Who has Priority here? Almost Fatal Accident
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09-12-2022 12:34pm#1
I use this cycle way almost every morning and never had a major incident until this morning. I was cycling as normal at around 8am. Fully, visible with lights, hi-viz etc. I was coming up to this junction/ entrance to a factory. As I approached the dropped kerb (just past the bollard) a car was approaching from my right at almost exactly the same time. It was unfortunate timing that the both of us were there at the exact same time. I was under the impression that I could just keep cycling as I thought the cycle lane continues and the single broken yellow line meant that drivers could only cross that line if it is safe to do so and if there were no pedestrians or cyclists there. Anyway the car cut me off almost hitting me if I hadn't breaked. Can someone tell me in an area/setup/situation like this who has priority? PS I hope my sketch makes sense. I also have this whole thing captured on my Action Cam.
Post edited by Sam Russell on1
Best Answers
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I’m pretty sure the “keep right” bollard here, circled, is for cyclists (it’s too small for cars, and makes no sense for them, as they are already on the road). In that case, you should not have passed it, and your correct path would be what I marked in dashed blue lines. However, that’s a bit of a mess, as you cannot get from the “cycle lane” onto the road without hopping down over a kerb - there should be a dropped kerb to the right here, just ahead of this bollard. But even so, it is telling you to move right, back onto the road, if you want to pass the junction.
That said, you’re right that as a car driver, I cannot turn left here unless I know the way is clear and it is safe to do so - that’s the general rule. I (the car) am leaving my road, so I automatically lose right of way and can’t continue until it’s safe. Whether or not I am using an indicator doesn’t matter (it’s amazing how many drivers think that just flashing an amber light allows them to leap into a road in front of other people) - I cannot just move if there are other people crossing or coming alongside me, and I should not try to turn until I am sure that any pedestrians or cyclists who could cross my path are not going to try it.
But I think you were also incorrect to assume you could sail through, though. Would you chance this if you were a pedestrian? If not, being on a bike gives you no extra rights (the opposite, in fact). If both you and a car come to the area at the same time, you’re both supposed to stop, and one or other of you can go once you have. The car has to stop anyway to make its turn, so you should have been waved through, but as the path you took meant that you were about to cross traffic, you really should have slowed down and been prepared to stop: I don’t see how you would have right of way in this situation. If the timing was really unlucky, you would have approached the car in the driver’s blind-spot as they made the turn.
If you followed the direction of the keep-right sign, and moved out onto the road, then I think you would definitely have had right of way, because now you’re on the same road as the car, and moving forward, while they need to cross your path in order to leave. The car driver is more likely to have seen you coming up on the inside too, as you’d be in their side-mirror just before they made the turn.
But honestly, “He Had Right Of Way” makes a lousy epitaph. Whenever your path changes or crosses another, It’s best not to assume you automatically retain the right of way just because you are going forwards. When I drive, or walk, I don’t ever leave a path I’m on without being sure I won’t get hit by something else . The same should apply to a cyclist.
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