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news
Cyclists dismount sign (CC licensed by Marcin Wichary via Flickr).jpgShopping centre owner says council made it install ‘Cyclists dismount’ signs ‘to comply with revised Highway Code rules’
Signs put up at a shopping centre in Leicestershire telling cyclists to dismount were erected on the instruction of the county council due to new Highway Code rules setting out a Hierarchy of Road Users according to the site’s owner – even though the signs are purely advisory and the rule concerned says only that cyclists should give way to pedestrians and does not require them to get off their bikes.
The Leicester Mercury reports that the signs have been erected on a 25-metre section of National Cycle Route 52 outside the Belvoir Shopping Centre in Coalville.
Local cyclist Andrew Bucknall told the newspaper, whose article has pictures of the signs, that it was “crazy” that the signs had been put up and expressed doubt that riders would dismount at the location.
He said: “There are many miles of shared cycle and walkways around Coalville, I can’t believe that on this very short stretch cyclists are being told to dismount on what was originally a shared path.
“Are people not trusted to share the space? The route is used by children getting to and from school and to the Snibston play area and is part of the National Cycle Network.
“[Cyclists] will use their common sense if someone is walking across from the car park and slow down or stop to let them by,” he said. “We use common sense now when we’re sharing the path. We don’t need this sign.
“It is just absurd. Who on Earth will follow this sign? Can I not be trusted to act sensibly on my bike for just a few metres? It’s like I don’t matter, as if I’m a second-class citizen now.”
Private property investment unit trust Gylo, which bought the shopping centre in 2019, said that the local council had stipulated that the signs be put in place due to the Hierarchy of Road Users that has been introduced in the latest edition of the Highway Code, published this weekend.
A spokesman for the company said: “The signs advising cyclists to dismount at the new entrance to the shopping centre were a requirement of Leicestershire County Council,” said a spokesman.
“The agreement for provision of the new entrance was made conditional on the installation of the signs. One of the new factors at play here which was no doubt part of the County Council’s thinking are the very latest changes to the Highway Code.”
“A significant change is made in new Rule H2 which requires cyclists to give way to pedestrians who are seeking to walk over a crossing.”
New Rule H1 of the Highway Code, which introduces the concept of the Hierarchy of Road Users, says: “Cyclists, horse riders and drivers of horse drawn vehicles likewise have a responsibility to reduce danger to pedestrians.”
Rule H2 says, among other things, that “At a junction you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning,” and that “Cyclists should give way to pedestrians on shared use cycle tracks and to horse riders on bridleways.”
There is no requirement for cyclists to dismount, and as explained in this article on the Cycling UK website, unlike a sign displaying a bicycle within a red circle which would legally require cyclists to get off their bikes (ie ‘No cycling)’, other signs – including the ones at this location showing ‘Cyclists dismount’ in white lettering against a blue background – are advisory only and do not need to be complied with.
Mr Bucknall added: “With walking and cycling becoming a more accessible form of transport for people for health, well-being, environmental and financial reasons there should be more positive messages around signage to encourage it.
“I appreciate there is a new entrance to the shopping centre but maybe a ‘Caution Pedestrians Crossing’ would be a better sign.”
“I’m sure whoever put the signs up means well, but people need to be trusted. It was a shared path before and should surely continue as one now.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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32 comments
Not dismounting for anyone. I'll just stand up instead.
Rage against the advisory notices!
Can you ride it standing up/no-handed? That be one in the eye for the council safety fascists!
Good plan. And while I'm at it I'll cock a snook at this when on my other mounts.
Leicestershire County Council should read LTN 1/20 then apply it.
Quite right - if I recall crippledbiker was all over some of this rubbish on discrimination grounds.
It could go further of course - I read that as saying "if you've put up this sign you're either saying there's some - temporary - issue, the end of a route (destination) or you've failed to properly provide for people on bikes (likely including mobility vehicles)".
Presumably their defence is "but this is not a well-designed facility..."
I hate those signs.
If there's lots of people around, then just go at a walking pace, but I take up more room if I'm walking besides my bike rather than carefully riding it and it's usually more awkward to walk in cycling shoes (even SPDs). What's worse is that some people think that it's an order and can pick an argument with you.
Something like "Cycle carefully" or "Cyclists go slow" would be a more appropriate message.
Just like drivers are required to stop their engines and push at every zebra crossing in the country.
oh wait
Although that would be hilarious
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2013/02/motorists-dismount.html
LMFTFY - Just like drivers are required to stop their engines and push at every zebra crossing and junction in the country.
There's a zebra crossing further up and it's not like motorists have to get out and push their cars over it. Giving way doesn't mean getting off! Now I know it's advisory I'll just use my common sense and continue to cycle giving way to the minimal pedestrians crossing. (I am the cyclist)
No comment from Leicestershire County Council? Not even a "Leicestershire CC has been approached for comment"? Feels like the Mercury has missed a trick there...
"One of the new factors at play here which was no doubt part of the County Council’s thinking are the very latest changes to the Highway Code.”
Note the weasel words, worthy of Boris himself, assigning blame, avoiding responsibility and muddying the waters. Nothing so bold as to actually say the council said this, just the slimey statement blaming the council, the new HC rules without actually blaming them.
If the Plain English Campaign decide to implement a Nasty Little Hypocritical Deflecting Blame award, this is a dead cert.
I'm not sure it's really 'deflecting' blame - they outright pointed the finger at the council and said 'it's their fault'. The following comments about the Highway Code changes were just irrelevant speculation that they didn't need to add.
Sorry, you're right; must learn to read betterly.
"One of the new factors at play here which was no doubt part of the County Council’s thinking are the very latest changes to the Highway Code.”
“A significant change is made in new Rule H2 which requires cyclists to give way to pedestrians who are seeking to walk over a crossing.”
They appear to be saying that they've put the signs up becaue otherwise cyclists would have to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross. By dismounting the cyclists become pedestrians and no longer have to give way.
So it's for our own good; it gives us priority over everyone else.
Let's follow this logic and rejoice. If cyclists are banned from shared paths, cars will now be banned from all roads except motorways, unless there is a segregated cycle path. Sounds good to me.
Mmm yes segregated motortracks, for their own protection.
I would like to see one instance - just one! - where a cyclist has killed or seriously injured a motorist in their car.
Then maybe we can start discussing equivalence and fairness
I suspect if there is one it didn't do the cyclist much good either...
However there are clearly some who feel that the likes of cyclingmikey cause such injury to their belief in the natural order of things that must count.
Being more grounded - let's not forget that motorists are pedestrians too. So people's sense of vulnerability having got out of the vehicle is likely heightened. If a cyclist "nearly killed me" at that point I'm sure it would feel shocking.
Years ago, when my son was two or three, we parked our VW bus and opened the sliding door to let him get out onto the footpath. I didn't look, and as he was about to do so a cyclist sped (I mean, at way faster than walking pace!) past on the footway. My wife has never let me forget it, and brings it up regularly whenever we get into a "But cyclists" conversation.
Think we're wired that way - both for attention and memory. Being a nerd I'm still learning the degree to which emotions get first dibs before reason gets to the party. And they sometimes pee in the punch...
Did they sped? maybe they barrelled...
Could have barrelled. They went past too fast for me to check
You can see the hate-filled Facebook / local rag posts about cyclists not getting off their bikes for that bit ... So well *done* whoever fucked that particular cluster.
I've always wondered about that phrase.
Does it involve fucking a cluster, of what?
Or is it a cluster of fucks?
I usually defer to SNAFU or FUBAR.
Curse these Americanisms!
I thought it was from being in the same foxhole and all being blown up by the same rpg.
One person at Leicester County Council has misinterpreted the Highway Code guidance.
I don't see why this couldn't be corrected, a screwdriver or Allen key is all that's needed.
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