Cyclist using Pedestrian Crossing?

[showersandflowers]

Settle a debate I'm having:

I was driving a few days ago in a 30mph zone. 4.30pm U.K. time so dark, through a country town. It was surprisingly busy. There's a pedestrian crossing coming up (a zebra crossing, not one with traffic lights), I look but there are no pedestrians. By the time I get there, a woman riding a bike, with those pathetic Christmas-cracker excuses for lights is cycling across from the right hand side (I actually can't see the lights from the side because they are so dim). I slam on the brakes, but it's too late. She emergency stops in front of the other car as I gingerly drive on (neither of us were hurt, just clearly didn't expect each other). I'm now going quite slowly and can hear her screaming obscenities at me and I cross the crossing. Waving her arms at me, clearly wanting me to stop to scream at me. I don't, it's busy and I don't want to hold traffic up.

I was always taught as a kid to get off your bike and walk across a pedestrian crossing. The issue I had was in the split second between when I looked to check for pedestrians and when I was at the crossing, her cycle speed had meant I didn't have time to observe her in the same time I would have been able to see a pedestrian. She simply came too fast.

Was I in the wrong? Anyone know the rules on this?

Highway Code is crystal clear. Rule 79:

“ Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across. Toucan crossings. These are light-controlled crossings which allow cyclists and pedestrians to share crossing space and cross at the same time.”

Are you sure it wasn't a Toucan crossing for both pedestrians and cyclists?

Irrespective, most pedestrians don't wear lights and you should have been more observant.

Mounted cyclists can cross a toucan crossing. But a zebra crossing they have to dismount. So, no, she shouldn't have been riding across it - for exactly the reasons you experienced!

Fault on both sides as far as I can see.

@AnyoneForFondue

Fault on both sides as far as I can see.

How so? The cyclist was in breach of the Highway Code.

Highway Code rule 79: Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across.

Regardless, the sensible case when using zebra crossings as a pedestrian, cyclist or other user is to wait for vehicles to stop (or at least slow) before crossing. If a vehicle fails to stop then no matter whose right of way it is, the crosser will come off worse.

Walking pace gives you time to see a pedestrian on a crossing. That is why cyclists MUST dismount. The cyclist was completely in the wrong here.

I'm a cyclist and would never use a pedestrian crossing with my bike unless I'm walking with my bike.
She should just not be using it on her bike. If anything she should be on the road and wouldn't have any need to use the crossing

Here’s the law, for anyone about to say the HC is just guidance. The law gives a pedestrian priority over vehicle traffic. A cyclist is not a pedestrian. www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/2400/contents/made

I thought Toucan crossings are controlled by traffic lights. Therefore would be safe for pedestrians and cyclists.

@endofthelinefinally

Walking pace gives you time to see a pedestrian on a crossing. That is why cyclists MUST dismount. The cyclist was completely in the wrong here.

This! You can’t speed up your reaction and stopping distance because the cyclist didn’t follow the rules.

Thanks all, the crossing was not light controlled (so not a toucan crossing?), just a zebra crossing, so it sounds to me like according to the Highway Code you've highlighted, she should have dismounted. I do agree that practically, I was in the wrong as well, but I really don't think there was much more I could have done!

Also, if she cycled across the crossing then she was presumably cycling on the pavement? That's also illegal, unless it was a shared use path, but if that were the case I'd expect the crossing to be a toucan crossing to account for that.

There is a cycle lane near me that uses a zebra crossing, but I always get there and stop and wait to see if the traffic has stopped before I cross. Must admit I don't dismount as you are straight back onto the cycle path on the opposite side. It's not well laid out at all

She shouldn't have been cycling but I'm not sure a cyclist is harder to spot than a pedestrian, so you could have looked harder.

Do you cycle? I've had a few near misses and it does send you into a sudden rage. I'm not an angry person usually, but the feeling of being almost squashed (even if the blame is all or partly on you) makes you feel very riled up, vulnerable and defensive. Not that I go around shouting at people!

And most likely crap cycling provision is also at fault, cyclists don't tend to ride on the pavement unless they feel unsafe on the roads.

Cyclists are as visible as pedestrians (they should be more visible since they should have good lights and high visibility clothing). The difference is the speed they are moving at. Because they are moving faster you have less time to see them and react. Reaction time is fixed, so is braking time (as we all learned for our driving tests). If you are within your minimum stopping distance when you see someone or something there is literally nothing you can do, other than swerving, which is not always safe and probably takes a longer decision time than the emergency stop we’ve trained for.

I don't understand why people comment when they don't seem to know the law.
She should have dismounted. You were not in the wrong but it must have been unnerving for you.

She obviously shouldn't have cycled across, but it also sounds like you could have looked a little harder, I am not sure how you didn't see her. At the end of the day, we all need to take responsibility to look out for the more vulnerable road users. The upcoming changes to the highway code obviously highlight this. If you had hit her, you wouldn't have shrugged your shoulders and said she deserved it, you would have been very upset.

She was very unreasonable in her behaviour though and unfortunately it is people like her that give cyclists a bad name! She had no business shouting at you!

Hope you are ok OP, I am sure it shook you up.

I thought it was illegal to cycle across a crossing but you should be able to stop. What it if been a child.

Does everyone saying OP should have looked harder etc crawl across every single crossing they encounter at 5-10mph just in case a hitherto unnoticed pedestrian jumps out and runs across it?

Cyclists can travel very fast, this particular one was not wearing reflective stuff all over, which at dusk or after dark can render one practically invisible from inside a car.

I can't see how OP could reasonably have either expected or been prepared for a random fast moving cyclist to suddenly appear on a crossing that a moment before had been clear of crossers and no one approaching at walking pace.

I cycle, and when I need to cross a zebra crossing (there are some routes in my twin where the off road cycle lane dumps you at one) I stop and look and make sure any car approaching is slowing before setting out into the road. I do the same as a pedestrian and have taught my dc to do likewise.

As a driver I slow when I approach a crossing if there are pedestrians until it's clear if they intend to cross. The difference between a cyclist and a child is again the speed. A child will be on bye pavement and visible, and I will be prepared that they are a potentially unpredictable road user. But a cyclist can zip up out of nowhere and should not be doing so and going straight into a crossing without slowing or checking unless they have a death wish.