Do I have to stop at a pedestrian crossing for a cyclist?

deaston

It dawned on to me today - I regularly stop at pedestrian crossings for cyclists who use them as a convenient way to get from one pavement to another.

But, cyclists aren't pedestrians so do I need to stop?

Ebe_Scrooge

It depends.


If you want to follow the strict rules of the highway code to the letter, then cyclists are not supposed to ride across zebra crossings, they should get off and push their bike across. They can, however, cycle across a Toucan crossing :


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82


So if a cyclist is riding across a zebra crossing then no, you don't have to stop. You are well within your rights to just carry on and squish him :rotfl:


It's like anything - common sense usually over-rules the strict letter of the law. A common example - cyclists shouldn't ride on the pavements. But say there's a family cycling through town ( or, mum & dad walking with a 5-year-old on their bike ). The kid shouldn't really be on the pavement. But common sense dictates that in busy traffic, they're a lot safer on the pavement ( admittedly, the parents then have a responsibility to make sure the kid doesn't mow down pedestrians ! )


But as to your original question - if you don't give way to the cyclist, what are you proposing to do instead ?


<edit> All joking aside, do bear in mind that whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter, if you hit the cyclist you would more than likely be had up for either "driving without due care and attention", or - God forbid - causing death by dangerous driving. No matter what the strict letter of the law says, as a car driver you are piloting a potential killing machine, and bear a large amount of responsibility for doing so safely.


And no, I'm not a cycling warrior, or whatever they're called. My bike comes out of the garage once in blue moon. And as someone who drives 25,000 miles a year, I see an awful lot of dangerous cyclists ( along with some very safe ones ). But at the end of the day, 1 ton of car versus 12 stone of cyclist ? You don't have to be Einstein to imagine the outcome.

waamo

On many crossings if you didn't stop you would plough into the cyclist.

basill

Not sure about the legalities but my old Dad used to say that you don`t have to stop for cyclists at crossings, unless they pick the bike up and become a pedestrian carrying a bike.
:-)

Retrogamer

Strictly speaking, no you don't "need to" stop. but depending on how you proceed you may be charged with something like Careless driving (driving with undue care and attention)

neilmcl

deaston wrote: »

It dawned on to me today - I regularly stop at pedestrian crossings for cyclists who use them as a convenient way to get from one pavement to another.

But, cyclists aren't pedestrians so do I need to stop?

What else do you plan to do, run them over?

boliston

I would have thought that the cyclist is actually helping the motorist by cycling across instead of dismounting and walking as it probably halves the amount of time the motorist actually needs to stop.

glennevis

basill said "my old Dad used to say that you don`t have to stop for cyclists at crossings, unless they pick the bike up and become a pedestrian carrying a bike."

He probably read the same book I did. Many years ago a prominent judge, Lord Denning, wrote books on law. In one case a woman pushed her bike across a zebra crossing and the long and the short of it was that she was not a pedestrian because she was pushing the bike, I think.

deaston

neilmcl wrote: »

What else do you plan to do, run them over?

If they're already on the crossing, of course not. But it's the expectant cyclists waiting for traffic to stop before they use the crossing that I'm talking about.

Normally I stop but I'm wondering why I should bother when cyclists rarely stop for me when I'm a pedestrian.

peter_the_piper

Cyclist hits pedestrian=Ouch.
Car hits cyclist=Angels?

Aylesbury_Duck

deaston wrote: »

Normally I stop but I'm wondering why I should bother when cyclists rarely stop for me when I'm a pedestrian.

Because being a pr*t in retaliation for a perceived slight by another pr*t helps no-one.