ASL Question

[boydj]

I have no problem going past any car sitting in an ASL and parking myself in front of them to make sure I'm seen. I'll usually also point out to them why I'm doing it. If the cars are behaving themselves, then I'll try to keep out of their way.

There must have been a blue moon out the other day - came up to lights with a Glasgow taxi sitting legally behind the ASL!

 

[summerdays]

My main gripe with ASL's (which I generally like), is that often the traffic lights are positioned in such a way to make it difficult for cyclists to see them, especially if you aren't sitting over in the gutter but in a more primary position.

 

[just jim]

I have no problem going past any car sitting in an ASL and parking myself in front of them to make sure I'm seen. I'll usually also point out to them why I'm doing it. If the cars are behaving themselves, then I'll try to keep out of their way.

There must have been a blue moon out the other day - came up to lights with a Glasgow taxi sitting legally behind the ASL!

Indeed - very rare to see a cabbie outside an ASL.

 

[jimboalee]

Sorry, never use them.

I'm not going to ride up the side of a queue of traffic and plonk myself directly in front of two tons of metal controlled by a frustrated and irritated motorist who will no doubt resent me stopping just where he want's to zoom off through when the lights turn green.

Quite honestly, I ignore them.

 

[smeg]

I very rarely use them either for various reasons they're crap, i.e. badly implemented, not safe and most of the time there's a car/van/motorbike on it. How can it possibly be safe to whizz past a queue of traffic and plonk yourself right in front on an ASL, you don't know when the lights are going to change for one thing. I find it safer to filter on the right and mingle into the queue where I can be seen and that's only when there's a long queue of traffic, usually I just sit behind it.

 

[Origamist]

Smeg, I'm not sure how you're defining ASLs as "not safe" as none of the studies I have seen have led to a statistically significant increase in collisions where they have been deployed. That said, they don't seem to make very much difference either way. They do seemingly benefit pedestrians though.

I will nearly always filter if there is a long queue of traffic (I'm not going to wait for 2 or 3 green phases). If I didn't do this, I would drive.

I don't always use the ASL reservoir, but mostly I do. What's more, pulling away with multiple cyclists has a traffic calming effect.

 

[smeg]

I'm on the Isle of Wight, impatient & ignorant drivers and narrow roads!

 

[goo_mason]

About a year ago I was sitting in an ASL about to turn right at the top of Groathill Avenue. A car pulls up alongside in the ASL, indicating left. Female driver & passenger, driver-side window down.

I look over at her, nod towards her car and say "Nice bike!". The look on her face as she struggled to figure out what on earth I was on about was priceless. I could see her still trying to work it out as the lights changed and we went our separate ways.

A totally delightful moment that made me chuckle to myself the rest of the way home.

 

[Origamist]

About a year ago I was sitting in an ASL about to turn right at the top of Groathill Avenue. A car pulls up alongside in the ASL, indicating left. Female driver & passenger, driver-side window down.

I look over at her, nod towards her car and say "Nice bike!". The look on her face as she struggled to figure out what on earth I was on about was priceless. I could see her still trying to work it out as the lights changed and we went our separate ways.

A totally delightful moment that made me chuckle to myself the rest of the way home.

That's worthy of Frank Muir!

 

[ComedyPilot]

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...

Must be a Yorkshire thing, I do that too.

 

[Amanda P]

Aye, 'appen.

 

[BentMikey]

I very rarely use them either for various reasons they're crap, i.e. badly implemented, not safe and most of the time there's a car/van/motorbike on it. How can it possibly be safe to whizz past a queue of traffic and plonk yourself right in front on an ASL, you don't know when the lights are going to change for one thing. I find it safer to filter on the right and mingle into the queue where I can be seen and that's only when there's a long queue of traffic, usually I just sit behind it.

All the ASLs I've used allow you to see the lights like any other vehicle that's properly behind the stop line. Can't really agree with your not safe interpretation, though I'm equally less than sure they improve safety for cyclists.

 

[Rykard]

I generally use the 'nice bike' line seems to work quite fine. Also informed a cabbie that was parked in one that it was a £5000 fine and 3 points for encroaching - this seemed to get his attention...

 

[Grendel]

Something that annoys me is that in Glasgow a lot of the markings have worn away from the ASL boxes.So, I KNOW it's an ASL, but do the drivers? And who is responsible for their (lack of) maintenance?

 

[jonny jeez]

And who is responsible for their (lack of) maintenance?

Highways agency I guess