Is this a technical breach of the law? Uncertain

A few weeks ago I pulled up at a pedestrian crossing which was just going to red. The only person using it was a guy with a bike who cycled over to my side and then just cycled off down the road. He was ahead of the lights, but he wasn't a pedestrian going to the pavement on the other side.

 

I wasn't that bothered about it, but thought it was a bit of a cheek to be honest. A car behind me hooted several times, presumably in annoyance.

 

I'm honestly unsure and can't find anything definitive on search.

 

Illegal or not?

I do that all the time. Saves my time, wastes drivers'. Perfect.

Edited March 11, 20233 yr by guerney

A few weeks ago I pulled up at a pedestrian crossing which was just going to red. The only person using it was a guy with a bike who cycled over to my side and then just cycled off down the road. He was ahead of the lights, but he wasn't a pedestrian going to the pavement on the other side.

 

I wasn't that bothered about it, but thought it was a bit of a cheek to be honest. A car behind me hooted several times, presumably in annoyance.

 

I'm honestly unsure and can't find anything definitive on search.

 

Illegal or not?

Its often the only way to cross a main road when a cycle lane is on one side only & you need to get to the other side

It's a pedestrian crossing. Think the clue might be in the title.

In that circumstance I would walk my bike over then cycle off beyond the crossing. To do otherwise would cause avoidable agravation, and there's enough of that in the world, why be the source of more for the sake of a couple of seconds?

Zebra crossing , pelican crossing ….. ?

 

keep a sharp lookout for the pigs

It's a pedestrian crossing. Think the clue might be in the title.

In that circumstance I would walk my bike over then cycle off beyond the crossing. To do otherwise would cause avoidable agravation, and there's enough of that in the world, why be the source of more for the sake of a couple of seconds?

 

It's revenge of sorts: I used to walk my bike all the way over to the other pavement, then get back on my bike, wait for an opening to jump off the kerb and rejoin traffic, which all took about a minute, sometimes longer depending... but after regularly being shown such little consideration by drivers, I no longer care not. I also enjoy waiting specifically to stop traffic using those crossings nowadays, even when disguised as a pedestrian. It's immensely gratifying; revenge served lukewarm.

Edited March 12, 20233 yr by guerney

A few weeks ago I pulled up at a pedestrian crossing which was just going to red. The only person using it was a guy with a bike who cycled over to my side and then just cycled off down the road. He was ahead of the lights, but he wasn't a pedestrian going to the pavement on the other side.

 

I wasn't that bothered about it, but thought it was a bit of a cheek to be honest. A car behind me hooted several times, presumably in annoyance.

 

I'm honestly unsure and can't find anything definitive on search.

 

Illegal or not?

 

It is definitively illegal since there has been a pedestrian crossing test case:

 

"a rider either seated on a bike or with a foot on a pedal as in scooting is not a pedestrian, as ruled by Waller L J in the Court of Appeal, (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441)."

 

Justice Waller also clarified the status of a bicycle being pushed by a pedestrian on a crossing or pavement, ruling that it is luggage, therefore no different from any wheeled luggage.

 

This also applies to a pedelec being pushed or motor assisted by its walk throttle, but again only when the pedestrian is walking as ruled.

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Edited March 12, 20233 yr by flecc

I use a crossing on a T junction going to the supermarket. It has a pedestrian and bike symbol, so instead of crossing pavement to pavement i cross, then join the road and turn left into the road that leads to the shop. Im effectively crossing the lights at a right angle, but im also following the rule that the crossing allows for bikes.

This is instead of pavement to pavement, turning and cycling on the pavement to get round the corner before rejoining the road.

It harms nobody. And if someone sitting in a car at the light has a problem, then perhaps they should put down that mobile, stop speeding and mind their own fecking business.

It is definitively illegal since there has been a pedestrian crossing test case:

 

"a rider either seated on a bike or with a foot on a pedal as in scooting is not a pedestrian, as ruled by Waller L J in the Court of Appeal, (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441)."

 

Justice Waller also clarified the status of a bicycle being pushed by a pedestrian on a crossing or pavement, ruling that it is luggage, therefore no different from any wheeled luggage.

 

This also applies to a pedelec being pushed or motor assisted by its walk throttle, but again only when the pedestrian is walking as ruled.

.

 

Thanks for the definitive and knowledgeable reply.

I use a crossing on a T junction going to the supermarket. It has a pedestrian and bike symbol, so instead of crossing pavement to pavement i cross, then join the road and turn left into the road that leads to the shop. Im effectively crossing the lights at a right angle, but im also following the rule that the crossing allows for bikes.

This is instead of pavement to pavement, turning and cycling on the pavement to get round the corner before rejoining the road.

It harms nobody. And if someone sitting in a car at the light has a problem, then perhaps they should put down that mobile, stop speeding and mind their own fecking business.

 

To be honest I'm not that bothered eitherway, but I was curious as to the letter of the law. At the time it wasn't at all obvious what it was.

 

I have used a crossing (with an island in the middle) to get across and join a cycle path on the other side. I've cycled along the road to the island in the middle, walked the other bit to the cycle path, then re-mounted.

Luggage and carriage are my two favourite esoteric bike related words.

I think the only people vocal on this are DM readers.

I think the vast majority of drivers upon seeing a bike breaking the rules of the road either make a tsk tsk noise, or simply cant be bothered to have a thought about it one way or the other.

 

When Im sitting at the lights ont he bike and some other cyclist comes up and goes through the red light, i kind of feel the same, kind of look down on them, shake the head then forget about it 5 seconds later.

A few weeks ago I pulled up at a pedestrian crossing which was just going to red. The only person using it was a guy with a bike who cycled over to my side and then just cycled off down the road. He was ahead of the lights, but he wasn't a pedestrian going to the pavement on the other side.

 

I wasn't that bothered about it, but thought it was a bit of a cheek to be honest. A car behind me hooted several times, presumably in annoyance.

 

I'm honestly unsure and can't find anything definitive on search.

 

Illegal or not?

Surely just a case of being sensible , if nobody else is inconvenienced then why not ? But if you’re a hazard to pedestrians then demount and walk .

My council have put in a shared path pedestrian/bikes alongside a busy road leading up to a set of traffic lights that also includes a pedestrian crossing. It keeps me off the busy road and using my bell works well.

 

The thing is there is a small access road that I have to cross just before the lights and the small section beyond this access road up to the traffic lights (15 yards or so) and the pavement beyond to the corner where I am turning left have a no cycling sign.

 

The issue is that after you leave the lovely shared path there is generally standing traffic before the lights and no where to safely get back onto the road.

 

I just carry on and cycle the no cycling section to the corner where I am very careful in case pedestrians are around the corner where I cannot see them and rejoin the road there popping of the pavement back onto the road as I turn left.

 

This is much safer for me, as I am rejoining the road with much less conflict potential with vehicles, and often if the lights are red allows me to get quite some way up the road I have rejoined at the corner before cars come up behind me.

 

The shared path is great, but has cost the council very little, and they have not thought about or more probably not wanted to pay for how to safely get a bike back into the traffic when the path runs out.

I just carry on and cycle the no cycling section to the corner where I am very careful in case pedestrians are around the corner where I cannot see them and rejoin the road there popping of the pavement back onto the road as I turn left.

 

I sound the Hornit 140db at times like that, in case pedestrians lurch beyond my view. I'm amazed how long the original batteries have lasted - I've had it over a year, use it rather a lot, and they're just two AAAs.

There is no issue cycling on pavements as indicated by Paul Boeteng in 1999.

 

That guidance from Mr Boateng, issued in 1999, said: “The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing so.

"Aren't pedestrian crossings temporary pavements, which responsible cyclists can use out of fear of traffic?" Is what I will ask the jury. Adding "While the lights are red, they are not roads. Well, not those bits."

Edited March 17, 20233 yr by guerney

"Aren't pedestrian crossings temporary pavements, which responsible cyclists can use out of fear of traffic?" Is what I will ask the jury. Adding "While the lights are red, they are not roads. Well, not those bits."

 

But there you collide with a legal conflict due to this pedestrian crossing test case outcome:

 

"a rider either seated on a bike or with a foot on a pedal as in scooting is not a pedestrian, as ruled by Waller L J in the Court of Appeal, (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441)."

 

Therefore cycling on a pedestrian crossing other than a shared use Toucan crossing is illegal. Justice Waller's ruling did however clarify how to cross, since he also ruled that when walking pushing a bicycle, the bicycle becomes luggage, no different from any wheeled luggage.

 

So cycling carefully on the pavement out of genuine fear of traffic is fine, but dismount if using a pedestrian crossing to comply with the legal situation.

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Had run in last night crossing at a pedestrian/bike crossing with some opinionated daily mail gammon.

 

Its a cycle path, leading to a pedestrian crossing, going onto another cycle path.

I call it a pedestrian crossing, but the lights show both a pedestrian and also a cycle. I know that this is for both users. But middle aged gammon shouts out his window im breaking the law.

OK, after reading the above post maybe just maybe you should dismount. But who does, and it is in fact harming nobody.

Had run in last night crossing at a pedestrian/bike crossing with some opinionated daily mail gammon.

 

Its a cycle path, leading to a pedestrian crossing, going onto another cycle path.

I call it a pedestrian crossing, but the lights show both a pedestrian and also a cycle. I know that this is for both users. But middle aged gammon shouts out his window im breaking the law.

OK, after reading the above post maybe just maybe you should dismount. But who does, and it is in fact harming nobody.

If the lights show both a pedestrian & a cycle then it's a Toucan crossing & you are permitted to cycle across. Apparantlyince “two can” cross together (both pedestrians and cyclists) the name “toucan” was chosen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucan_crossing

Had run in last night crossing at a pedestrian/bike crossing with some opinionated daily mail gammon.

 

Its a cycle path, leading to a pedestrian crossing, going onto another cycle path.

I call it a pedestrian crossing, but the lights show both a pedestrian and also a cycle. I know that this is for both users. But middle aged gammon shouts out his window im breaking the law.

OK, after reading the above post maybe just maybe you should dismount. But who does, and it is in fact harming nobody.

 

That is legally a Toucan crossing, where cycling across is entirely legal. They are unaffected by either the ministerial order on pavement cycling or Justice Waller's ruling.

 

Link: Highway Code Rule 25

 

Edit: Post crossed with Nigelbb's.

.

If the lights show both a pedestrian & a cycle then it's a Toucan crossing & you are permitted to cycle across. Apparantlyince “two can” cross together (both pedestrians and cyclists) the name “toucan” was chosen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucan_crossing

 

Thanks, that's interesting. I noted - today actually - that at the island part of the crossing I use to join a cycle path, there was a red bike symbol and red man shown, with the man shown dismounted from the bike. I took that as obviously meaning that I was doing the right thing by indeed dismounting and walking across. Even though there were absolutely no other pedestrians around.

 

I might nip out later and look at the traffic lights where the guy cycled across and off down the road from. I'll report back.

Had run in last night crossing at a pedestrian/bike crossing with some opinionated daily mail gammon.

 

Its a cycle path, leading to a pedestrian crossing, going onto another cycle path.

I call it a pedestrian crossing, but the lights show both a pedestrian and also a cycle. I know that this is for both users. But middle aged gammon shouts out his window im breaking the law.

OK, after reading the above post maybe just maybe you should dismount. But who does, and it is in fact harming nobody.

 

If it had been a cop, you could have been done and got a fine . So maybe you should be grateful to the guy for alerting you. Had I been you, the first thing I would have done when arriving home, would be to check the actual law. Although I couldn't find too much first time, hence the thread.

 

Incidentally, for all you know he might be a leftie Guardian reader

 

I agree it's harmless, although if a few pedestrians are also using the crossing at the same time, issues could arise.

As has already been posted by Flecc, if the display shows a pedestrian and a cycle then it is a Toucan crossing connecting shared use footway/cycleways and cyclists can legally cycle across them.

I agree it's harmless, although if a few pedestrians are also using the crossing at the same time, issues could arise.

I ride with respect for others.

 

I kind of knew this, as in the city center where there are lots of this crossing and a lot of cycle commuters crossing on the bike at the same time, along with the green bike symbol that it was ok to do so. Without actually checking. Some things are actually based in common sense.

 

As to riding on the pavement, i do that mostly. Though also on the road for long straight sections. I do go on the pavement for multi lane junctions and some roundabouts, but i cycle safely, and hardly go about 6 or 7 mph when people are around and maybe 9 or 10 when there aren't.

 

I have many times passed beat policemen walking on the same pavement, and even once cycled between the middle of two of them, so from that and never being stopped or queried as to why i was cycling on the pavement, along with the law of riding safely with respect and due care and attention i show, i know that how i ride is safe and legal

I have been doing this for close to 30 years.