ASL Question

[manalog]

Hi,
Just wondering what other Cyclist do when other vehicles are on the ASL when you get there. There are lots of occasions where I am on a cycle lane and when I get to the ASL a Bus/Cars/Motorbikes are already on it. In most cases I couldn't see if these vehicles are already on it. What do you Guys do? Do you go beyond the ASL in front of all these vehicles or do you wait behind them?

 

[XmisterIS]

I assume you mean when there's someone parked or pulled over in the ASL? That happens a lot.

I give a quick right-hand shoulder check to see what is behind and then if it is safe to do so, I pull out and go round the obstruction.

By "safe to do so", I mean,

a) There's nothing hurtling up behind, the obstructing vehicle isn't indicating to pull out, and

It is not obscuring a vehicle waiting to emerge onto the carriageway from a minor road on the left (and sometimes the right too, depending on the layout of the road).

c) It's not immediately before a roundabout (but then they shouldn't be pulled up there anyway!).

Incidentally, failure to observe situation ( is a leading cause of motorbike accidents, typically among teenagers on mopeds with a deathwish, and twenty-something men on sports bikes, also with a deathwish and a lot of testosterone!

Most people indicate and look behind them before pulling away from the kerb, so as long as you're not in their blind spot, you'll probably be seen - I tend to give them as much clearance as I can, and cover the brakes.

Caveat - I say *most* in the sentence above ... some people will pull out even if there's a double-articulated lorry going past them ... and then say "SMIDSY"! I've had that happen to me while I was driving a Luton Van once ... and I was right beside them! How the hell can anyone fail to see a bright orange Luton Van in broad daylight, when it is 3 feet from their head???? They still had their left-hand indicator flashing when they pulled out ...

 

[John the Monkey]

Slot in behind, in the middle of the left hand side of the road.

 

[CotterPin]

I tend to overtake on the outside and can usually look down the length of the traffic to see if the ASL is clear or not. If not I will slot in further down the queue. I very rarely use the cycle lane that approaches the ASL.

 

[CharlieB]

I think manalog meant a vehicle waiting at the lights. I tend to find space alongside to the left as far front as possible and give them a meaningful hard stare.
The idea of ASLs is so that you can achieve a quck getaway and out of trouble.

 

[XmisterIS]

I think manalog meant a vehicle waiting at the lights. I tend to find space alongside to the left as far front as possible and give them a meaningful hard stare.
The idea of ASLs is so that you can achieve a quck getaway and out of trouble.

Ah! Yes. It doesn't happen very often where I live. I tend to pull up alongside and ask them why they're in the cycle lane.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Depends... if the driver has been generally driving pretty badly (i.e. speeding, amber gambling, stopping in other ASLs etc.) then I wil make a concerted effort to pull up in front of him/her and look back at them.. and then at the ASL in a very accentuated way... perhaps even commenting on their positioning in said ASL being illegal.

If they've just entered it perfectly legally (i.e. lights have changed and they've become stranded in it) then I slot in behind them.

Maybe I'm just a bit annoying like that.

 

[dellzeqq]

I usually hang around in the queue of traffic as if the ASL were not there. There's one ASL that has space in front of it, and I'll usually go to the front, and, if there's a car in the ASL, simply go in front of the car - but that's the exception.

 

[Amanda P]

I often find there's a car half-way into the ASL. So when I get there, I have no choice but to squeeze sideways into the remaining space. It sometimes takes longer to move off in these circumstances, because I first have to get the bike pointing forwards again...

 

[Origamist]

I think manalog meant a vehicle waiting at the lights. I tend to find space alongside to the left as far front as possible and give them a meaningful hard stare.

You don't really want to put yourself alongside another vehicle at the lights if you can help it (particularly a high-sided one) - try to get in front or behind the vehicle if the ASL is blocked. Throw in a bit of eye contact too.

Better to try and avoid this situation by forward planning.

 

[jonny jeez]

Depends... if the driver has been generally driving pretty badly (i.e. speeding, amber gambling, stopping in other ASLs etc.) then I wil make a concerted effort to pull up in front of him/her and look back at them.. and then at the ASL in a very accentuated way... perhaps even commenting on their positioning in said ASL being illegal.

If they've just entered it perfectly legally (i.e. lights have changed and they've become stranded in it) then I slot in behind them.

Maybe I'm just a bit annoying like that.

I read the other day that....technically, there are situations that make it illegal for a cyclist to be in the ASL!!

Bizarre as it sounds, if the feeder lane is not painted in, then you are not "legally" allowed to cross the solid white line into the ASL

Another piece of brilliant road planning by the highways authority.

I also read that any copper trying to assert this rule would be considered "extreme" and possibly have a very short career

 

[manalog]

I usually hang around in the queue of traffic as if the ASL were not there. There's one ASL that has space in front of it, and I'll usually go to the front, and, if there's a car in the ASL, simply go in front of the car - but that's the exception.

This is what I do, go in front of the car encroaching the ASL but is it legal to go beyond the 2nd Solid White line of the ASL?

 

[jonny jeez]

This is what I do, go in front of the car encroaching the ASL but is it legal to go beyond the 2nd Solid White line of the ASL?

Technically yes. but the car should not "technically" be in the ASL either, so both of you would just argue the same point, that the lights changed as you were crossing in heavy, slow traffic, so you stopped where you were.

I'd always try to get in front of any hazard rather than sit behind it amongst other hazards, if this means "creeping" across the lights a little, then so be it (at least I'm in a safe spot)

 

[marinyork]

I read the other day that....technically, there are situations that make it illegal for a cyclist to be in the ASL!!

Bizarre as it sounds, if the feeder lane is not painted in, then you are not "legally" allowed to cross the solid white line into the ASL

Another piece of brilliant road planning by the highways authority.

I also read that any copper trying to assert this rule would be considered "extreme" and possibly have a very short career

It's not bizarre at all. Contrary to popular myth the white lines do actually mean different things it is just most motorists/cyclists have no interest in what they actually mean.

 

[Amanda P]

There are two problems:

From the back of the queue, you can't always see if the ASL box is clear. You can't know until you arrive at the front - where do you go if it isn't? There may not be a bike-sized gap you can occupy unless you cross the white stop line (maybe not even then).

From the back of the queue, you can't always see if there is an ASL.

I've been caught out by this one. You find that five or six junctions in an unfamiliar town have ASLs, so at the seventh one you filter to the front of the queue, only to find that there is no ASL at that particular junction... What now?