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!

Having seen the state of both a colleague and sil’s helmet after they came off their cycles I’m jolly glad they were wearing them.

A smashed helmet has no bearing on the crash, the helmet is supposed to smash. Therefore it will smash at 12mph impact or 50mph impact, but won’t have a bearing on injuries

There isn't much new content in the updates, more clarifying points that people were hazy on.

The only notable change as a motorist / pedestrian and occasional cyclist is the priority at junctions. Indeed as a runner, I often look forwards to road junctions for a breather and don't want cars to automatically give way. As a driver, I do watch out for pedestrians and if circumstances are safe may let them start to cross if that's the better option (I recently stopped and hung well back when I spotted white-stick man approaching my junction so as not to alarm him by creeping up). But being obliged to give way when moving from higher speed, busier roads into side roads may not be wise. Especially turning right, losing a chance to turn if a pedestrian is faffing about does not seem like progress.

As an occasional cyclist who favours off-road routes, and is selective about what roads I cycle on, any specific licensing/ insurance/ tax rules mean I would rather sell my bike, and that means I would be using my car for those 3-5 mile journeys which would be highly counterpruductive.

As a driver around cyclists, I can't see that these new rules would cause a substantial change in my behaviour as I always wait to pass wide and safely anyway.

If cycle lanes are bad, you could take it up with the local council. Or the DfT, to get better specifications for cycle lanes nationwide. That does look stupidly narrow.

Until that utopia arrives, what's your interim solution for cyclists?

Not a cyclist, but we are a motorcycle family. When our son was learning at 16 on a 50cc, I never understood why my husband would get cross and telling him not to ride on left side of the lane and to ride in the middle, as being restricted to about 40mph, my son did to allow cars to pass.
The edge of the road is fully of potholes, poorly fitted drains and an absolute hazard for motorcycles, so imagine its the same for 🚴‍♂️.

Leaving 1.5m when overtaking a cyclist is sensible. But then slow down at a junction and the cycle squeezes between the car and the kerb. No 1.5m there!

I find it gives me less room to overtake when the cyclist is in the middle of the road. I can give them an extra metre of clearance if they’re on the left. So if they wobble or whatever they’re less likely to go under my wheels. Having said that, I’m always super careful around cyclists and slow to 30mph even on a 60mph road. Because if you kill a cyclist you get the blame even if they swerved in front of you.

getting the blame is all your worried about? Bloody hell drivers are so entitled and lacking in compassion.

@GladAllOver

Leaving 1.5m when overtaking a cyclist is sensible. But then slow down at a junction and the cycle squeezes between the car and the kerb. No 1.5m there!

Makes me wonder why you overtook the cyclist in the first place if they were going to end up in front of you anyway.

@Alayalaya

I find it gives me less room to overtake when the cyclist is in the middle of the road. I can give them an extra metre of clearance if they’re on the left. So if they wobble or whatever they’re less likely to go under my wheels. Having said that, I’m always super careful around cyclists and slow to 30mph even on a 60mph road. Because if you kill a cyclist you get the blame even if they swerved in front of you.

But the point is the cyclist is in the middle of the lane because there isn't enough space for you to safely overtake. It's a signal to you as a driver not to attempt to overtake at that point as it would not be same.

@GladAllOver

Leaving 1.5m when overtaking a cyclist is sensible. But then slow down at a junction and the cycle squeezes between the car and the kerb. No 1.5m there!

If you have cyclist in the middle of the road and you have to leave 1.5 metres clear when overtaking, I know a lot of roads where this would be impossible

Cyclists are incredibly vulnerable and the law change reflects that. Plenty of motorists don't pass safely and the stats are dire. British roads are also dire and not fit for purpose. We need wider, safer roads with proper cycling paths. Our infrastructure is shit. Instead of fighting each other campaign for investment in sensible infrastructure.

@GladAllOver

Leaving 1.5m when overtaking a cyclist is sensible. But then slow down at a junction and the cycle squeezes between the car and the kerb. No 1.5m there!

If cars have completely slowed down / stopped then it makes sense for the cyclist to get to the front of the line of traffic. Then taking the primary position is the safest way for them to set off from a junction, or they can clearly position themselves so other can see if they are turning left or right. As a cyclists I have no qualms about moving down the left edge of the road next to stationary cars if traffic lights are on red. A stationary car should be no danger to me.

And that, @Kennykenkencat, is the point of the cyclist taking the lane.

The rule changes are long overdue, frankly. I have watched too many cars pass too closely to cyclists as they think they just have to squeeze by them rather than wait until they give them a safe amount of space. Several young teens have been knocked off their bikes just this year on the way to the local secondary because of impatient commuters on what should be quiet local roads.

If you couldn't pass a car , ie use the oncoming lane to go around them, you don't have enough space to pass a cyclist.

I drive my car every single day, by the way. To and from work, and to ferry my three teens around. I also cycle regularly. Cars need to be more patient.

Most of the new Highway Code is merely clarifying what was already there. For example the OP seems to be unaware that the Highway Code has always allowed cyclists to cycle 2 abreast.

I've just come to accept that we are all going to be driving more slowly everywhere. I am so wary of pedestrians just walking out now & some of them still seem to be confused by the new rules when I stop to let them cross before turning they almost don't want to go. It's so dangerous, and thats without the cyclists who I doubt could safely stop in time to let them cross anyway. Hopefully it will become the norm the more we get used to it!

[quote heartonthetyne]@Kennykenkencat again, the overtaking rules haven't changed. A car would always need to move into the opposite late to allow the legal amount of room required to pass safely. Encouraging drivers to take the middle of the lane Is so that cars have a visual prompt to not squeeze past them when there isn't adequate room (on a street with double parked cars for example)

Your mention of bus lanes is a red herring, because cyclists can and do use bus lanes. Unless the bus lane is blocked, a cyclist would not be riding on in the "middle lane", though will need to move out into that lane to get around buses that have stopped and other obstacles. [/quote]
I think the word middle is where we are referring to different middles

I think you are referring to the middle of the road meaning the middle of the carriageway where as having been out and seen cyclist taking the meaning to be middle of the whole road. I. E on the middle lines of a road and the only way to go past is to give them 1.5 m space to over take on the narrow opposite carriage way which only has width for 1 car let alone 1 car and a 1.5m gap whilst trying to avoid the bus lane on the opposite side of the road

@Kennykenkencat by middle I mean the middle of a carriageway. If the road has white lines down the middle, the bike would be between the lines and the left side of the road. If it doesn't have white lines, then the cyclist would be in the centre.

(@Kennykenkencat if a cyclist has positioned themselves in the centre in front of you, it is their signal not to try and overtake)

Does a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing still have to wait for the green man? I was driving across on a green light (for me) yesterday and a woman crossing on a red (for her) glared at me when we came close to eachother - surely she shouldn't be crossing against an actual red light?

Hi @Fudgein

I've just come to accept that we are all going to be driving more slowly everywhere .... It's so dangerous

I don't quite see how these two things relate to each other! Isn't the point to make drivers go slowly and cautiously so that the roads are less dangerous?

@Drunkpanda

Does a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing still have to wait for the green man? I was driving across on a green light (for me) yesterday and a woman crossing on a red (for her) glared at me when we came close to eachother - surely she shouldn't be crossing against an actual red light?

I curious about this too. On a crossroads controlled by traffic lights are all pedestrian crossing signals now a bit pointless as you can cross all the time? Not sure I fancy testing it out myself though!!

Would be of more use if cyclists were told not to cycle down unlit roads with no lights on and to wear hi viz at all times

@thereisonlyoneofme

Would be of more use if cyclists were told not to cycle down unlit roads with no lights on and to wear hi viz at all times

And what about telling the cars that close pass me in broad daylight when I am wearing my high viz?

Where we live the weekends is like some sort of tour de Surrey - packs of cyclists. It pretty much means we don’t bother trying to leave the house until after 1ish when they go home.

I don’t mind the new rules but the 15-20+ groups are very dangerous you can’t get around them safely and I can’t see them stopping when safe - there is a few places they could do on one road but never seen them do it. We also have one very long road with decent wide cycle Lane - they allergic to that seemingly. And the traffic lights and the rules of a roundabout.

I exclude the majority of the cyclist that are fair & ride in smaller groups etc but the matching top lot ride dangerous at times - we have a hill and seeing the way they fly down there with no safety in mind for anyone else.