cyclists turned right when i overtook

AdrianC

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Really? Not sure I've ever seen that specified anywhere in regs so I assume the "always" is by unofficial convention.

Nope. It's the official terminology.
https://twitter.com/nwmwaypolice/status/727128169816440832

Which is exactly the same way that "inside" and "outside" or "fast" and "slow" are also defined.

I have never, ever, in nearly 50 years known anyone - except for pedants on the internet trying to make a point - refer to the LH lane of a UK road as the "fast lane" or the RH one as the "inside lane".

Fast and slow are obvious - and equally obviously wrong - but WHY are "inside" and "outside" used the wrong way round?

Here is a photo of a motorway.


In what possible parallel universe are the "inside" lanes not the ones by the central reservation?

rich13348

AdrianC wrote: »

Nope. It's the official terminology.
https://twitter.com/nwmwaypolice/status/727128169816440832

Fast and slow are obvious - and equally obviously wrong - but WHY are "inside" and "outside" used the wrong way round?

Here is a photo of a motorway.


In what possible parallel universe are the "inside" lanes not the ones by the central reservation?

I didn't realise North Wales Police were the be all and end all of motorway lane naming conventions.

Joe_Horner

Not entirely sure Twitter counts as a legal reference but who knows in this internet age, eh?

No idea why people use inside and outside that way round but they do and I've never known anyone use them otherwise in real life.

You may as well ask why does the graphical symbol "1" mean "one" or "first" rather than third or three. There's no cosmic rule that says it must but it just does. And, in common parlance, "inside lane" just DOES mean the one on the left.

JP08

almillar wrote: »

What junction? The start of a cycle lane? Is it signposted or is OP expected to know about it?You were the one overtaking. Its for you to ensure its safe to do so.

I suspect if the cycle lane is signposted then the OP's case is sunk.

Though I have some difficulty in imagining the scenario starting as it does (with the cyclist in the normal position to the left of his lane and the OP behind him in clear conditions at low speeds) and ending as it does (with the cyclist in front of the OPs car - l/h headlight damage - when the OP is one whole lane to the right of his starting position) without there being a pretty decent interval where the cyclists movement to the right was visible.

NBLondon

Car_54 wrote: »

Who are you suggesting should demand it? And under what power?

I'm suggesting the OP should demand it - using the power of speech.


Of course, as foxy-stoat has pointed out - he may not get anywhere... but I'm suggesting he make the point by doing so.

AdrianC

rich13348 wrote: »

I didn't realise North Wales Police were the be all and end all of motorway lane naming conventions.

Umm, that twitter link is not North Wales, but North-West Motorway Police.
Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire constabularies working together to police some of the busiest and most important motorway links in the country.

But, if that's your only reply, I take it you can't explain how inside is outside while outside is inside, either?

NBLondon

Car_54 wrote: »

Adrian is not alone. It is difficult enough to understand most written reports of accidents without the unnecessary use of ambiguous terms.

Have you ever had to unravel an account of an incident involving a roundabout, where the participant refers to moving from the "inside" lane (does he mean 2?) to the "outside" lane (1?) on the R/A before exiting to the "inside" lane (1?) on the new road?

I'm sure there's been some on here...


The confusion there is that Lane 2 on a roundabout is the "inside" of the curve i.e. smallest radius which is a different meaning of inside. As in the motorsport terms of overtaking on the inside or outside when approaching a bend. Maybe we should try to use "nearside" instead - meaning nearest the left hand edge that we are supposed to keep to in this country.


I get Adrian's point that it's counter-intuitive - but I agree with Joe - in nearly all my driving career, the inside lane has been the one nearest the pavement and the term is generally accepted and understood.

rich13348

AdrianC wrote: »

Umm, that twitter link is not North Wales, but North-West Motorway Police.
Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire constabularies working together to police some of the busiest and most important motorway links in the country.

But, if that's your only reply, I take it you can't explain how inside is outside while outside is inside, either?

No I can't explain except that I have always used that term and everyone I know has used that term successfully to explain the motorway/dual carriageway system. In glad to say I don't count you as someone I know.
But obviously I am everyone else who uses the system is wrong and you and only you are correct 100% of the time?

rich13348

I also dispute their use of North West United Kingdom as Inverness, Ullapool etc but that's not anything to do with you. Just the English forgetting about Scotland yet again.

AdrianC

rich13348 wrote: »

I also dispute their use of North West United Kingdom as Inverness, Ullapool etc but that's not anything to do with you. Just the English forgetting about Scotland yet again.

Umm, yes. It's NW England. Nobody's said anything else. Scottish policing - and law - is completely separate.

NW Scotland doesn't have any motorways, anyway.