OP Considerate - Advance Stop Lines

[Tom B]

Local plod are having something of a push on this at the moment...

... Well they are raising awareness.


http://gmp.police.uk/content/WebsitePages/0149BBC6909AE81980257D74003D9680?OpenDocument

The local aurthority around here has also spend gazillions painting them out - given they have to recut and install new detection loops for the ATS too. At a couple of the locations they have installed ASL the junction is soo tight you can't get up to the ASL so end up queuing with the cars. This is because the traffic is too very narrow lanes (busses straddle) and the oncoming traffic so heavy you can't over take.

Which brings me to my next point...

I dont really 'get it' that it to say how to use ASLs.

If I am turning left, i shouldn't undertake, and usually can't due to cars stopped in the gutter waiting for the lights to change and if I am turning right I'd be knackerd if the lights changed before i got to the front of the traffic.
If I overtake on the right, I am knackered if turning left (or needing to be in the left lane/side of the road) in the event that the lights invariable change as you get to them. Am I missing something?

 

[Tynan]

and they usually have at least one 4x4 on it

the hilarity when they put a copper at the lights on the junction between Commercial Road and Whitechapel Road in the summer was immense, suddenly the cars all knew what an ASL was and where they should stop and the bikes knew where they had to stop, as i said to the copper, everyone knows how to drive and ride well when you're watching them, he gave me a very knowing laugh

if you can;t get to the ASL safely before the lights change then you have to take a safe starting positon wherever that is, maybe even, the horror, so far back you miss the cycle of the lights

 

[Tom B]

ahh right, so it is just for use when you are 2/3 cars back?

 

[winjim]

I just queue, whilst feeling proud to be British.

 

[summerdays]

Some ASLs help, and some don't. I don't filter to the front if I haven't seen the lights changing to red, and if I know the timings of the lights, that way there is less chance getting stuck mid filter. Filtering is worth it if the queues are really long so you aren't going to make it through the lights before they change to red, or to become more visible to oncoming traffic (one junction I get people from the opposite light turning right when I'm trying to go straight on if I'm in line with the traffic, whereas they wait if I'm at the front). But there are plenty of times when I'll just wait in line too.

Plus they can be used to pass some drivers to show that it was a pointless overtake to get to the back of the queue, when you are feeling irritated!

 

[summerdays]

ahh right, so it is just for use when you are 2/3 cars back?

No I went past about 8+ cars this morning on a regular filter to get to an ASL which gets me in the right hand side of the ASL ready for a right hand turn 100 meters ahead. The next set stay red for the side road for over a minute and so I filter past 15+ cars on my way back which is better than being at the back of the queue when the cars pull out into the main road without space so they stack sideways in the middle of the road blocking the space (needs a box junction there).

It is a junction by junction decision.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

No I went past about 8+ cars this morning on a regular filter to get to an ASL which gets me in the right hand side of the ASL ready for a right hand turn 100 meters ahead. The next set stay red for the side road for over a minute and so I filter past 15+ cars on my way back which is better than being at the back of the queue when the cars pull out into the main road without space so they stack sideways in the middle of the road blocking the space (needs a box junction there).

It is a junction by junction decision.

Mind, in a strict sense, there's no legal way to get into an ASZ from the right hand side. Still, better to use a legal blind spot than a truck's.

 

[mjr]

The local aurthority around here has also spend gazillions painting them out - given they have to recut and install new detection loops for the ATS too.

Neither loops nor white lines last forever. Around here, junctions seem to be sprouting ASLs as the signals are refurbished. Mostly not that useful but doesn't do much harm.

If you're approaching an ASL when the lights change, merge into the traffic as it starts moving. It's not so difficult but it scares many riders.

 

[jarlrmai]

I only bother with ASL's when i'll miss the lights otherwise.

2/3 cars I just stay back and central.

 

[Drago]

Where possible I wait behind the first car to safely get things moving without me distracting/hindering/annoying them.

 

[Ian193]

Round here taxi drivers think its ok to stop in them

 

[Racing roadkill]

I had one complete knobber last week who saw me sat in the ASL box, and got the hump, so actually drove right up to my rear wheel and nudged me. Let's just say he may think twice about doing that to anyone else.

 

[moo]

I had one complete knobber last week who saw me sat in the ASL box, and got the hump, so actually drove right up to my rear wheel and nudged me. Let's just say he may think twice about doing that to anyone else.

Light creep. Where motorists have to keep inching forward in anticipation of the lights changing, invariably being caught out and holding up traffic when they do change. I have to keep shaking my head while eyeballing motorists doing this over ASLs in a 2/3 lane road. Safer to hold back behind the first impatient car tbh.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Mind, in a strict sense, there's no legal way to get into an ASZ from the right hand side.

Ackcherly, on my commute there's at least one where that's the design, but the vast majority don't have any legal access point at all. Crazy.

GC

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Ackcherly, on my commute there's at least one where that's the design, but the vast majority don't have any legal access point at all. Crazy.

GC

I stand corrected. I've never seen one though.