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Cars parking in bike lanes

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 subtle 06 Mar 2019

A question, normal road has a designated cycle lane on it, the type where solid white line and then alternative coloured tarmac on the cycle lane part (in this case red) - is it legal for cars to park on this?

I've had a look, whilst cycling past, and see no sign of time restrictions etc.

Is it a case of me just having to put up with this, or what can I do to try and get the cars removed - it is a residential area and I presume the car owners live locally. 

 FinrodFelagund 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

It's illegal to park in a cycle lane designated by a solid white line. 

That said, I wish you the best of luck trying to the get the cars removed.

I like to fantasise about bunny-hopping onto the roof of the offending vehicles and then riding over them. But then I come to and remember that I'm not Danny Macaskill. 

cb294 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

For some reason such cars tend to lose wing mirrors.

CB

6
In reply to subtle:

Here in Sheffield there is a very active group of cyclists (CycleSheffield on Facebook) who monitor and report to the council/enforcement agency any cars parked on cycle lanes. There may be something similar near you. Basic advice seems to be, take a picture of offending car and get it reported.

 The Potato 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

Im not being pessimistic, just realistic, nothing will get done unless an accident occurs, the police have neither the time, resources nor the inclination to do anything about it. Ive reported / photographed cars parked on double yellow lines in the past but nothing happens.

 fred99 06 Mar 2019
In reply to The Potato:

> Im not being pessimistic, just realistic, nothing will get done unless an accident occurs, the police have neither the time, resources nor the inclination to do anything about it. Ive reported / photographed cars parked on double yellow lines in the past but nothing happens.

I'm sure that they do have time and resources, but as the overwhelming majority of them wouldn't be seen dead on a bicycle they've definitely not got any inclination. A case of "us and them" I imagine.

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 Andypeak 06 Mar 2019
In reply to The Potato:

Parking falls under the remit of the local authority now. The police won't attend if a car is on double yellow lines. I'm not sure if it's the same with a cycle lane. I would speak to you local council about it and if you get no joy then maybe have a chat with your local councillor. They seem to have an ability to get council departments to act far more than Joe public. 

 The New NickB 06 Mar 2019
In reply to The Potato:

It's a slow process and no doubt does depend a bit on your local officers and policies of the force, but my experiences with GMP around this sort of thing is a little better. If through repeated information from the public, they identify particular problem areas for illegal parking, obstruction etc they will resource some action against it. Resources are short and it isn't always top of the list, but it can happen. Learn who your local beat officers are, attend PACT meetings etc.

 deepsoup 06 Mar 2019
In reply to The Potato:

The police might not, but often as not parking enforcement has been 'decriminalised' and taken out of their hands anyway. 

Around here (in Sheff) it's the responsibility of the local council.  There's no way to report illegally parked cars online, but it's easy enough to get through to the 'enforcement' office on the phone and they're quite receptive to suggestions/requests to come out and slap a few tickets on.  Easy money for them and the state of council funding these days lord knows they need it.

In reply to fred99:

> I'm sure that they do have time and resources

yes, I expect they are just sitting on their arses, probably posting on Internet forums, as they’ve got literally nothing else to do at present 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/06/police-chief-says-rise-in-k...

oh, perhaps not.

1
 The New NickB 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Andypeak:

It's not as simple as that, many parking offences are still criminal and dealt with by the police. Here is some guidance from Derbyshire Police, unfortunately it doesn't mention cyclelanes at all:

http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us/Signposting/Parking.aspx

 DancingOnRock 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

It’s not a parking offence, it’s an obstructing offence. I suspect the police have powers to remove such vehicles at great expense to the owner. 

The problem then is it escalates the war between driver and cyclist. 

 balmybaldwin 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

~Depends on your local police attitude. if you are in WMP area they will happily take user submitted video/photos and will prosecute if clear enough (and if actually an offence) - they are making a big thing about antisocial parking at the moment

 Jimbo C 06 Mar 2019
In reply to DancingOnRock:

Yes, if a car was reported to the police as 'obstructing the highway' then they would be more inclined to attend.

 fred99 06 Mar 2019
In reply to DancingOnRock:

> It’s not a parking offence, it’s an obstructing offence. I suspect the police have powers to remove such vehicles at great expense to the owner. 

> The problem then is it escalates the war between driver and cyclist. 

Surely in such cases the "war" has been started by said car driver in much the same way as Japan declared war on the USA - by attacking without warning.

I walk, ride a bike, drive motorbikes and a car. In all cases I do not deliberately prevent others from using their form of transport/progress. I expect to be treated in a similar manner. When someone dumps (it's not parking !) their car on a cycle lane they should be dealt with - removed completely - as they are causing a danger to other road users.

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 fred99 06 Mar 2019
In reply to The New NickB:

> It's not as simple as that, many parking offences are still criminal and dealt with by the police. Here is some guidance from Derbyshire Police, unfortunately it doesn't mention cyclelanes at all:

That shows how much interest they have then.

1
 Trangia 06 Mar 2019
In reply to cb294:

> For some reason such cars tend to lose wing mirrors.

> CB

I don't know what is, but criminally damaging cars is NOT the way forward. If it's possible to fold the mirrors in, then by all means do that. It'll make the driver think because they will have to walk round and click them out again, and if this happens every time they park, the penny might drop.

1
cb294 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

No, lost my patience long ago. These arsehole drivers are deliberately endangering cyclists by forcing them to enter potentially flowing traffic. Not having to do so is the entire point of a cycle lane, so f*ck them.

The police don't give a shit, either, even though it is their job to ensure road safety for everyone, for which I have paid my taxes. Presumably instead right now their job is to eat those donuts.....

So, I see no reason not to take the law into my own hands. Of course, if I were ever caught I would have to accept the consequences.

CB

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 Trangia 06 Mar 2019
In reply to cb294:

Well I wish you luck at your trial, but I doubt that the judge would be sympathetic. Judges tend to take a dim view of people who take the law into their own hands. Good luck all the same

 James FR 06 Mar 2019
In reply to subtle:

Where I live, some cyclists carry (easy to remove) stickers around with them as a non-violent alternative to the wing mirror suggestion. I see they're even producing an English version now: http://www.garecommeunemerde.fr/gcum/boutique/gcum-2/

 DancingOnRock 06 Mar 2019
In reply to fred99:

It’s one thing to start something, it’s another to escalate it. 

Do you think the kind of driver who obstructs a cycle path in the first place is going to be calmly paying a release fee and admitting they’re wrong or do you think they’re going to direct their anger at the next passing cyclist?

2
cb294 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

Thanks, but the point is not being caught! 

Together wIth a couple of friends I also once tipped a car blocking the footpath sideways onto the road. Enjoy driving that one off....

I am really sick and tired of car drivers who act as if the road (and the footpath and cycle lane) belong to them alone, and even more sick of lazy (or cyclist hating) police who enforce the law selectively and thereby encourage these arsehole drivers.

CB

4
 Trangia 06 Mar 2019
In reply to cb294:

What I did see when I was walking Offa's Dyke and stayed at a pub in village with quite narrow streets where motorists were parking right over the pavement so that it was impossible for pedestrians to get by without going onto the road  was that someone had glued stickers onto their windscreens right in the driver's line of view which said "Pavements are for Pedestrians NOT Cars".

In the morning there were sheepish motorists coming into the pub's breakfast room begging for buckets of hot water, for which the pub was charging them £5 a bucket, which went into a charity box. It was taking the motorists up to an hour to soak the glue enough to scrape the stickers off windscreens. 

I asked the Landlord about it, and he said that it happened several times a year as new people tried pavement parking in the street, evidently older offenders had learnt their lesson, and didn't do it. The Landlord had a twinkle in his eye when he claimed that no one knew who was doing the stickers. It seemed that the local police knew about it, but "couldn't find enough evidence" to prosecute anyone, and whilst it was temporarily obstructing the driver's vision, it wasn't actually doing any damage.

So maybe phantom poster stickers would run less risk of arrest and prosecution than mirror damagers?  

 Phil1919 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

How did you find Offas Dyke? I quite fancy doing it. 

cb294 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

Excellent idea!

CB

 Dax H 06 Mar 2019
In reply to cb294:

> I am really sick and tired of car drivers who act as if the road (and the footpath and cycle lane) belong to them alone, and even more sick of lazy (or cyclist hating) police who enforce the law selectively and thereby encourage these arsehole drivers.

> CB

I know 2  motorcyclists who have criminal damage convictions for removing wing mirrors from cars that tried to kill them by pulling out without looking. Of course on a push bike you don't have a registration plate so you might get away with it. 

cb294 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Dax H:

As I said, not getting caught is central to my cunning plan!

edit: To add, that the police in these cases underwent the effort to prosecute the wing mirror therapy, but can never be arsed to do anything about antisocial driver behaviour endangering cyclists (or bikers!) pretty much proves my point.

CB

Post edited at 17:12
 Trangia 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Phil1919:

> How did you find Offas Dyke? I quite fancy doing it. 

Really enjoyed it. It's quite tough in as much that there are an endless succession of hills because you are mainly cutting across valleys at right angles rather than following ridge lines apart from the section through the Black Mountains where you cruise along the top. We did it from south to north. Amazingly varied scenery rivers, mountains, castles,canals, viaducts, forests and towards the end amazing views of the N wales mountains In places it feels surprisingly remote as you pass through few main towns and villages. Not many open pubs or cafes en route, many have closed down due to lack of custom. We stayed in  B&B's and pubs - some were a couple of miles or so off the route, evening means at pubs - again mainly off the route. Lunch took a bit of planning ahead as there weren't always convenience stores. There were a couple of churches with tea/coffee making facilities and honesty boxes - very welcome. 

Because much of it is quite remote we could go for several hours sometimes before meeting other hikers. Navigation is generally fairly straightforward, apart from a section near Monmouth where (in 2014) we found that the way signs had been deliberately vandalised by either snapping off or turned to point in the wrong direction for about 15 miles, so we had to constantly check the map. Hopefully this has now been resolved.

Definitely recommend it as a long distance walk.

 Phil1919 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

Thanks for that. Yes, I'll try and make the time to do it. How many days did you do it over.

 Trangia 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Phil1919:

We did it in two bites of 5 days each, total of 10 days, which was fairly leisurely, but we were both in our 60s/70s. First half in the Spring and second half in the Autumn. Some people do it a lot quicker, but we like to allow time to taken in the scenery.

 Phil1919 06 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

That sounds like my pace. Thanks. I visited Kington last year by bike and really liked it. Met a few people doing the route.

In reply to subtle:

For the benefit of those bashing the police, some things to consider:

To say the police don't do anything as they are not cyclists is bollocks, particularly in towns and cities were there is limited parking. You will find plenty of officers cycle or motorbike into work.

In relation to vehicles parking in cycle lines. As has been pointed out, powers of parking now belong with the local authority and not the police. Police only have powers to deal when vehicles are causing an obstruction preventing other vehicles from passing. In this case the vehicles wouldn't be classed as causing an obstruction as there is room for the cyclist to pass, all be it by having to leave the cycle lane.

On a separate note, playing devil's advocate. May be the locals park there because they don't realize that cyclists actually use cycle lanes! Plymouth Council spent £millions redesigning one the main commuter routes in and out of the center from the north of the city that included putting in a cycle lane that on my commute home I've never seen a cyclist use. Instead, they insist on cycling up the hill with vehicle traffic. This then causes a problem in that where the council have narrowed the road to fit the cycle lane in there is no room to pass the cyclists so they slow a 40mph road down to 10mph.

 ScraggyGoat 07 Mar 2019
In reply to grumpyoldjanner:

If cyclists aren't using the cycle lane, its probably because the design is 'shit' and most likely  doesn't confirm to Government cycleway guidelines, see; 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/...

Note 'The underpinning principle is that measures for pedestrians and cyclists should offer positive provision that reduces delay or diversion and improves safety.'

If a cycle way causes me delay or diversion, or reduces safety I don't use it & I use the road instead.

Don't blame the cyclists blame the council for the design and wasting tax payers money on substandard infrastructure that isn't fit for purpose.

Post edited at 09:19
 MG 07 Mar 2019
In reply to fred99:

> Surely in such cases the "war" has been started by said car driver in much the same way as Japan declared war on the USA -

Oh absolutely.  Parking in a cycle lane is just like starting great power conflict.

 fred99 07 Mar 2019
In reply to DancingOnRock:

> It’s one thing to start something, it’s another to escalate it. 

> Do you think the kind of driver who obstructs a DISABLED PARKING BAY in the first place is going to be calmly paying a release fee and admitting they’re wrong or do you think they’re going to direct their anger at the next passing DISABLED PERSON?

Fixed that for you.

I think that such people are shits. I also think that they should obey the law, and that it should be enforced. Otherwise we might as well sack every policeman, lawyer, solicitor and judge, and revert to the sort of mob violence that went on beforehand.

 fred99 07 Mar 2019
In reply to cb294:

> As I said, not getting caught is central to my cunning plan!

> edit: To add, that the police in these cases underwent the effort to prosecute the wing mirror therapy, but can never be arsed to do anything about antisocial driver behaviour endangering cyclists (or bikers!) pretty much proves my point.

> CB


And also proves my point about which side most of them are on !

 oldie 07 Mar 2019
In reply to Trangia:

>...glued stickers....<

An easy option is note in thick "permanent" marker pen written across window, Actually easily removed with solvent, or probably water with detergent and elbow grease.

Post edited at 11:03

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