Given that we all want to get somewhere, and given that the letter of the law may not be practical to implement under those circumstances, the people making the decision to work outside these defined boundaries should work with each-other to achieve their goal. Common sense courtesy and safety. “If you can get away with it, and it’s not causing anyone any grief doing so, then do it.”
I thought about my daily commute through central and came up with this.
Treat the cycle box like the uninvited guest you are; use it without causing detriment to cyclists
Appreciate a cyclist can make better progress than you in heavy traffic so don’t block them or their lanes
Appreciate a cyclist may want to filter as much as you and should be yielded to if at a similar speed
Consider moving far into the box if a biker filterer behind you is now otherwise stuck
Yield shared filtering space if the oncoming has a more pressing need
Stick to your trajectory if sharing a lane and when cornering
Don’t find yourself blocking a gap due a lack of foresight to judge the width
Don’t expect indication, and consider a life-saver to be an intent to change direction if clear
Don’t get in front of anyone that has made better progress past you through petty opportunity if you are slower than them
Thank by gesture when afforded consideration
Assume someone with L plates/inappropriate attire/a scooter is more likely to be unaware of the all the above.
I cycle. Very annoying to find a biker infront, in my lane, blocked in by a bus that I can otherwise sneak past. Very annoying to be blocked from behind by a biker going the same speed as me as we close to move through a fixed gap. Very annoying to not be able to get into the cycle box because it’s full of bikers, and very annoying to know you’re annoying a biker by having little choice but to go in-front of them in the box knowing I’m slowing their gettaway.
With the cuts in central govt funding kicking in there’ll be pressure on councils to find alternate revenue streams, so I’d fully expect them to catch on to this one fairly soon.
The one thing that puzzles me is why when approaching a red set of lights with no traffic in front of them do 90% of bikes enter the cycle box anyway? Not only are they needlessly opening themselves up to a possible ticket, but by stopping at the advance line they would hold the 4+ wheel traffic further back & therefore create more clear space for their fellow bikers at the front.
isn’t the whole point of the cycle box to stop people on cycles breathing in the fumes from behind the cars while stuck in traffic , we are also exposed to these fumes ,are we not also human ??? another thing road tax paid for these boxes right , well cyclist don’t pay any so whats the problem if they share it with us
what gets me though I must admit is the green box that completely goes across the lane when there is no right turn. Almost every morning coming out of regents park across Euston road I get bicycles that go in the right hand side when there is no need to and and then slowly pull off when they know I am there. They can just as easily go in middle or left of box
ps as mentioned before you can share the cycle box in Australia and it works quite well …I found due to teh sharing there was lot more comaderie and not a them and us attitude
oh cool! i was thinking about this last night…for a little bit whilst in bed and thought that in my opinion its more dangerous to be stuck behind first car than to be in a cycle box. I want those people who did IAM training to tell me what’s the safety feature in being stuck behind first car? lets look at it this way, as traffic lights go green biker has to wait for first car to move off, and has to control it’s moving off speed as biker moves off he’s got a car right beside of him that might not want to wait for him to move off and another car on the other side that would move off at the same time. so whilst biker is trying to move off he’s got two cars on either side of him moving off at the same time…in a tight space.surely its far simpler to be in front of first car holding them back but not pissing them off too much as you’re in a cycle area that they are not allowed to get into and then to move off very quickly thus making it fun for biker as he/she revvs the hell out of the bike and doesn’t annoy cars too much
Your not actually behind the car , you are in the filter position on the back right corner of the car. That position assumes the car has the decency to let you in , or not like some , close the gap even further to **** you out.
Like your comment about the car not being allowed into the green cycle box !!
Comment from a mate on this, when you filter all the way to the front and plonk your bike infront of a car, it sometimes infuriates the less patient car driver, but filter to last but one and then overtake him with your acceleration, and car driver is much less likely to get arsey.
I’m all for Powered two-wheelers (PTW) sharing Advanced Stop Line (ASL) areas but at the moment we just aren’t. So I thought I’d do a bit of looking up.The official guidance for local authorities on ASLs is on pages 55-57 here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/ltn208.pdf .
The key bit is that they
•allow cyclists to bypass queuing traffic to get to the front (via the leading lane);
•place cyclists in a more visible location ahead of traffic, rather than at a potential blind spot to the left of traffic; this is especially important where there are appreciable numbers of HGVs;
•allow cyclists to wait in an area relatively free from exhaust fumes; and
•make it easier for right hand turning cyclists to position themselves in the best location.
So these things would be an advantage to us too even though we have power. But I guess the reason why we are not allowed to use them is because we would possibly crowd out cyclists?
The HC is pretty clear on when you can and cannot enter them, but also show exactly why it is hard to enforce and needs a PC to be there to see exactly what you did:
178 Advanced stop lines. Some signal-controlled junctions have advanced stop lines to allow cycles to be positioned ahead of other traffic. Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked. If your vehicle has proceeded over the first white line at the time that the signal goes red, you MUST stop at the second white line, even if your vehicle is in the marked area. Allow cyclists time and space to move off when the green signal shows.
fair comment, but a wave (of thanks - got to be clear!) to acknowledge that you’ve pulled in front of them generally seems to prevent drama.
Had a rather unpleasant **** on a scooter force his way between two cycles hooting his pathetic little horn and pointing at the gutter where he presumably felt we should be riding. Fair enough, but I will be expecting the scoot to ride in the gutter when I’m on my Ducati tomorrow. It’s only reasonable.
That’s why you wait until the danger he will turn is past before passing well wide, just like you should when filtering when passing a turning or dropped kerb.
F*ck it, you are all thinking about it too much. The rule is “Get as far forward as possible, at all times, where you can see the most, and appreciate and act on the bits you cannot see. Ride like you are enjoying it, Ride freeeeeeeeeeeee” AKA get from A to B ASAP
well they tend not to go into the box, though some end up in it due to lights change from amber to red. personally this will sound silly but i think the only reason why cars don’t do it is cause they’re bigger and will be more noticable
