Review of Highway Code to improve road safety for cyclists

Review of Highway Code to improve road safety for cyclists

Author
Discussion

waremark

3,241 posts

212 months

Tuesday 15th September 2020
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littlebasher said:
In my example, this is the location

https://goo.gl/maps/atT2Ha3GFUZUKnm78

He was just around that corner. Sunny day just like that image, with him slowing wobbling up the hill almost on the center white line

Came up on him really fast at 75mph. Maybe naive of me, but it really wasn't what i was expecting to come across!
Not sure why this was a problem. Surely you needed to be able to stop for any obstruction in the road, whether debris, broken down vehicle or cyclist? Surely you would not have expected to overtake a cyclist without moving to Lane 2 whatever his position within lane 1? Therefore his assertive position in the lane is safer than a nearside position. Or have I misunderstood?

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Tuesday 15th September 2020
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Pica-Pica said:
Salted_Peanut said:
yikes Recently, I saw the same thing: someone cycling on a dual carriageway with a 70mph limit and an unsighted bend. As a cyclist, I think it's madness. I wouldn't cycle on a 70 mph dual carriageway (surely a Darwin Award?), but I'm amazed how many people do.

And the law says we can cycle on 70 mph dual carriageways unless the authorities take out a specific traffic regulation order banning bicycles from a particular section of road. I've not yet seen a No Cyclists sign on a dual carriageway, have you?
Yes. A stretch of the A55. It is a special road.

“Two sections between (Junction 23) Llanddulas to (Junction 17) Conwy are signed as a 70 mph (110 km/h) speed limit because they are actually special roads. This is because these sections were built under legislation for building motorways but they were never declared as motorways.[3][4] Legally it means these two stretches of the A55 are neither part of the national UK motorway network nor trunk roads. As such, the national speed limit does not apply so 70 mph (110 km/h) signs (the maximum speed permitted on UK roads) are used instead. Unlike other sections of the A55 that have National Speed Limit (NSL) signage and are accessible to all motor vehicles, motorway restrictions are enforced on these two stretches of road (therefore no pedestrians, learner drivers, farm vehicles etc).“
A120 in Essex comes to mind. No cycling, no peds, no mopeds, no horse-drawn traffic, etc. But it's a new road carved out of "virgin" countryside, so there's no historic right of way to lose by declaring it motor vehicles only. The 'old A120' is still there, reclassified as the B1256 now, so traffic prohibited from the new A120 can just use that (more safely) as it always has done.The A3 also prohibits slow/vulnerable users at the Hindhead tunnel, with a cycleway going up and around the Devil's Punchbowl where the Devil's Pinchpoint used to be.

Salted_Peanut

1,359 posts

53 months

Tuesday 15th September 2020
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waremark said:
Surely you needed to be able to stop for any obstruction in the road, whether debris, broken down vehicle or cyclist? Surely you would not have expected to overtake a cyclist without moving to Lane 2 whatever his position within lane 1? Therefore his assertive position in the lane is safer than a nearside position.
You are, of course, correct. But (irrespective of positioning) I still think it's madness to cycle on a 70 mph dual carriageway yikes

I might be allowed to cycle there, but it's leaving my safety to chance (hoping that every driver behind me is going to be 100% on the ball, not chatting on the phone). Even with a strobing rear light, it's reasonable to expect that cycling on a 70 mph road will take many drivers by surprise.

Gweeds

7,802 posts

51 months

Tuesday 15th September 2020
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True, but 70mph isn't a target either.

Salted_Peanut

1,359 posts

53 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
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I'm afraid that 70 mph is a target when I'm cycling biggrin



anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 17th September 2020
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Anyone so inclined can join a webinar organised by the all party parliamentary group on cycling & walking to discuss this Highway Code review

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/97539806...

WJNB

2,637 posts

160 months

Tuesday 22nd September 2020
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Salted_Peanut said:
The new (proposed) rules appear to make Primary the default position for cycling, i.e. the centre of the road. While I know – because I cycle – about the Primary and Secondary positions, this change is going to be a Big Deal for many drivers.

A lot of cyclists are going to get killed or maimed if they do that.

giantdefy

684 posts

112 months

Tuesday 22nd September 2020
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WJNB said:
Salted_Peanut said:
The new (proposed) rules appear to make Primary the default position for cycling, i.e. the centre of the road. While I know – because I cycle – about the Primary and Secondary positions, this change is going to be a Big Deal for many drivers.

A lot of cyclists are going to get killed or maimed if they do that.
Why?

Haltamer

2,453 posts

79 months

Tuesday 22nd September 2020
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I'd much rather use the primary position as the default.

It's the epitome of vehicular cycling; Less "I'll squeeze by between them and oncoming traffic", No need to cross the stream of traffic for right turns or to select lanes at junctions - Safer overall.

It's not "Holding people up", They're free to overtake when it's safe to do so. All it requires is a press of the foot on the gogo pedal and a twirl of the wheel; It's hardly an imposition for motor traffic to overtake safely.

Solocle

3,247 posts

83 months

Wednesday 23rd September 2020
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Haltamer said:
I'd much rather use the primary position as the default.

It's the epitome of vehicular cycling; Less "I'll squeeze by between them and oncoming traffic", No need to cross the stream of traffic for right turns or to select lanes at junctions - Safer overall.

It's not "Holding people up", They're free to overtake when it's safe to do so. All it requires is a press of the foot on the gogo pedal and a twirl of the wheel; It's hardly an imposition for motor traffic to overtake safely.
There are times that I feel like primary position would get me squished. [Some] Dual Carriageways come to mind, e.g the A34...

That's not that primary position is wrong, it's that the A34 is treated [incorrectly] as a de-facto motorway, rather than the all purpose trunk road that it is. Frankly, my judgement of the situation is that a proper hard shoulder on a motorway would be a safer place to be! But hey, it was an irresistible, legal, shortcut. Not a particularly busy time, and only 3.6 miles.