Love to Ride UK, an organisation that promotes cycling, are holding their annual ride to Work Week from 25th – 31st March 19. They say that switching to two wheels for your commute to work can make you happier, healthier and wealthier! Plus it’s great for the environment and reduces pollution and congestion in our towns and cities.
With this in mind it’s perhaps timely to look at what’s legal on a bike and what’s not, including some common misconceptions.
The Highway Code:
Many people misunderstand the Highway Code which is not of itself a statement of the law but a combination of both advice and mandatory rules which apply to all road users in the UK.
Where a Highway Code rule is expressed as something you “must” or “must not” do, the rule reflects a legal requirement imposed by legislation, breach of which is a criminal offence.
Where a Highway Code rule is expressed in advisory terms using words such as “should” or “should not” or “do”, or “do not”, the rule does not reflect any legal requirement. Failure to comply with such a rule can however be used as evidence in both criminal and civil proceedings.
So What Are the Absolute Must Do Requirements for Cyclists?
Lights
- You must have approved front and rear lights, lit, clean and working properly when cycling between sunset and sunrise. It’s no defence to say it was past sunset but not yet dark. The legal lighting obligations for cyclists are determined by sunset and sunrise times not “the hours of darkness” which start 30 mins after sunset and 30 mins before sunrise and dictate when motorists must switch from sidelights to headlights.
- You need a white light at the front and a red light at the rear, visible from front and rear respectively and fixed to your bike. A light obscured by a saddlebag isn’t legal and neither is a head torch
- The Regulations also now allow flashing lights, provided they flash between 60 and 240 times per minute.
- Unlike with other vehicles, lights are not a legal requirement for cyclists during the day time when there is seriously reduced visibility, although it is obviously not recommended to cycle through dense fog without lighting up.
Reflectors
- As with lights, the legal requirements for reflectors only apply between sunrise and sunset and include a red rear reflector and 4 amber pedal reflectors, one at the front and rear of each pedal.
Brakes
- It is an offence to ride a bicycle on a public road without two efficient braking systems operating independently on the front and rear wheels.
Alcohol and Drugs
- Cycling on a road or other public place (including a bridleway) whilst unfit through drink or drugs is an offence carrying a fine of up to £1000. There’s no breath test for this and no blood alcohol or other legal limits. The key question is simply whether you are under the influence to the extent that you’re incapable of proper control of your bike.
- Whilst it’s true that you can’t have your driving licence endorsed with penalty points because of an offence committed on a bicycle it’s often overlooked that the court does have a general power to disqualify anyone from driving, without imposing penalty points, for any offence, including a cycling offence.
Careless and Dangerous Cycling
- You must not cycle carelessly, meaning without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other road users (an offence carrying a fine of up to £1000) or cycle dangerously (£2500 maximum fine).
- The test for these offences replicates that for careless and dangerous driving. It is the “reasonable consideration for other road users” part which occasionally causes difficulty, with some police officers interpreting this incorrectly as a requirement for cyclists to move over to allow cars to overtake forgetting that cyclists often assume the primary position in the road to discourage unsafe overtaking.
Red Lights and Advanced Stop Lines
- Crossing the stop line when traffic lights are red is an offence which the police usually deal with via a Fixed Penalty Notice fine, typically £50.
- Where there is an Advanced Stop Line (ASL) cyclists can of course position themselves ahead of motorised traffic but behind the ASL. Crossing the ASL when the traffic lights are are red is still an offence.
- It is also an offence to ride through an amber light unless you are so close to the stop line that to stop might cause a collision.
Pavement Cycling
- It is an offence to drive a “carriage” on “any foot path or causeway by the side of any road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of foot passengers”, essentially a footway next to the highway.
- This law also applies to children on cycles but as those under 10 are below the age of criminal responsibility they can’t be prosecuted.
- Fortunately when Fixed Penalty Notices were introduced for pavement cycling in 1999 the Home Office issued guidelines saying that “the introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing so.” This guidance was reaffirmed in 2014 by the Cycling Minister who agreed that the police should use discretion in enforcing the law and take a reasonable approach with safety being a guiding principle.
- In summary: Cycling on the pavement is an offence but there is clear guidance that the police are supposed to exercise discretion.
Highway Code Should and Should Nots
Single File or Two Abreast
- There is no law that prevents you from cycling two or even three or more abreast, just advisory Rule 66 of the Highway Code
- Rule 66 states that “you should….. never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends..”
High Vis and Helmets
- Rule 59 of the Highway Code advises that cyclists should wear a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is of the correct size and securely fastened.
- Cycling UK believe that whether or not to wear a helmet is a matter of personal choice. Attempts to either force or pressure cyclists to wear helmets elsewhere have led to a reduction in cycle use.
- Rule 59 also advises cyclists to wear light coloured or fluorescent clothing “which helps other people to see you” in daylight and poor light and “reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark.”
The Urban Myths: Things You Are Allowed to Do
Riding Outside the Cycle Lane
- Use of cycle lanes is not compulsory. Rule 63 of the Highway Code describes cycle lanes but does not say that cyclists should use them, merely that use of them “depends on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer”
- Mostly cyclists will choose to use good quality cycle lanes where they exist but where they are badly designed, poorly maintained, littered with glass and debris, they won’t.
Riding in the Middle Lane
- This means when you effectively cycle in the middle of the road with the general flow of traffic rather than to the left of the traffic
- Riding in this position can sometimes be your safest option. If there are parked cars on the left it gives you sufficient space to avoid any car door unexpectedly opening in front of you. It can discourage or prevent drivers from overtaking where it is unsafe to do so and it can be where you can most easily see and be seen
Should you or anyone you know have been unfortunate enough to have been involved in a cycling accident please do not hesitate to contact us on 0114 218 4000 or email info@tayloremmet.co.uk
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