Parking on Cyclepaths

[rmurphy195]

Reported this lottoBirmingham Council a couple of days ago via theier web site, had no acknowledgment yet.

I'm expecting them to say something like "Space will be used for parking during a big sporting event" or somesuch (it was during the big match at Edgbaston on Sunday)

Location is Cannon Hill Road, opposite the entrance to Cannon Hill Park, a green cyclepath on one side of the pavement.

http://s818.photobucket.com/user/murphy ... t=3&page=1

[MikeF]

It's not clear if that is a compulsory cycle lane.

[gaz]

Streetview helps to understand the scene because it wasn't covered in cars when the camera went past.

This appears to be a cycletrack alongside the vehicle carriageway, separated from it by a kerb and segregated from the pedestrian footway by a painted white line.

It is illegal* to park a motor vehicle on a cycletrack. Council's do not yet have enforcement powers for this form of illegal parking. The Highway Authority are unlikely to take any action unless visible damage is occuring to the cycletrack. The police do have powers to enforce but will almost certainly refer you back to the Council.


*If there was an order creating the cycletrack it may specify exemptions. Typical exemptions are for statutory undertakers and emergency vehicles. It could be that there is a suspension of that cycletrack for a sporting event, easy to imagine such suspensions being possible if you consider something like the London Marathon, Great North Run, etc.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I give up, I cycled down the path (Cycle path) top to bottom and because the vehicle was blocking my view I had to go onto the road against the traffic flow.
Most lorries park on the road not the path
The driver was nonchalant and dismissive (" I am waiting for the business to open") until he could not see what I was doing behind the vehicle then he got worried, asked what I was doing? I said what do you think I was doing, he walked off back to his lorry and trailer then moved onto the road, the road is wide enough for an artic and other traffic easy.
I couldn't be bothered doing anything because you don't get anywhere.

[meic]

I can understand that the cricket parking on the cyclepath is annoying and, if as it appears, illegal and something should be done about it.
As an aside that bit of cyclepath is very short and goes nowhere, the road itself is a 20 limit, I imagine that I would personally welcome the fact that I could stick on the road without anybody being able to suggest that I should be on the cycle track. Quite possibly there is something not obvious from streetview which makes that bit of road not as benign as it appears.

[mjr]

I couldn't be bothered doing anything because you don't get anywhere.

Probably not, but each drip helps wear away the stone, sometimes you get lucky and the authorities do act and you never know, it could be you!

Sharing the image to a "Parking Like A T***" social media group and taking care to include the registration number YK55 CLO in it makes it more likely that anyone considering buying that vehicle in future will discover it has been used negligently and criminally.

[Si]

I can understand that the cricket parking on the cyclepath is annoying and, if as it appears, illegal and something should be done about it.
As an aside that bit of cyclepath is very short and goes nowhere, the road itself is a 20 limit, I imagine that I would personally welcome the fact that I could stick on the road without anybody being able to suggest that I should be on the cycle track. Quite possibly there is something not obvious from streetview which makes that bit of road not as benign as it appears.

that section does serve a function that probably isnt obvious when viewed on street view. Coming out of town there is a very busy multilane road between this quiet road and the popular cycle path in cannon hill park. This little bit of soft segragated path allows you to easily cross to the toucan that gets you into the park without having to negociate the busy multilane road.

Heading into town it doesnt do a lot as you can cross stop the traffic with the toucan and then just ride into the minor road.

TBH i virtually never see any cars parked on this bit of cycle path.. Wouldnt surprise me if the council's attitude is that it'll be clear as soon as the cricket is over so not worth getting the tow truck out. NOt that i endorse this view!

[thirdcrank]

Discretion in law enforcement extends beyond pavement cycling.

[pete75]

taking care to include the registration number YK55 CLO in it makes it more likely that anyone considering buying that vehicle in future will discover it has been used negligently and criminally.

So what?
In any case the vehicle pictured is a trailer so the reg number is irrelevant. Anyone buying it would put the number of their own vehicle on it.

[meic]

The trailer didnt park itself, the vehicle with that registration plate parked it there.
It may be that the driver was acting independently of the owner but the trailer wasnt (legally) acting independently of its "tractor" unit.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
IIRC the lorry had that reg.
He was worried enough to move after I took a photo.
I am an experienced cyclist, so I was careful leaving pavement blind / hard to see past, but a less experienced rider might have been subject to a higher risk.

[mjr]

Discretion in law enforcement extends beyond pavement cycling.

Why make that point here? Is it OK in the eyes of the police to make cyclists, walkers, wheelchair and mobility scooters bump down a high kerb blind into oncoming traffic when it's wholly unnecessary? If a vehicle was left obstructing both directions of a carriageway and forcing motorists to bump blind over a height difference into oncoming traffic on a motorway, or even a cycleway, the roads policing unit would be on it as soon as they were called!

[thirdcrank]

Most of what passes for discretion is a complete lack of enforcement, especially in relation to summary traffic offences. Priorities now lie elsewhere. With the exception of any who are members of this or a similar forum, I doubt if there will be one police officer in a thousand who knows that this is a specific offence. The fact that offences like this are not (I suspect) included in police training is, nevertheless, an example of discretion higher up the hierarchy.

It's a subject where some of us tend to be partial. eg Anybody posting on here concerned about being on the wrong end of pavement cycling enforcement will almost certainly be assured that they cannot touch you for it because they have to use their discretion.

FWIW, we reached the current situation with footway parking when an appeal court held that when deciding which was the lesser of two evils, if a parked vehicle partially obstructed the footway or the carriageway, the police had to use discretion (although the actual language used will have been more ornate.) Floodgates open.

I'm not saying I support any of this: my own broad view is there's no point in having legislation if it's not observed and enforced as appropriate. In this particular area of the law - enforcement of what might be termed traffic management - I think it's absurd that the highway authority provides the infrastructure and the police decide the level of enforcement. It used to work until the police more or less gave up on enforcing anything which could not be done with a camera, and dragging their feet over even that. BTW, when I suggested something similar on another thread, practically the first response was from somebody who didn't want council jobsworths doing it.

[meic]

Discretion in law enforcement extends beyond pavement cycling.

Why make that point here? Is it OK in the eyes of the police to make cyclists, walkers, wheelchair and mobility scooters bump down a high kerb blind into oncoming traffic when it's wholly unnecessary? If a vehicle was left obstructing both directions of a carriageway and forcing motorists to bump blind over a height difference into oncoming traffic on a motorway, or even a cycleway, the roads policing unit would be on it as soon as they were called!

In this particular case you have to do all of the bumping in order to use the cycle path, avoiding the path avoids the kerbs.

The car parked across the crossing place, not on the roadside cycle path is the one making people have to navigate kerbs, they could claim that the break in the double yellows made it a legitimate parking place.

[mjr]

The car parked across the crossing place, not on the roadside cycle path is the one making people have to navigate kerbs, they could claim that the break in the double yellows made it a legitimate parking place.

I see no car in NATURAL ANKLING's picture?

Rightly or wrongly, anyone parking across a point where a cycleway crosses a carriageway around here is extremely likely to find someone has ridden or driven a scooter into their vehicle. Surely motorists should be clamouring for government to remove such mistakenly-parked vehicles to a place of safety ASAP before they are damaged to a value far in excess of any release fees.