Is a bicycle a "road vehicle"

[classic33]

Walking down Wakefield Road, Bradford, last week with a POB coming up towards me on the path. As we passed each other I said to him that he should be on the road, not the footpath. Because a bicycle is a "road vehicle". He disagreed. It wasn't a shared cycle path he was simply taking the easy way.

So, is a bicycle a "road vehicle" or not.

 

[terry_gardener]

highway code rule 64 you must not cycle on pavement, laws ha 1835 sect 72 & r(s)a 1984 sect 129

So bicycles must use the road or cyclepath

 

[The Jogger]

It is when it is on the road, it's not when it's on a cycle path, I guess.

 

[Pauluk]

Most are definitely road vehicles. I guess some people will ride on the pavement sometimes if they are afraid of the roads and some are told to stay off the roads and some will do it when they really shouldn't.

 

[terry_gardener]

I quoted the highway code above of the law but I personally thing if you are riding responsibly and giving way to people then does it really matter.

 

[Linford]

If they banned the sale of cheap MTB's, and doubled the sale of roadies, you would virtually eliminate cycling on the pavement as they wouldn't want to bump up and down the kerbs and risk wheel damage.

Creating shared spaces by taking part of a pavement from pedestrians and putting up a cyclist sign just makes drivers think cyclists have no lawful place on the road which runs adjacent to it.

Cyclists get hate from pedestrians for cycling in their space, and hate from drivers who think that they should have exclusive use of the roads, and cyclists should just get out of their way.

 

[Linford]

I quoted the highway code above of the law but I personally thing if you are riding responsibly and giving way to people then does it really matter.

Yes, see above ^

 

[vernon]

I quoted the highway code above of the law but I personally thing if you are riding responsibly and giving way to people then does it really matter.

It a question of attitude. In Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, bikes and pedestrians mixed with no aggro. The cyclists cycled slowly and responsibly. The pedestrians were unfazed. Live and let live seemed to be the attitude.

 

[Saddle bum]

A bicycle is a carriage.

 

[classic33]

[QUOTE 2020971, member: 45"]But not a car, and not exclusively a road vehicle.[/quote]
But it is a road vehicle.

 

[Drago]

A car is a motor vehicle, ie, a mechanically propelled vehicle adapted or intended for use on a road. There is no such thing in law as a 'road vehicle'.

Footpaths aren't so clear cut. A footpath along side a road is a 'footway' and it's an offence to cycle on it unless its also designated for cycling. Footpaths that aren't alongside a road, such as those that cross-cross many 60's and 70's housing estates, have a strange legal status and there is no corresponding offence for cycling on them, unless there are local by-laws prohibiting it.

 

[Accy cyclist]

How can we be classed as using a road vehicle, when it isn't taxed or insured? So say many motorists!

 

[ufkacbln]

Mine are insured, and I pay the full "Tax" for it's emission group

 

[Headgardener]

Mine are insured, and I pay the full "Tax" for it's emission group

Me too.

 

[Saddle bum]

A bicycle is a carriage.

Roads are technically "Carriageways". Bicycles, Peds and Horses have their right to use carriageways enshrined in Law.

Bicycles may also be ridden on bridleways, but not on public footpaths, which includes pavements.

IIRC, £30 fine for riding on the pavement. There are, of course, designated, shared pavements with bits allocated for bicycles.

Carriages are exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty. Tommy Tintop is always shouting about "You don't pay Road Tax". Well neither does he, it's called VED and has been since 1934 when Churchill abolished Road Tax. Ergo, car drivers do not pay for the roads.

It would pay everyone to learn up the Law as it applies to bicycles and the rider.

Insurance; Only a fool is not insured.