To think that cyclists shouldn’t be allowed on dual carriageways

This is a car driver issue not a cyclist issue.

@PeppercornAnn not all dual carriageways have two lanes 🙄

Whereas if cyclists aren't allowed on dual carriageways (most of which do, as you describe, have more than one lane each way even though there's some exceptions) then that still may be busy 60mph roads, with all the motorised vehicles having to wait till they can overtake which is often a lot riskier all round.

The bottom line is today's cars and roads do not mix with cyclists. May have done 50 years ago but now there is more traffic, faster cars and also much BIGGER cars.

Until there are cycle lanes everywhere (and I hate how they're being squeezed in) there is no answer other than tolerance and consideration. Which is sadly lacking on both sides IMO

Let’s be real in the uk the vast majority of dual carriageways are two lanes
per side.

Legally you’re supposed to assume cyclists are occupying as much space as a car and treat them the same when/ if overtaking.

A wide disparity of speeds between road users isn’t ideal but it is a shared space. Perhaps the dual carriageway could be made single lane and a cycling lane put in? You could always raise support for this with your local council and councillors if you’re concerned for cyclists?

No they shouldn’t be on the pavement putting pedestrians at risk.

edit: removed ideally ideal 🙄

Maybe there are not two lanes on this particular dual carriageway.

If that’s the case, passing would be difficult because it would be impossible to move over on the the other side of the road because of the central reservation.

But there’s two lanes - you can overtake cars easily and safely with enough room on a dual carriageway, it’s nonsense to say there’s no room to overtake bikes. It’s like saying there’s no room to overtake a lorry on a motorway.

@soupyspoon it would be quite funny if these people weren't in charge of cars!

Maybe they don't have a choice.

Dual carriageways don't always have two lanes either side though. What makes them a dual carriageway is having a central reservation.

i can see the issue.
I use a busy dual carriageway daily and if there's a cyclist, lane 1 ends up doing 25mph whilst all waiting to pull in to a very busy lane 2 which is doing 60/70 mph.

It's very dangerous - i cant imagine not caring about my life enough that i would think its ok to ride a bike on a very fast road.

Sometimes a cyclist doesn't have a choice. The route from A-B includes dual carriageway.

From experience some are better than others as are all roads.

Prior to retirement I used to cycle along a 2 mile stretch of fast road, usually in rush hour and so it was more clogged. Out of hours it could be a bit wild. Fortunately there was a 4' nominal cycle lane marked with a white line.

Occasionally I had scary moments - cars veering into my bit. Often on their phones.

Speed limits are exactly that - a limit not a target. If the road has "sharp bends, hill sections and narrow lanes", then drivers should be driving slow enough for those conditions. I suggest it's drivers who are the problem here. It's not the job of cyclists to get out of their way so drivers can use it like a "race track".

I wonder if you live near me - the dual carriageway round here refers to, as you describe, a major and very busy road that goes cross country linking 2 motorways!

You can't ban cyclists on dual carriageways as that would deny access to a lot of urban roads with a reservation down the middle. They're not all 2 lane NSL, rural routes connecting towns.

Some dual carriageways can be defined as an "expressway" which carries similar restrictions to motorways without the legislation, hard shoulders and motorway graded junctions and they restrict cyclists.

There's a major NSL dual carriageway near me that connects 2 motorways cross-country and functions very similarly to a motorway in terms of traffic behaviour. A few times I've come across organised "time trial" events on there which is hairy when you've got a speed difference of 40mph. Even an observant driver has to respond quickly and lane 2 isn't always avaliable for a safe, rapid overtake. I don't know if the events still occur but the traffic flows have increased over time, and there have been cycling fatalities on there.

Some roads just aren't safe for cyclists- and I would not want a "minimum" pass of 1.5m with a 30mph speed difference, let alone idiots doing close passes, but there is no way to sensibly blanket-ban cycling on dual carriageways- it would leave some people banned from cycling out of their driveways to start a journey!

The speed limit for a car on a single lane dual carriageway is 70mph unless otherwise posted.

They're from the ancient jousting routes, of ye olde days.

That’s not the definition of a DC, it can have one lane in each direction, or indeed 3.

This thread has amazed me.

Agreed although Im not sure of your percentage, we have a number of single lane dual carriageways around here and conversely lots of 3 lane ones too!

I’ve literally just given a very detailed definition of dual carriageways.
actually single lane dual carriageways are not very common at all.
especially if you measure it in miles - miles of single lane dual carriageway vs miles of two+ lane carriageway in the UK it’s a tiny proportion.

And a duel carriageway is something different again, involving picking your way between fist fights and street brawls when navigating a town centre at pub chucking out time

It's scary that so many people have absolutely no idea what a dual carriageway is.

@Sherararara
Single lane dual carriageways are very very common. You don’t know that because you clearly didn’t realise what a dual carriageway actually was so whenever you’ve driven on one with a single lane, you haven’t realised that you’re on a dual carriageway. That’s your own ignorance, that doesn’t make them 0.1% of the dual carriageways in the UK.

No, it isnt. How do you not know that if you drive? And, even worse, it’s been explained on here and instead of checking, you tell people they are wrong.

A dual carriageway is lanes of opposing traffic separated by a central reservation. Thats where the dual comes from; two separated carriageways which can have one land of traffic in each direction.