9hrs is all it took!

[Finallylostit]

The new highway code to cause anger!

I went for my morning cycle - no issues did nothing different than I normally do.

Home, shower, jump in car to get food shopping. I live down a country road - wide enough for 2 cars to pass with care, wide enough for a car to over take a cyclist sticking to the left of the lane, with the required space at certain points. Locals all know the places to do it safely.

Today 1 cyclist riding down the middle of the lane - now unsafe for car to pull over to other lane and pass - brilliant

Was he considerate of other road users and pulled over- no.

As on the other side were 8 riders riding two abreast high fiving each other and doing the finger to the motorists. Shouting its the law twats!
Were they considerate of other road users no.

Some of the new laws i think are sensible -
but the ride in the middle of the road, even if there is a cycle lane because you don't feel like it - is asinine

2 abreast packs of mamils hunting on weekends as they venture out of London - when they are generally rude enough as it is - gives those cyclists who are arseholes a legal right to now be an arsehole.

Be considerate and pull over to let cars and vans pass -
that is as likely as Downing Street not having another party in a lockdown!

If I were not

Lots of people have already answered as to the death trap ness

1. In lane ones Encourage motorists to pass a bike while remaining in the same lane. Just because there is paint on the road doesn't make the lane wider
2. They encourage cyclists to left filter coming up to junctions
3. They’re pointless if you need to turn right
4. They just end often leaving you in the middle of a busy carriageway going the wrong way
5. Off road ones have anti motorbike gates that my bike plus child seat won’t fit through

Hiking - assuming you mean can you overtake in the other lane - yes. That’s the only way you should overtake anything

@Dobbysgotthesocks

The cyclists round here were insufferable already. The new 'rules' are ridiculous in not adding to the responsibilities that cyclist should have. I really think it should be a legal requirement for all road users to make themselves as visible as possible. I see so many cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians who are almost invisible until your way too close to them no matter what speed your traveling. I think all road users should be required by law to wear hi vis and reflective clothing, and have lights. Yes vehicle drivers must make sure they are driving safely and paying attention but cyclists (and other road users) need to start a diving responsibility and taking responsibility for their own and others safety too!

The rules already require this. See paras 59 and 60. Lights are a legal requirement. Clothing is a "should" - failing to follow the advice is likely to lead to the cyclist being held responsible for any consequences.

59
Clothing. You should wear
* a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened
* appropriate clothes for cycling. Avoid clothes which may get tangled in the chain, or in a wheel or may obscure your lights
* light-coloured or fluorescent clothing which helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light
* reflective clothing and/or accessories (belt, arm or ankle bands) in the dark.

60
At night your cycle MUST have white front and red rear lights lit. It MUST also be fitted with a red rear reflector (and amber pedal reflectors, if manufactured after 1/10/85). White front reflectors and spoke reflectors will also help you to be seen. Flashing lights are permitted but it is recommended that cyclists who are riding in areas without street lighting use a steady front lamp.
Law RVLR regs 13, 18 & 24

@Cbtb

Hiking - assuming you mean can you overtake in the other lane - yes. That’s the only way you should overtake anything

@Cbtb yes that’s what I mean. Thank you.

I don't understand this new law. Surely a law saying all cyclists must wear high vis and helmets, and use lights even during the day, would have been preferable.

. I see so many cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians who are almost invisible until your way too close to them no matter what speed your traveling. I think all road users should be required by law to wear hi vis and reflective clothing, and have lights

can we ban blue, black and silver cars
make it compulsory for drivers to take an eye test yearly
retest drivers every time they get banned
speeding drivers are not allowed to have engine size over 1000cc
sunglasses must be worn in bright sunlight

this would reduce many crashes

@ivykaty44 Ah yes, government "consultations"...otherwise, in my experience, "This is what we've decided and you'll like it or lump it but we're still pretending we live in a democracy so we'll ask you all for your 'opinion' and then continue to do exactly what we've already decided".

Not that 20 odd years of working mainly in the public sector has left me jaded and disengaged or anything. (And I know from the mercifully short time I spent with a couple of private companies that they're no better.)

Of course, one partial solution to this would be to improve public transport, including making it affordable (like in lots of bits of Europe, for instance), but I reckon the fleet of winged pigs we keep in the shed will have taken flight long before that happens in the (currently) United Kingdom...

“ I realise this. But with one cyclist you CAN safely overtake them. 2 cyclists abreast, you wouldn’t be able to. Now, someone upthread pointed out that the Code says that 2 riding 2 abreast should be aware of traffic behind them and switch to single to allow cars to overtake them. I just can’t see some cyclists doing that. They will insist that they are allowed to ride 2 abreast no matter what is going on behind them”

No their is not. Unless it’s some abnormally wide road it is not safe to overtake anything unless you’re right over the white line. You are the reason cyclists cycle in the middle/two abbrest to stop you squeezing past

@HikingforScenery

Can we still overtake cyclists if we can do I’m so via the other lane safely? I don’t quite get the new rule.

The new rules haven't changed the overtaking rules. It's just encouraging the use of the primary position to help prevent cars overtaking dangerously.

@SuperSocks it wouldn't stop crashes, drivers hit buildings, police cars with hi viz - unfortunately drivers don't look. putting armour on cyclists doesn't sort the issue of safety it just puts the onus on the vulnerable and doesn't tackle the real issue of drivers crashing every 20 minutes

I was out in the car with ds driving today. 3 mamils gunning it down the road. Ds decided to sit behind them as we were approaching a pinch point in the road, even though, imo he had plenty of time and space to pass the cyclists safely. All 3 mamils stopped gunning it and cycled slower and slower, so it actually took ages - almost comically ages - for us to pass them once the pinch point had been passed. Why on earth did they do that? I am both a cyclist and a driver so I have no prejudice either way, but they were clearly trying to be obstructive.

@GoldenOmber Thanks for the correction, much appreciated, and genuinely very useful. In that case, the local cyclists are evidently interpreting that rule to mean "middle of the road" (but then they've always been a bit of a law to themselves where we live, especially when taking corners and using the supposedly "shared" pavement bit by the beach...)

@SuperSocks

I don't understand this new law. Surely a law saying all cyclists must wear high vis and helmets, and use lights even during the day, would have been preferable.

I don't understand what you don't understand. It's just making the existing rules clearer.

Player20868

thing is its the same rules as the rest of Europe and it works their, been tried and tested - and its been implemented. Your theory that its someone dreaming it up, that is chauffeur driven is incorrect

AuntyBumBum - you seem to have taken offence and I amnot sure what to.
Cyclists - yes I am one of those bloody cyclists but I managed by 10kms without needing to invoke anyone of the new laws, got passed by cars quite safely down narrow roads, B and A roads

Entitled cyclist - yes I was entitled to be there as was everyone else and we all obeyed the rules of the road with no issues.

Men - yes most mamils are men the occasional mawils but they are far more rare - fact nothing judgemental in that.

middle aged men - bald heads, greying beards and a little middle aged spread does reduce the gene pool to choose from or happy to call the rest yamils if that helps you.

Londoners and Londoners cycling into the hills around London at the weekend - please look at strava and look at the exodus - fact not fiction.

I am a cyclist, I agree with some of the rule changes but behaviours today were of a legal right to be an obnoxious twat and it had nothing to do with safety.

@ivykaty44

Petrol price will be going up to over £1.50 a litre if oil reaches $100 a barrel

So you'll find more and more people can't afford to travel by car and will consider switching to bike either pedal or electric.

Historically as fuel prices rise, more bikes are sold

Still doesn't help those of us who live outside towns and cities and whose bus services have just been decimated again. A move that will force many people who had given up driving back into cars again.

It's fine saying we should all go electric, use public transport, get on our bikes. But we don't all live in places where that is possible.

Hell, I live less than 10 miles outside a city and, although we have Fastershire here we don't get particularly fast broadband, very little public WiFi (which was great when the last of the banks went and again when covid hit and every town trader had to go cashless), we do have lots of power cuts and losses of water, get flooded in, totally isolated on a regularly basis, and equally trapped by crappily planned road works and couldn't find an electric car space if it killed us and STILL are being held to the same standards as major towns and cities.

And still our existing infrastructure is being decimated.

So none of this will help change the hierarchy of safety, turn us into greener consumers etc. No matter how sweet the carrot or big the stick, we simply cannot do what is being demanded of us.

I know, little if anything to do with cyclists, but some of the opinions posted here make assumptions that just don't apply to many of the rest of us!

Car has been king for decades, dominating out streets, polluting the air, causing carnage. A few minor rule changes, and a few hold ups on the road and you're all throwing your toys out the pram. In case you hadn't notice you're still in top position, stop moaning, move with the times, the world is changing.

*our streets

@ivykaty44

Petrol price will be going up to over £1.50 a litre if oil reaches $100 a barrel

So you'll find more and more people can't afford to travel by car and will consider switching to bike either pedal or electric.

Historically as fuel prices rise, more bikes are sold

In some places I have paid more than that and that wasn’t recently. It’s been over £1.50 regularly especially at a motorway service station. Paid £1.56 for diesel the last time I filled up

Excellent bring back the horse and cart and have manure flying off the cart wheels into the faces of those cyclists who are self entitled and they will be demanding the removal of the horse and cart next aswell.

As a European born person - the rules work in Europe as less narrow roads and more purpose built cycle lanes which cyclists actually use.

The key here is that the law does not state always go in the middle but to do so in slow traffic or to protect yourself when it’s unsafe for you to be overtaken which I have always done anyway. I did think that we are not geared up for bikes either logistically or culturally.

@Cbtb I treat cyclists in the same way I treat horse riders or pedestrians, I pass slow and wide, when it is safe to do so. If there is a group riding bunched up, I cannot give them a full 1.5m even in my fairly small car because the roads don't allow for that distance if the outer cyclists are riding close to the white line, what I would do is pass slowly enough to get past but not so fast that I couldn't break suddenly if needed.

YANBU - stupid, pointless changes that are just going to create conflict and accidents.

@Proudboomer

I am all for protecting cyclists but I think anyone who uses the roads whether it be on a bike, car or electric mobility scooter should have insurance, pay road tax and helmets. They should also enforce the law on light as I see so many bikes who think that all they need is the back light.

I completely agree with this and it should also be mandatory for cyclists to use cycle lanes if they are provided (or remove cycle lanes altogether - otherwise what's the point).

@Wrongkindofovercoat If cycling close to the central white line I wouldn’t expect a car to pass me with 1.5m - I don’t expect oncoming traffic to be 1.5m away…it you are fully over the central line then you are far enough away. These rules are aimed at those who try and pass cyclists within the same lane (which from this thread is many)