Highway code and Road Law

Matty1235

I was having a discussion with a friend at work, can anyone find a link to where a cyclist should position himself on the road according to road law.

Thanks

Belv

There is no 'law' about where a cyclist should position themselves. There is the highway code which offers guidance that, if ignored, can be used to support a prosecution.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... /index.htm

madturkey

As Belv says, there is no law.

The Highway Code is a bit of guidance, but definitely written from the car point of view - it still suggests that you might want to dismount and walk around roundabouts. Also, no real advice on where to ride (except the obvious about red lights, pavements and one way streets). So, no specific law, but...

The semi-official source book "Cyclecraft" (published by the HMSO) says that you should not ride in the gutter as it's more dangerous to be there than about 1.5m from the left of your lane. Not available online though

Hornetto

I seem to remember from my cycling proficiency test at school back in the late 80s that they recommended about 60cm / 2ft from the kerb - far enough to be out of the gutter / away from drain covers but close enough to the side to not be in the way of other traffic.

Who knows if that's still the recommendation...

knedlicky

madturkey wrote:

The semi-official source book "Cyclecraft" (published by the HMSO) says that you should not ride in the gutter

You shouldn’t be in the gutter anyway, because it’s not part of the carriageway, and in proper roadway design, the carriageway is the space designed for traffic.

Either side of the carriageway is an edge strip, 25 cm wide on a 2-3 lane road and with a 30 mph speed limit, 50 cm wide for 2-3 lane roads if they have much heavy traffic (lorries & buses) and for roads with more than 3 lanes or no 30 mph restriction. The edge strip might be visually part of the same construction as the carriageway but it’s not meant for driving or riding on. Instead it’s meant to serve other functions like drainage (e.g. gutter), natural collection area of dirt and debris, road edge markings, etc.
So you should always be at least 25 or 50 cm away from the roadway edge (or from the kerb when one exists).

Of course, this doesn’t mean all existing roads were built to the above ideas.

Hornetto wrote:

I seem to remember from my cycling proficiency test at school back in the late 80s that they recommended about 60cm / 2ft from the kerb -
Who knows if that's still the recommendation...

As far as I know 60-70 cm from the kerb is still the recommendation.
Motorists are recommended to give cyclists 90 cm clearance and a study showed that most do (even though it sometimes doesn’t feel like it). Evidently, motorists leave more clearance if the rider is a woman (or a man wearing a woman’s wig!)

GeorgeShaw

2ft from the kerb is asking for a car to push you into it. The worst thing is to have a car (or even worse a lorry) trying to squeeze between you and the oncoming traffic.

Generally I ride where the inside tyre of a car would be. It makes you more visible, and it makes traffic behind you think twice about squeezing past. It gives you space to move over slightly to let them past, but when you have the space to allow them to do it. You are then more in control. If the traffic has a problem with that, then it's their problem, not yours.

Approaching roundabouts and junctions I'm more likely to be in the middle of the road, for the same reason. You have to assert your right to be on the road.

synchronicity

Well here in Tenerife, I position myself smack-bang in the middle of the road when descending, and about 45cm away from the gutter when climbing.

dondare

http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/book.html

Rebel Ian

I position myself wherever I can control what the cars do. At junctions that's right in the middle of the lane so I decide when they can come past me.