arranandy said:
Taken from the Highway Code section for cyclists -
69
You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals.
[Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD reg 10(1)]
Speed limit signs are traffic signs therefore should be obeyed. However, correct me if I'm wrong, in practise I doubt whether a bicycle speed limit is generally enforced.
Here's the correction: the laws you refer to refer specifically to *motorised* vehicles. What you have to adhere to are the signs & signals which are applicable to the cyclist. Or would you, when cycling, obey a sign that said all motorised vehicles must be driven over this here cliff...
Here's the RTA 1988 s36 for you... the clue is in the title
"
DRIVERS TO COMPLY WITH TRAFFIC SIGNS. RTA 1988
36.—(1) Where a traffic sign, being a sign—
(a) of the prescribed size, colour and type, or
(
of another character authorised by the Secretary of State under the provisions in that behalf of the [1984 c. 27.] Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984,
has been lawfully placed on or near a road, a person driving or propelling a vehicle who fails to comply with the indication given by the sign is guilty of an offence.
(2) A traffic sign shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as having been lawfully placed unless either—
(a) the indication given by the sign is an indication of a statutory prohibition, restriction or requirement, or
( it is expressly provided by or under any provision of the Traffic Acts that this section shall apply to the sign or to signs of a type of which the sign is one;
and, where the indication mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection is of the general nature only of the prohibition, restriction or requirement to which the sign relates, a person shall not be convicted of failure to comply with the indication unless he has failed to comply with the prohibition, restriction or requirement to which the sign relates.
(3) For the purposes of this section a traffic sign placed on or near a road shall be deemed—
(a) to be of the prescribed size, colour and type, or of another character authorised by the Secretary of State under the provisions in that behalf of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and
(B) (subject to subsection (2) above) to have been lawfully so placed,
unless the contrary is proved.
(4) Where a traffic survey of any description is being carried out on or in the vicinity of a road, this section applies to a traffic sign by which a direction is given—
(a) to stop a vehicle,
(B) to make it proceed in, or keep to, a particular line of traffic, or
(c) to proceed to a particular point on or near the road on which the vehicle is being driven or propelled,
being a direction given for the purposes of the survey (but not a direction requiring any person to provide any information for the purposes of the survey).
(5) Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Transport, the Secretary of State for Wales and the Secretary of State for Scotland acting jointly may specify any traffic sign for the purposes of column 5 of the entry in Schedule 2 to the [1988 c. 53.] Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 relating to offences under this section (offences committed by failing to comply with certain signs involve discretionary disqualification)."
As regards speed limits, without having to dig up the actual regs from my hard drive again, here's copy of a letter to The Times by a judge.
"Letter to The Times, 7/11/97: From His Honour Patrick Halnan Sir, I write as one who frequently cycled to court. My fellow cyclists may like to know that as long as they do not cycle "dangerously", "furiously", "carelessly" or "without reasonable consideration" they can cycle as fast as they like. The offence of "speeding" can, in law, only be committed by drivers of motor vehicles. I remain Sir, a happy cyclist. Yours truly, PATRICK HALNAN, Cambridge. November 5. "
There are specific offences which relate to cycling, of which the speed at which the bike is being cycled may play *a part* in deciding whether or not an offence was committed, but there is no general speeding law which applies to pedal cycles. There is the odd by-law in a small number of specific places, eg royal parks, which can make speeding a cycling offence, but these are rare & relate to a specific geographical area.
Hope this helps, as I don't want to see you cycling over the edge of a cliff following a sign which relates to motorised vehicles
