Bikers and congestion charges

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[Stingo]

Too many car driving buffoons around with knack all better to do....

[Stu]

I'm sure this will be another scare story non event hardly worthy of reply, but anyway....
I will not pay a congestion charge on my bike unless & until the exact same charge (or higher) is payable by users of pushbikes. In fact they cause way more congestion. How many times have you been stuck behind a pushbike when they muscle their way to the front of traffic lights and sit in those green boxes? How many times has a car been stuck behind a pushbike unable to overtake on a narrow or busy road, dawdling along at 5-10 mph.

Now if they want to introduce (extend) charges for pollution - fair enough as long as it's fair and is environmentally sound.

Originally Posted by Stu

How many times has a car been stuck behind a pushbike unable to overtake on a narrow or busy road, dawdling along at 5-10 mph.

Last time was, oh 3 hours ago for me.

Chap on a pushbike, really wide panniers, sat in the middle of the lane in an NSL, pootling along at about 7mph. Solid white lines down the middle, so none of the long line of cars ahead of me overtook him. Luckily, unlike said cagers, I know the bit in the highway code, "You may cross the line if necessary to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10mph or less."

So I used the opportunity to p*** past the whole line of traffic.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

Last time was, oh 3 hours ago for me.

Chap on a pushbike, really wide panniers, sat in the middle of the lane in an NSL, pootling along at about 7mph. Solid white lines down the middle, so none of the long line of cars ahead of me overtook him. Luckily, unlike said cagers, I know the bit in the highway code, "You may cross the line if necessary to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10mph or less."

So I used the opportunity to p*** past the whole line of traffic.

I hope you passed all the cars without crossing the solid white line then if you want to comply with the law. it applies to what you're overtaking, not just the obstruction.

Originally Posted by Stu

I hope you passed all the cars without crossing the solid white line then if you want to comply with the law. it applies to what you're overtaking, not just the obstruction.

Perhaps not.

Are you saying you can only use this to pass the vehicle causing the obstruction (IE the push bike) and hence only if you are at the front of the queue? I can't see anything in the highway code/RTA that explicitly prohibits what I did- it sounds more open to interpretation.

[Stu]

Ok, say you didn't overtake all in one go. What have you just done? overtaken a car by crossing a solid white line!

Say you overtake a car and a bicycle. What have you just done? Still overtaken a car.

I dont blame pushbikes for sitting in the middle of the road, they (I) do it to stop w@nkers overtaking far too closely (rarely a motorbike, always a car, bus, lorry etc).

Pushbikes have the same problems with cars as motorbikes do, it is just slightly different circumstances and fixes......

It could easily be argued that pushbikes should not be on the road - fine, but where else are they supposed to go?

And dont forget that every pushbike you see is likely to be 1 less car on the road - good surely?

Originally Posted by Stu

Say you overtake a car and a bicycle. What have you just done? Still overtaken a car.

The highway code says (word for word) "You may cross the line if necessary to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10mph or less."

I'd argue the act of crossing the line (the overtake was all done in one move BTW, not several "hops" down the queue, but I don't think that makes much difference) was "neccessary to overtake a bicycle travelling 10mph or less" (as there wasn't space to overtake the cars inside the white lines safely). If people adhered to what you have suggested, only the car at the front of the queue is allowed to overtake the bike over the white lines. The second person and all the others behind them would not be allowed to, if the first car didn't make the overtake.

I'm not suggesting that I have 100% confidence that what I did was legal, but I don't think it's as black and white as you're making out. Anyone else care to comment?

Needless to say, (law aside) it was perfectly safe to do, even at the fastest point of the overtake my speed was well within the speed limit, I gave other cars a wide berth (in case they decided to do the same thing, but without checking their mirrors/blindspot first), etc.

The highway code is not the law. The highway code is referenced by judges when applying and indeed creating by precedent, common law, such that common law will frequently mirror the highway code, but the highway code itself is not law and hence obeying or disobeying it in itself is neither legal or illegal.

As for your example, I'm sure (assuming your description is accurate and truthful) that falls within the boundaries of common sense, common sense of course being that which drives the creation and application of common law.