Cycle Lanes / Turning right : Query

Sky King

On more than one occasion I have been behind a car waiting to turn right (myself heading straight on) when I have been overtaken on the inside by a car which has had to drive in the cycle lane to get past.

In one instance the guy in front of me made his turn, and I continued straight when my path was clear, only to notice a guy coming up the inside via a cycle lane honking and waving frantically at me.

What is the legality of this manouver?

I'd always thought that if you can't get past a guy in front who is turning right you must wait behind him until he is gone, even if there is a cycle lane there but now i see more people doing this, I am second guessing it.

Keith186

Broken white line = you can cross into the cycle lane.

Solid white line = you cant cross the line ever.

Dont be lead by other drivers who dont know what they're at.

coolbeans

As a general rule in this country cycle lanes should be ignored. Behave as you would in a car and be predictable. That works for me. Until the powers that be learn how to design cycle infrastructure that's not hazardous to use cycle lanes will remain a waste of tax payer cash that foster misunderstanding and sometimes hostility between motorists and cyclists.

Cookie_Monster

Keith186 wrote: »

Solid white line = you cant cross the line ever.

Dont be lead by other drivers who dont know what they're at.

You can cross it for access, but I still don't see that applying in this case...

OldmanMondeo

I presume the other car was turning left, even still they had no right to try and bully you out of the way. Don't think the driver would do it to any other road user.

spoonface

Sky King wrote: »

On more than one occasion I have been behind a car waiting to turn right (myself heading straight on) when I have been overtaken on the inside by a car which has had to drive in the cycle lane to get past.

In one instance the guy in front of me made his turn, and I continued straight when my path was clear, only to notice a guy coming up the inside via a cycle lane honking and waving frantically at me.

What is the legality of this manouver?

I'd always thought that if you can't get past a guy in front who is turning right you must wait behind him until he is gone, even if there is a cycle lane there but now i see more people doing this, I am second guessing it.

From how you describe it, why would you be waiting behind a car that's trying to turn right, with the intention to go forward, when you could have been in the cycle lane on your left all the time and not had to wait for the car to turn right at all? When there's multilane traffic and you have no need to be in the right lane, I'd see it as safest to be in the leftmost lane (whether that's the cycle lane or a normal lane) so you only have one shoulder to have to look over and are not near to oncoming traffic.

In this case, there was no need for the guy to honk but you might have left yourself a bit exposed being in the right lane after the junction, with faster traffic wanting to get by.

seamus

spoonface wrote: »

when you could have been in the cycle lane on your left all the time and not had to wait for the car to turn right at all?

Only if the cycle lane was marked by a broken white line. If the cycle lane is marked by a solid line, you cannot enter it to perform an overtake.

The appropriate thing to do in these situation is to position yourself correctly.

If there was enough room for a vehicle to pass on the left, then you are positioned too far to the right of the lane. Next time, position yourself so that following traffic does not have enough room to overtake on the left.

alias no.9

seamus wrote: »

The cycle appropriate thing to do in these situation is to position yourself correctly.

If there was enough room for a vehicle to pass on the left, then you are positioned too far to the right of the lane. Next time, position yourself so that following traffic does not have enough room to overtake on the left.

Agreed. You need to get in the appropriate lane and take control of that lane. If you give some drivers a glimpse of space, they're into it, your positioning needs to make it clear both that there's no space to squeeze through and where you're going. Many times where motorists beep cyclists, its because the cyclist does something the motorist doesn't expect, be that going in a direction contrary to a junction layout, making an erratic movement, or that the motorist was just a plank who wouldn't know what a cyclist was doing if they got 3 months written notice. All you can do as a cyclist is be as predictable as possible.

W.Shakes-Beer

seamus wrote: »

....

If there was enough room for a vehicle to pass on the left, then you are positioned too far to the right of the lane. Next time, position yourself so that following traffic does not have enough room to overtake on the left.

As much and all as you are correct regarding going into cycle lanes, im going to stick my neck out here.

If people were to start deliberately blocking traffic behind them from proceeding until they turn right, most roads in Dublin would be at a stand still.

One road that always comes to mind for me is Skelly's Lane in Artane which is wide-ish with a cycle lane up the side with an unbroken white line.

I usually drive this road during rush hour times

I'll be honest, if there is a car in front of me turning right, and there is a gap, I'll check the mirror and over my shoulder for cyclists and if its clear I'll make the undertake, thus keeping traffic moving, which at rush hour, always helps.

Its wide enough on that road that if a car is positioned correctly (not blocking traffic behind and not on the other side of the road) that going around on the LHS of the turning car is not cutting it close.


Now I know I shouldn't really and thus await getting belted by a "Rules of the Road Handbook" on here :P

Sky King

I presume the other car was turning left, even still they had no right to try and bully you out of the way. Don't think the driver would do it to any other road user.

No, he was going straight too.

spoonface wrote: »

From how you describe it, why would you be waiting behind a car that's trying to turn right, with the intention to go forward, when you could have been in the cycle lane on your left all the time and not had to wait for the car to turn right at all?

Well that's exactly my query. Can I bust into the cycle lane to get past?
From what people seem to be saying here - if the line is broken, then i can venture into it, otherwise I must wait until the man on front completes his manouver.

Idleater

Sky King wrote: »

Well that's exactly my query. Can I bust into the cycle lane to get past?

wait a second, were you in a car? In that case, you are allowed into the cycle lane if dotted or out of hours as already stated.
However same questions still arise, how are you positioned to allow a car to fit beside you and you not able to proceed?