ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

What Does The Highway Code Say About Cycling

Updated on April 29, 2013
CyclingFitness profile image

Liam Hallam is a sports science graduate. He is also a keen cyclist and a lover of the Derbyshire Dales and Peak District.

Cycling Two Abreast- Can You Do It In The UK?

Can you cycling two abreast in the UK?
Can you cycling two abreast in the UK? | Source

What does the Highway Code really say about cycling?

Last weekend I was out training on a quiet, wide local road early Sunday morning with a riding buddy. We were riding on the flat at around 20 mph when a car pulled alongside us.

We heard what we think was the driver shouting out some form of profanity that I would rather not type which signified we were well accustomed to the act of 'pleasuring-oneself'. Before a female in the passenger seat shouted out to us that we should pay attention to what it says in the Highway Code.

For cyclists in the UK this seems to be a fairly regular occurrence. I have to admit I've almost ended up in pretty precarious situations when confronted by a motorist based on the way myself and team-mates or riding partners have been behaving while cycling.

As with any motorist I would personally recommend that any cyclist in the UK has their own copy of the Highway Code

How the Highway Code translates in a legal sense

The Highway Code is a set of enforced recommendations and requirements for driving in the UK. Some of it's content forms part of UK Law, however not all of it's content is legally binding.

If the Highway Code states you MUST do something this is the sections that are held down through the Law and subsequent enforcement.

If it states that you SHOULD do something the Highway Code is making a recommendation, however this is not legally binding and subject to potential prosecution however CAN be used in a court of law to establish a position of liability and therefore those recommendations should be followed.

Can you legally cycle two abreast in the UK?

Based on the Highway Code YOU SHOULD (66)

"never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends"

Stay cycling single file on narrow roads
Stay cycling single file on narrow roads | Source

Riding two abreast in the UK

One of the cycling behaviours that motorists seem to understand least is when cyclists ride alongside each other- whether they're just two riders out for a ride or a large group of forty-odd riders on a weekend training ride.

If you take the statement above into account as a cyclist it is possible to ride two abreast in the UK when the conditions are right to do so. Ironically the gross majority of issues we've experienced with motorists have been when we've been riding two abreast on what has been a relatively wide, quiet country road.

The reality of riding alongside other cyclists

As a road cyclist riding two-by two is a pretty common occurrence and something I've seen adopted to various degrees depending on the groups I've ridden with in the past. Certainly some groups are significantly more courteous of other motorists and inclined to ride single file on tighter sections however there is no real general rules throughout the cycling community.

There is also an argument made by cyclists that in certain circumstances riding two abreast can be safer than riding single file. In the cases of large groups of riders riding two abreast may actually present much less of an overtaking risk for motorists as the overtaking is done over a shorter period of time and must be done on a section of road where the driver has a significant amount of visibility to do so. By overtaking a long chain of riders who are riding single-file that driver has to travel effectively twice as far to make an overtaking manoeuvre which will also take twice as much time- thus adding an additional element of risk to the manoeuvre.

Stop Or Ride Through?

Have you ever deliberately rode through a red light on your bike? (Answers are anonymous)

See results

Can a cyclist ride through a red (stop) light in the UK?

This has to be the most idiotic question you could ever ask in terms of cycle safety: However day-in-day-out we all see cyclists riding through red stop lights. As a cyclist it is infuriating to see as these people are taking their life in their hands.

The Highway code actually states regarding this

"69. You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals"

It's quite simple- Red means red and the Highway code values it so highly that they also state

"71. You MUST NOT cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red. Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to wait and position yourself ahead of other traffic"

Can you be arrested for being drunk on a bicycle?

We all know someone that cycles to the local pub and then rides home but can you really be arrested in the UK for being drunk on a push bike?

The sad but true answer is yes. According to the Highway Code (68) You MUST NOT

"ride when under the influence of drink or drugs, including medicine."

So be aware if you stop off at the pub on your bicycle and keep the drinking to a minimum.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)