Who has priority in the road?

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mikezero

Active Member
The Highway Code is not the law.

who said it was?

But the road traffic act is and the oncoming car had definitely offended and a good traffic officer would have been having a quiet word.
 
There is a part of my commute where this stuff happens quite a lot. I would have thought that if the bike gets to the restriction first, it would be good manners for the on-coming traffic to let the bike get through. Unfortunately quite a few Chelsea Mums don't seem to agree with this and burn through at race speeds leaving me with twenty inches between the gutter and the shiny wings of their tractors...:rolleyes:

Sadly, this also happens on this side of the pond as well. I think that part of the problem is that people see us and motorcycles as being so small that we don't need as much space. :sad:
 

snailracer

Über Member
This is quite simple.You have priority,no ifs or buts.

highway code rule 163..


Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so.

give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road..

The approaching vehicle was breaking the law.
Actually, there is an "if or but" as far as the law is concerned.
If you turn into a road, either at a junction or a bend, and you find an oncoming vehicle already on "your" side of the road, that vehicle doesn't have to give way to you, because it was already there before it knew you were coming.
 

Bobtoo

Über Member
How do you post a Streetview image here? No, it isn't a hi-jack. My problem road has wierd lane markings that I'd like to show you.

Thanks.

To show the actual image you have to do a screen dump. You press "Print Screen" on your keyboard, which puts the whole screen into the clipboard. Then you open up a blank page in your favourite photo editing programme and Paste. That should give you the whole page- you crop it to the bit you want then save. You can then attach the picture on here or host it on something like Photobucket.

A simpler way is to get the view you want and press the "link" button on the top right of the page. You will be given the option of choosing a link or embedding. A lot of forums don't accept HTML, I don't know if this one does, so it's usually safer to go with the link.
 
To show the actual image you have to do a screen dump. You press "Print Screen" on your keyboard, which puts the whole screen into the clipboard. Then you open up a blank page in your favourite photo editing programme and Paste. That should give you the whole page- you crop it to the bit you want then save. You can then attach the picture on here or host it on something like Photobucket.

A simpler way is to get the view you want and press the "link" button on the top right of the page. You will be given the option of choosing a link or embedding. A lot of forums don't accept HTML, I don't know if this one does, so it's usually safer to go with the link.

Or if you are on a Mac, Cmd-Shft-4, drag the window round the bit of the screen you want (Cmd-Shft-3 if you want the whole screen), then attach the resulting screen-cap file from your desktop
 
On occasions like that I have been known to stop in the road, put my foot down and stand there waiting. A driver will not hit you in those circumstances - they are just hoping to bully you out of their way - so they too are forced to come to a halt whereupon you can cycle past their now stationary vehicle. The problem with doing what you did is they will be encouraged by their success to do it again next time.
 

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Actually, there is an "if or but" as far as the law is concerned.
If you turn into a road, either at a junction or a bend, and you find an oncoming vehicle already on "your" side of the road, that vehicle doesn't have to give way to you, because it was already there before it knew you were coming.

Ooh, like this you mean:

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6E8QDB1HsU[/media]
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
On occasions like that I have been known to stop in the road, put my foot down and stand there waiting. A driver will not hit you in those circumstances - they are just hoping to bully you out of their way - so they too are forced to come to a halt whereupon you can cycle past their now stationary vehicle. The problem with doing what you did is they will be encouraged by their success to do it again next time.

I've taken the mexican stand-off option too before now.... no sure I'd bother in future

The shortcoming with knowing who had right of way and who didn't in these situations, and riding accordingly to that model, is that the moral high ground is of little utility when you are sat in A&E having been squished. '"Might is right" of way' is the mindset that prevails in most drivers minds and I fear attempts by individual cyclists to educate drivers are entirely futile.
 
OP
OP
XmisterIS

XmisterIS

Purveyor of fine nonsense
On occasions like that I have been known to stop in the road, put my foot down and stand there waiting. A driver will not hit you in those circumstances - they are just hoping to bully you out of their way - so they too are forced to come to a halt whereupon you can cycle past their now stationary vehicle. The problem with doing what you did is they will be encouraged by their success to do it again next time.

I do agree with you, and it would have taken a lot of nerve in my situation! The guy clearly had no intention whatsoever of stopping - and if the car is untaxed and uninsured then there's little to stop him from running me over and then driving off! Scary stuff - a small percentage of the population are complete psychos.

Strangely, I rarely get bullied on my motorbike - I think it's all to do with the image of cyclists in the public's collective mind as being a bunch of eco-warrior pansies called Tarquin who couldn't slap-fight their way out of a paper bag. (Motor)bikers on the other hand, have a collective image of being mad-as-f*ck hard-nuts - so when I'm on the motorbike all I have to do is glare at drivers and watch them physically shrink into their seats! On the bicycle, however, I can shout at them all I like and they just give me the bird. Probably the same drivers too ...
 
I do agree with you, and it would have taken a lot of nerve in my situation! The guy clearly had no intention whatsoever of stopping - and if the car is untaxed and uninsured then there's little to stop him from running me over and then driving off! Scary stuff - a small percentage of the population are complete psychos.

If you are stopped it becomes murder or attempted murder which is much more serious than a cycling accident or fatality. Even the psychos are very unlikely to actually try to try to kill you as opposed to trying to intimidate you.
 
I've taken the mexican stand-off option too before now.... no sure I'd bother in future

The shortcoming with knowing who had right of way and who didn't in these situations, and riding accordingly to that model, is that the moral high ground is of little utility when you are sat in A&E having been squished. '"Might is right" of way' is the mindset that prevails in most drivers minds and I fear attempts by individual cyclists to educate drivers are entirely futile.

I regularly use a single track road which is used as a short cut by locals. Its long and straight with good visibility and wide enough for a car and cycle to pass each other slowly. If a car is speeding towards me I stay out in the road until it is forced to slow down and then cycle past with a "thank you for slowing down". Over a period of time it has happened less and less. I gave the same advice to a friend who was having similar trouble but tried to stay out of the way instead. They have since reported that its much better since they tried my method. So not only does it work but it can educate drivers not to take cyclists getting out of the way for granted.
 

Svendo

Guru
Location
Walsden
Not all the highway code is law, but it does at least inform if no longer actually define the 'reasonable standard of driving' expected of motorists which is the test for careless driving (used to be ...without due care and attention, pre 2007 HC did define the standard, now circumstances taken more into account.) information here; http://www.traffic-answers.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=513.0 and here http://www.motordefenceteam.co.uk/offence-guide/careless-driving.htm, and is certainly one of the bases of assessing liability and culpability for insurance and civil claims.

HC also says that you should always yield priority in order to prevent an accident.

On my own road coming home, cars all down other side, just enough room for car and bike with maybe 1/2 metre to spare, had a Panda car zoom down and give the confused, why aren't you getting out the way look, as he squeezed me into the potholes down the side. Choose not to argue that one!
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
I regularly use a single track road which is used as a short cut by locals. Its long and straight with good visibility and wide enough for a car and cycle to pass each other slowly. If a car is speeding towards me I stay out in the road until it is forced to slow down and then cycle past with a "thank you for slowing down". Over a period of time it has happened less and less. I gave the same advice to a friend who was having similar trouble but tried to stay out of the way instead. They have since reported that its much better since they tried my method. So not only does it work but it can educate drivers not to take cyclists getting out of the way for granted.

Your experience is different to mine. Possibly the **** I encountered wasn't a local or someone who had seen me or other cyclists on my commute route but going front wheel to bumper with a Cayenne driver with a sense of entitlement, even when I had right of way, on a singletrack causeway ain't a lot of fun.
 
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