that you can execute the entire manoeuvre in the space you have available plus leave enough time for an oncoming vehicle react to being presented with you on the wrong side of the road.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Strangely I never heard that said once at the time

the ball-gag making it somewhat difficult to speak perhaps?

 

[classic33]

It's not always as daft as it seems.

From your (secondary) position you'll not see very far into/around the bend but a car driver, who has a view from much further out to your right, will see more, and the further out he is the better view he'll have.

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GC

That doesn't work for right hand bends/corners, as the driver would then have a narrower field of vision of the road.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

That doesn't work for right hand bends/corners, as the driver would then have a narrower field of vision of the road.

It doesn't work for most bends/corners cos the chuffing driver is bonnet watching.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

That doesn't work for right hand bends/corners, as the driver would then have a narrower field of vision of the road.

I know.
That's why I wrote "not always" and gave the left-hand bend example.


GC

 

[al78]

As suggested in the question I have a minor question which I hope will clarify my arguement when I'm cycling on the road and i encounter raged motorists so here it is:
When cycling on a public road how many riders can ride side by side to be riding legally?
I ask this because I'm usually quite a polite and responsible road user and ride single file when I'm out cycling in a group. The other day when I was cycling up a hill my friend, who by the way had only just got on a road bike for the first time, I decided to ride beside him to give him some advice. The road we were riding on was quite wide and spacious. As soon as I did that we had every car beep and shoot profanitys at us i kid you not. Which then makes me question If we were in the wrong? Or has society become a pit of road raged loonatics who can't wait less than 30 seconds before safely overtaking? Was i in the wrong or are motorists in the wrong?

If the road is wide enough that it would be safe for other vehicles to overtake if you were in single file but not when side by side, then single out, otherwise stay side by side.

It just comes down to thought and consideration in the end, after all, the roads are a public shared resource and we should use them with the same regard for social etiquette that we use in other aspects of our lives.

 

[Cyclopathic]

Did some one mention breasts?

 

[summerdays]

On quiet back roads, I will cycle side by side with a friend and drop into single file to enable a driver to pass. On busier roads I will tend to be in single file until we are at the same speed as the cars then I double up. Don't think I've been hassled yet by a car for doing this.

 

[Electric_Andy]

IMO Riding two abreast is like the national speed limit on country roads - do it if it's safe, but if it's not then don't do it. A few years ago I was in my car on one of those annoying roads that has space for 1.5 cars. A group of club riders came aorund a blind corner and were all riding 2 wide. I had to break sharply and stop in the hedge - and they all looked at me as if it were my fault for going too fast. However, if it is on an A-road with plenty of room then I see no problem.

 

[Electric_Andy]

If you had to brake sharply and ended up in the hedge then you were going too fast...

ok then

 

[ufkacbln]

Did some one mention breasts?

Just the one as in abreast

 

[NHS Biker]

An interesting debate, and have to agree that the Highway Code is not the Law of the road, but more in terms of road safety advice, the law of the Road is the Road Traffic Act 1988, of which there is a very small part relating to cyclists, part 1 Chapter 52, item 28 if I recall. However, it is legal for cyclists to ride 2 a breast, however it is not advisable in view of narrow roads but no one exactly knows what is defined as a narrow road in terms of width of the road, my friends and I were cautioned when we were teenagers by a motorcycle cop, (When Nottingham had them) that it is advisable not to ride 2 a breast on roads that don't have lane markings, one way streets and roads that exceed 30mph. The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) of which I am a member of, now conduct road training for cyclists http://www.iam.org.uk/cyclist. There has been some interesting debates of which the same advice is given to cyclists in the same view as Motorcyclists and that is ride defensively, keep left of centre, not left of the dotted lines, but left of the centre of the lane you are in. More and more cyclists are now using helmet camera's and there has been many successful convictions of "cage" drivers who drive without due care and attention due to submission of footage to the Police. Some very good examples on Youtube. I did my cycle proficiency in 1983 at the age of 8, and was taught not to go on the inside of lorries, as A), they need a wider turning arc to turn left and some trailers especially those that exceed 40ft have independent turning axles. B) The mirrors have blind spots, C) most of the indicator bulbs don't work. Same as cars, there are more blind spots on car mirrors than there are on HGV mirrors, which has been proved in the motorcycle press.

 

[dslippy]

An interesting debate, and have to agree that the Highway Code is not the Law of the road, but more in terms of road safety advice, the law of the Road is the Road Traffic Act 1988 . .

The Highway Code is rather more than advice. It is not statute, but rather sets definitive standards, and will be looked to by any court deciding whether what you were doing was correct.[/quote]

 

[beany_bot]

If I am driving country roads and come up behind 2 a breast cyclists I give a very gentle toot to let them know I am there, then hopefully they fall I to single file and I can pass with a vans width inbetween us.
Some cyclists wave and understand my toot was just to let them no I am there and in no hurry and I wave as I pass and it's happy days.

Unfortunately though, and it sadens me to say this most cyclist immediately get on the defensive and construe my gesture as aggressive and start effin and blinding and often just stay 2 a breast. I met one such pair further down the road, and politely asked them how I was supposed to pass them safety when the right hand rider was nearly on the white line in the middle of the road and was met with "yeah like you care, just a typical impatient car driver blah blah"