What do I do if a pedestrian steps out in front of me and I'm in one of these new cycle lanes?

[Deleted User]

Chomeur said:

Some more observations about the new bollarded cycle lanes:
The bollards are plastic and quite springy so you probably wouldn't get hurt if you hit one and possibly could go over one without coming off.
Roads get swept by road sweepers. These new cycle lanes can't be swept unless someone comes along with a broom, which naturally they don't. So the lanes fill up with leaves and broken glass. 
I still don't like the lanes.

The ones in Birmingham have a street sweeper van (the ones that do gutters for leaves) and they fit fine. Example from the US
I don't know how often they do it as I don't see them very often but that may be as I don't know what times they work and can see the results periodically. These are isolated lanes though, not lines painted down the road. I am not 100% sure how they will grit them (if at all) though - maybe with a hand wheeled unit? This year I did have a minor slip on one due to frosting, if the winter is bad this year I will put the studded tyres on.

Chomeur

Deleted_User said:

Chomeur said:

Some more observations about the new bollarded cycle lanes:
The bollards are plastic and quite springy so you probably wouldn't get hurt if you hit one and possibly could go over one without coming off.
Roads get swept by road sweepers. These new cycle lanes can't be swept unless someone comes along with a broom, which naturally they don't. So the lanes fill up with leaves and broken glass. 
I still don't like the lanes.

The ones in Birmingham have a street sweeper van (the ones that do gutters for leaves) and they fit fine. Example from the US
I don't know how often they do it as I don't see them very often but that may be as I don't know what times they work and can see the results periodically. These are isolated lanes though, not lines painted down the road. I am not 100% sure how they will grit them (if at all) though - maybe with a hand wheeled unit? This year I did have a minor slip on one due to frosting, if the winter is bad this year I will put the studded tyres on.

Thanks. I'll look out for a bike lane road sweeper. I certainly don't get the impression that the lanes are being swept but maybe it will happen. I'm in London so gritting is not so much of an issue - it rarely gets cold enough.

Chomeur

I was in a lane yesterday that was even worse than a bollarded one. It was a perfectly decent road to cycle down before the pandemic. Plenty of space for bikes and cars. But someone at the council has had the idea of using half the width of the road for a bike lane and car parking, the bike lane being between the pavement and parked cars. I would have used the road instead of the bike lane, but the traffic was so snarled up that I chose the bike lane. A woman stepped out maybe 5m in front of me without looking at all. I was able to break but if she had been closer I would have knocked her over and I think she would have been quite hurt. At least she came from the pavement side so I was able to see her. If she had come from behind a parked van on the other side I would not have seen her beforehand. 
Then further on, a van with its door wide open across the bike lane. So I had to squeeze round this. But that's another concern - car and van doors being opened as I cycle. It's less likely on a road than on a bike lane.
This was a road that I used a lot but now, thanks to the new scheme I will try to find alternative routes.

fred246

If you go to Holland everything is perfectly worked out. Every road has an area for cars, an area for cycles and an area for pedestrians. In the UK it's complete mayhem. I remember driving round Cambridge which is supposed to be cycle friendly. Loads of cyclists on the roads. Lots of pavements signposted for cyclists. Cyclists all over the place. All the governments of the EU should have been forced to follow the Dutch model. It works really well. Instead of paying for HS2 they should have changed the roads copying Holland.

nic_c

unforeseen said:

Same rules apply as with a car. Ride to the conditions. If there is a risk of pedestrians stepping out then ride at a speed where you can stop safely.

True, cyclists do not have the right to go at speed just because it is dedicated cycle path. Maybe there needs to be speed restrictions for these especially where they go though built up areas, say 5mph.

The highway code for motorists depicts limits by type of environment where no signage is available. The cyclist needs to ride at a speed suitable to where they are. Out on the country roads with clear visibility then go full pelt if you like, on a cycle lane where there is a risk of someone walking out into the lane, then slow down. It is a cycle lane not a velodrome after all.

[Deleted User]

nic_c said:

unforeseen said:

Same rules apply as with a car. Ride to the conditions. If there is a risk of pedestrians stepping out then ride at a speed where you can stop safely.

True, cyclists do not have the right to go at speed just because it is dedicated cycle path. Maybe there needs to be speed restrictions for these especially where they go though built up areas, say 5mph.

The highway code for motorists depicts limits by type of environment where no signage is available. The cyclist needs to ride at a speed suitable to where they are. Out on the country roads with clear visibility then go full pelt if you like, on a cycle lane where there is a risk of someone walking out into the lane, then slow down. It is a cycle lane not a velodrome after all.

5mph, are you joking?
Average cycling speed e.g. based on google time to do a journey, works out around 12-15mph, anyone with half decent brakes can stop or swerve in a few metres - that's like saying we should have 10mph limits for cars in case someone steps out. No-one is actively riding at 20+ mph in cycle lanes where there are pedestrians who could step out.

silverwhistle

Deleted_User said:

5mph, are you joking?

Quite. I can jog and push my bike at that speed. I could with far more justification talk about motorised traffic in the same way, "It is a road not a motor racing circuit after all"..