I thought this had been posted before but can’t find it so posting again.
Some very interesting info such as
You may cross a double-white line if necessary (provided the road is clear) to overtake someone cycling or riding a horse if they are travelling at 10 mph or less (Rule 129).
It has always been the case, for as long as I can remember, that you may cross a solid white line provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less. Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 26
Although I have a vague recollection the rule also used to include any vehicles travelling at less than 10 mph with specific reference to tractors, farm vehicles and milk floats.
The updates refer to overtaking in general with guidance on how much clear space to leave, when where and what side to overtake on, the updated rules are 67, 76, 163, 121 and 215.
Sorry, that is not a new rule.
I have been quoting that reg in crash investigation cases for as long as I can remember.
And I am old…
Notithstanding any recent changes, I have always been a bit unsure about the ‘passing a stationary vehicle’ bit. There is a level-crossing near me where the last 50-ish yards before the crossing have a double solid white line. When there is a queue waiting for the crossing to open, i.e. no possibility of oncoming vehicles, would overtaking the queue to get to the front count as ‘passing a stationary vehicle’?
It’s not something I would do routinely because it would piss off motorists in the queue and, who knows, one of those might just be the local councillor who is about to vote on allowing bikes in bus lanes or something! However, this particular crossing stays closed for ages and, if I am on an urgent run…
I guess we could all benefit by brushing up on The Highway Code from time to time
OK, but if the crossing is closed and will remain closed until the train has left the adjacent station, so there are no other road users to come into coonflict with, does passing a line of stationary vehicles on a double solid white line come under the “passing a stationary vehicle” exception for the double white line rule?
The road users you might come into conflict with are those queueing at the level crossing. At some point you will have to cut in and occupy the ‘safe’ distance left between two queueing vehicles.
Queuing traffic is still classed as moving traffic for the purpose of the law (and there has been case law on this)
But bear in mind Double or single solid centre white lines does not mean do not overtake, it means do not cross over except for certain circumstances.
So, in the situation you describe (and I have come across it many times) you may still be able to filter and keep withing the boundaries of your own lane and without crossing over or straddling the solid lines, but then just be aware that the rules for filtering still apply and you could leave yourself wide open for contributory negligence in the event of a crash (depending on the circumstances and evidence) even though judges are now recognising that filtering is perfectly legal and acceptable
Thanks T.C. Your first sentence answers my question succinctly. Cheers
