Who has right of way?

[Rowantree]

Who has right of way at the junction of Lordship Lane / Zenoria Road?

Specifically, if a cyclist wants to turn left onto Lordship Lane from Zenoria Road, would they have right of way over a pedestrian wanting to walk across the junction?

Image attached.

An incident earlier today has left me thoroughly confused, so thanks in advance!

Rowan

[jimmah]

Depends who is on the road, if the bike is coming down to turn left then like with a car you wouldn't step out in front of it. Likewise if a pedestrian is already crossing then any vehicle coming down should allow them the chance to cross.

Probably if there's been a disagreement then both parties are likely to feel they had the right of way.

[flocker spotter]

any traffic should always give way to pedestrians- this includes cyclists- this however does not mean that pedestrians can randomly step out and exercise this .

What happened ? I am assuming someone was crossing and male weekend cyclist in full lycra kicked off at hapeless pedestrian

[macutd]

rule 206 of the highway code says?.

turning at road junctions; give way to pedestrians who are already crossing the road into which you are turning

so if the pedestrian was already on the road crossing!!

[Rowantree]

I was cycling down Zenoria Road, preparing to turn left onto Lordship Lane. A family decided to cross in front of me, despite seeing me coming (or not checking ? the junction approach is very straight so you couldn?t have missed me).

Anyway, I slowed and let them cross, probably looking a little "grumpy face" at them, though I would never have said anything? the mother then turns to me, explains she is a cyclist too, and tells me to go and read the Highway Code!

She also insinuated the red brick paving at this junction denotes pedestrian right of way, which was news to me! Is this the case? I certainly can?t find it anywhere in the Highway Code!

She was really shirty, considering they'd decided to cross in front of a slow and courteous cyclist? it all felt very unnecessary.

Anyway, nevermind, and thanks all for clarifying!

[Curmudgeon]

The pedestrian has right of way

And those lines at the top of the road mean you must stop

Why don't you know this?

[Applespider]

I do recall reading that a raised (usually red) platform indicates a pedestrian crossing when they were being installed around work but this was when lots of traffic calming experiments were being brought in there like no/minimal road markings too. I thought the idea was that it should slow traffic at the junction and potentially make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

However, at most it should act like a zebra crossing where pedestrians should only step out if safe to do so but once on the crossing have the right of way. I suspect if you had been a car, the family may not have crossed but as a slower cyclist, expected you would be able to stop so it was safe to do so. As a fellow cyclist, I probably would have been more considerate and let you pass first as I appreciate it is a bit more effort to start from a standstill on a bike than it is as a pedestrian to put one foot in front of the other.

I'd also suggest that from a road safety point of view, it's probably safer to teach kids to wait until nothing is coming since they can't judge speed and stopping distances until quite a bit older.

[macutd]

sounds like she was Mrs Grumpy. I would have cycled round her and responded to any comments in kind.

[jollyrogers]

Did she think it was a one way street and not realise that bikes can cycle not in the one way direction?

[Rowantree]

Curmudgeon - thanks for your comment.

I probably haven't explained what happened very well; I do know to stop at double lines at a junction.

It was more that they were happy to step out and cross in front of traffic - fine - but please don't make up new Highway Code rules! Unless of course, those raised red brick areas do denote pedestrian right of way?

Regardless, her attitude stank.

[Curmudgeon]

Sorry what have I made up?

Yes her attitude might have stunk but she and her family had right of way over oncoming vehicles

[SteveUK1978]

Surely not.

A pedestrian has right of way over vehicles turning into the road if you are already in the process of crossing. But in this instance the traffic is coming down the street you want to cross. Surely the traffic has right of way there otherwise you could just step out into any road at any time and expect cars to stop?

[Loz]

I think the question is: do the red bricks have any legal bearing on right of way? I can't find anything that suggests they are anything more than decoration.

[vicki08]

If pedestrians have right of way, why does the Highway Code state that pedestrians should check that there is no oncoming traffic before crossing

[AnMKing]

Curmudgeon Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> And those lines at the top of the road mean you

> must stop

>

> Why don't you know this?

No they don't, they mean give way. They'd only mean stop if one of the lines was solid.

Why don't you know this?

[Andrew1011]

She probably didn't realise that cyclists can ride down this - otherwise one-way - street towards Lordship Lane. It can be confusing for both pedestrians and vehicle drivers and cyclists riding against the normal flow of traffic probably need to recognise that likely confusion.

However, it is wrong to say that traffic (vehicle driver or cyclist) has to stop at give way lines. They don't. They do however have to check it's safe to pull out and give way to any traffic coming from the right. If those lines at the end of the cycle lane were solid then then cyclists would be required to stop. Also, the raised cushions with red bricks are not pedestrian crossings, they are effectively road humps which can be walked on.

[Blah Blah]

Red brick road humps at junctions are though designed to slow traffic and make it easier for pedestrians to cross. Can't personally see what the op cyclist did wrong.

[phobic3000]

She was wrong and careless to put her kids in that situation.

[Bluerevolution]

vicki08 yes, a pedestrian MUST check the road is safe to cross at a junction but once deemed safe, ie no vehicles within close proximity, then they have right way. If you simply step into the road then if you get hit, you are (the pedestrian) is at fault. Common sense rule really

[Jeremy]

curmudgeon certainly living up to his name on this thread!

We all know that pedestrians have right of way when they have already started crossing, but this does not mean you should just step out in front of a moving vehicle and force it to stop.. some common sense is needed...

[Jeremy]

What BR said!

[vicki08]

Bluereolution yes I agree with you,

[Beulah]

@OP

It's probably more useful to think of it as who has priority rather than right of way.

In the scenario u gave u have priority if the pedestrians have not started crossing.

However pedestrians often walk out in front of cyclists even if you've signalled and made eye contact.

The law is designed to protect vulnerable road users and even if pedestrians do the most stupid things you must do everything you can to avoid an accident

[grabot]

Yep, it can be pretty scary when you have to slam the brakes on when turning into a junction, with [for example] a bus looming behind you, because a pedestrian has assumed that it is OK to step out into the road.

[Jeremy]

Beulah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> @OP

> It's probably more useful to think of it as who

> has priority rather than right of way.

> In the scenario u gave u have priority if the

> pedestrians have not started crossing.

> However pedestrians often walk out in front of

> cyclists even if you've signalled and made eye

> contact.

> The law is designed to protect vulnerable road

> users and even if pedestrians do the most stupid

> things you must do everything you can to avoid an

> accident

I think it's pretty obvious that you need to stop, instead of colliding with the pedestrians! I don't think anybody's suggesting otherwise. Doesn't mean that we should all start stepping out into the road in front of vehicles though.