Cycling UK Forum

Saw a thing about rickshaws causing all sorts of problems around the West End of London. Should they be allowed on the road? Many of the riders don't speak any English, they are not licensed and are clogging up bus lanes and are causing a nuisance to other vehicles including cyclists. We need some sort of action on the use of rickshaws.

It annoys me when a rickshaw is holding up a bus -- they're often too wide to pass (especially in the contra-flow bus lanes, e.g. along Piccadilly). Having seen how many of them drive (from my point of view on the top deck of a bus) I will never use one either!

I like them in principle, they don't pollute and are quiet. But they are causing a problem. Perhaps classing they as taxis rather than bikes would help? (Then they couldn't use certain bus lanes etc).

they're great. The rickshaw riders are fearsomely fit and great company. Of course the taxi drivers hate them, (and sometimes deliberately ram them) but that only increases the esteem in which I hold the rickshaw riders.

I was in England-mode when thinking above

The real problem is there's too much other traffic (cars, motor taxis). Rickshaws would be no problem if the cycle lanes were a decent width.

You could say the same about those who use trikes in London....

I may have mentioned on here before that a group of cyclists rode from Leeds to the Genoa G7 on a rickshaw. They went one bike light and took it in turns to ride the rickshaw. Tim Harberd - who claimed no 1 spot with a hive full of bees when there was correspondence in the CTC mag about most passengers on a bike - rode the rickshaw back to Leeds on his own.

Indeed, not a month goes by when I don't silently give thanks that the Lib Dem mayoral candidate (aka LTDA stooge) isn't running the city.

Given the Highway Code rule that you should allow cyclists as much room as you would a car when overtaking, I can't really see how they're holding up traffic much more than any other bike at the same speed - unless the complaint from the taxis is actually that they can't perform unsafe overtakes as they would a two-wheeler. The cabbies are simply being whiners on this one, I think.

Simon L6 wrote: The rickshaw riders are fearsomely fit

They need to be. I moved house on one of those bikes (in cargo bike configuration), and it really does take a bit of welly to get it rolling.

dan_b wrote:Given the Highway Code rule that you should allow cyclists as much room as you would a car when overtaking, I can't really see how they're holding up traffic much more than any other bike at the same speed - unless the complaint from the taxis is actually that they can't perform unsafe overtakes as they would a two-wheeler. The cabbies are simply being whiners on this one, I think.

(My point of view is as a night bus passenger, I don't mind waiting 10 minutes for a bus that costs £1 when the alternative is a taxi at... erm... £Lots)

Rickshaws have a much lower acceleration than a bicycle, and legal or otherwise, people do overtake bicycles without giving them the same room as a car. Rickshaws are also quite likely to stop at the edge of the road.

Here is where I notice it most. The lane going west is a contra-flow bus lane, there's enough room to overtake a cyclist (by the bus going into the crossed-out bit) but not a rickshaw.

I don't think anything should be done about it. Rickshaws are annoying, but so are cars, refuse lorries, drunks standing in the street, crying babies, etc.[/url]

Well they would have been rather more effective in London today than the buses!

Jan