Ive never seen a bike lane or ASZ policed - have you?

[numtumfutunch]

Just about every day I commute I see numerous violations of bike lanes and advance stop zone boxes

The most infuriating is a traffic light where most traffic wants to turn left
If youre on a bike wishing to go straight on a car/van will inevitably draw level with you in the ASZ and when the lights change cut across turning left
Now Im wise to this but cant help but think one day a novice cycle commuter is going to get squished

Over the years I have never, ever seen the cycling infrastructure policed, I dont expect mass arrests just some driver education would be good now and again

My local MP was crowing on social media peri Tour de France so I asked him to look into it with predictable consequence

Whats your experience locally?
Better still ever had a result and if so how?

[TheInternet]

Last year (?) following the condensed run of squashed cyclists in London there was a period of huge police presence across the capital at many traffic light controlled junctions. As far as I could tell they were doing precisely as you suggest, educating all road users alike. No idea whether fines were imposed.

[Greenish]

Those police presence days still go on. Once every so often the busy junctions and crossroads in London are swarming in yellow fluorescent jackets to try and maintain some sort of perceived safety by virtue of their presence. It's a political knee jerk reaction from the government that started last year following a spate of cyclist deaths in the capital. You can educate as many as you like but will still not be able to change the attitude of the majority.

You can't enforce cycle lanes, as there is no offence for anyone to use them. The ASZ's are actually ASL, Advanced Stop Lines. I chatted in depth to an officer about this last year, she told me the offence is contravening a red light, all be it a very technical one because they have passed the "stop line" but have not gone through the junction. Seems the general feeling is it would be harsh to dish out 3 points to a car driver for stopping a few feet further on than he should have, especially when they have in general abided by the red light and come to a stop.

[Kell]

Greenish said:

Seems the general feeling is it would be harsh to dish out 3 points to a car driver for stopping a few feet further on than he should have, especially when they have in general abided by the red light and come to a stop.

Not having a go at you here, but if there's no penalty for drivers going in to them, then there's no point in having them.

Either they police them and have certain sets of lights fitted with cameras, or they get rid of them. At the minute they're just a point of conflict and potentially lethal.

[Greenish]

There is also the added issue of drivers crawling forward in slow moving traffic getting inadvertently caught in the cycle area which is apparently unavoidable on occasion and deemed a defence. How do they police that?

I agree it should be much clearer and consistent but its yet another poorly thought through government answer to a problem that they have not considered in enough depth.

[JQ]

This very thing crossed my mind this morning as I sat at a junction - a four way junction with 6 lanes in total, there was a car in every ASL box, including the one I was stood in. The problem is I genuinely don't think the majority of motorists understand their purpose.

If there's a car in a box now I just pull dead centre in front of the car so I'm well within their sight line, then as I pull away move straight back to the left so they can overtake.

[v12Legs]

JQ said:

This very thing crossed my mind this morning as I sat at a junction - a four way junction with 6 lanes in total, there was a car in every ASL box, including the one I was stood in. The problem is I genuinely don't think the majority of motorists understand their purpose.

If there's a car in a box now I just pull dead centre in front of the car so I'm well within their sight line, then as I pull away move straight back to the left so they can overtake.

I'd stay central and wait until you're clear of the junction if I were you. You don't want to be squeezed.

[donfisher]

numtumfutunch said:

The most infuriating is a traffic light where most traffic wants to turn left
If youre on a bike wishing to go straight on a car/van will inevitably draw level with you in the ASZ and when the lights change cut across turning left
Now Im wise to this but cant help but think one day a novice cycle commuter is going to get squished

I see this a lot on my evening commute going west along the embankment. Two hotspots are Chelsea Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge. IMHO the issue is caused by the cycle lane rather than anyone doing anything particularly dickish. At both junctions, you get a lot of cyclists wanting to go straight on and a lot of cars wanting to turn left over the bridges. A car can sit patently on the left, indicating, while cyclist after cyclist will go through on the inside to go straight on because that’s where the lane tells them to go. If they don’t muscle forward, through the cyclebox and block the gutter that whole row of cars isn’t going anywhere.

Earlier in the year they were doing a lot of visible presence type stuff down Oxford St in the mornings. I saw a van get told off for being in the cyclebox. I was warned that even though I’d clearly stopped for a red that I’d technically run it because I was over the white line. There seemed to be a lot of fixie RLJers getting spot fines for punching through reds – I don’t recall seeing any cars getting the same treatment though they may have done.

[JQ]

v12Legs said:

JQ said:

This very thing crossed my mind this morning as I sat at a junction - a four way junction with 6 lanes in total, there was a car in every ASL box, including the one I was stood in. The problem is I genuinely don't think the majority of motorists understand their purpose.

If there's a car in a box now I just pull dead centre in front of the car so I'm well within their sight line, then as I pull away move straight back to the left so they can overtake.

I'd stay central and wait until you're clear of the junction if I were you. You don't want to be squeezed.

That's exactly what I am doing.

[v12Legs]

JQ said:

That's exactly what I am doing.

Good. It sounded like "as I pull away move straight back to the left so they can overtake" meant you pulled over to the left immediately on setting off.

[964Cup]

Never mind cars, I'm getting increasingly fed up with motorbikes and scooters using the ASL box. That, and failing to filter through traffic but sitting in the gap so I can't filter either. Lazy fzcktzrds should get bicycles. It's not as if their hideous two-stroke hipster Italian twztbike gets them to work any faster than me.