Cycling UK Forum

Say there's a bus in front of you blocking your lane, and you need to overtake it, do cars behind have to let you move out, or do they have priority? And does it make any difference whether you have to cross a lane line? (Eg, I can imagine that if you cross into another lane, whether in your carriageway or the one opposite, you definitely have to signal and wait; but maybe if you're moving out round the bus but still your side of the lane boundary you have priority?)

Obviously sometimes it doesn't matter a toss who has right of way, and the weak go to the wall. But you know, it'd be good to be clear in my mind!

Thanks.

I'm no expert but you are another road user so have the same rights as anyone else - except most of the rest weigh considerably more than you and are travelling faster so discretion does need to be taken into account.

I have recently bought a copy of CycleCraft and it covers all this sort of thing. From memory (haven't read it all yet) you need to check over your shoulder and if clear stick arm out and move to the right, giving the bus plenty of room and taking up the middle of the lane if there is one to the right of the bus. Problem comes of course is when you look over your shoulder and see it is not clear or there are cars bearing down on you at great speed!

The usual rule is “Mirror, signal, manoeuvre.” Another rule is “only overtake when it is safe to do so.” The next rule is about merging into a faster line of traffic. The next rule is about giving way to traffic approaching from the right, and if the lane containing the faster traffic is on your right, you should give way to it.
Being a bicycle, the other traffic will probably be faster, so it’s a bit of tough luck for the cyclist.

If you signal and merge into a stream of traffic in another lane, causing that traffic to slow down, you could be done for 'Inconsiderate' or 'Dangerous' cycling.

If it is a single lane carriageway, being the closest vehicle to the intended destination ( beside the bus in an passing manoeuvre ) YOU have prioriy. A car attempting to overtake you while you are preparing to go past the bus will be the one who will be done for 'dangerous driving'.
This is something that should be remembered in all cycling. You are the closest vehicle to the common destination ( in an ordinary case, it will be 10yds down the road ), so you have priority over vehicles following you. It is up to them to decide when a safe passing opportunity arises.

You have to 'negotiate' in the same way as any other road user. Plan as far ahead as possible. As soon as you are aware that the bus is stopping, start looking over your shoulder. If possible make eye contact with vehicle drivers behind. Often this will be enough to negotiate safe passage out in order to pass the bus. Sometimes a signal will be necessary. The earlier all this is done, the more successful it will be. Remember, oncoming traffic will have priority and you will have to wait for a safe gap before entering an oncoming lane.

Once passed the bus, be aware that it may overtake you.

In rules terms, they should let you out. As you said, this needs to be dosed heavily with self-preservation.

However, on a single-carriageway road, there is normally one lane of traffic. You're in that lane. You can't be anywhere else, or there'd be two lanes. When you're going past a stationary vehicle, you still are the lane of traffic. Any car coming from behind is overtaking you, and it's not always wise to overtake another vehicle that is itself passing a third, even if that third is stationary.

The onus is absolutely on the driver behind to consider whether that's safe.

There's nothing whatever in the Highway Code to suggest that a bike has to cede priority to a vehicle coming from behind it. The roads don't work like that. The Cycling Proficiency scheme used to teach cyclists to wait, but that's because they were kids who weren't old enough to make judgements on whether the driver behind would obey the rules.

It's obviously silly to use this line of argument to defend suddenly swerving in front of an overtaking car. You don't do that; you move out much earlier, like a car would, and assert your priority. It's a whole different way of riding. If unsure, seek training to national standards.

As others, if you are the first vehicle behind the bus you have priorrity as far as I am considered but safety and commonsense has to an issue, luckily the bus routes I often use on my commute are sufficiently trafficked in both directions that I can usualy slip past the bus while other traffic behind have to wait for oncoming traffic....

Yes, the overtaken vehicle (in this case, the bike) has priority over the overtaker. This doesn't give the cyclist a licence to swerve out from secondary, causing a following car to brake to avoid a collision.

In these circumstances, I look behind for a suitable gap, then stick out my right arm to (a) tell following drivers what I intend to do, and (b) make myself wider, to discourage stupid drivers from thinking this cyclist has zero thickness.

While I pass the bus, I watch out for the bus moving or passengers emerging from the front of the bus.

If following drivers are being stroppy and tailgating each other, I don't pull out.

Who has priority entering a chicane in a motor race? The leading car.
Who has priority passing a parked vehicle on the road? The leading vehicle.

Who has to avoid a collision in a motor race? The following car.
Who has to avoid a collision on the road? The following vehicle.

Who will be disqualified in a motor race for swerving to 'block' the following car? The leading car.
Who will be killed on the road for swerving into the path of a car? The cyclist.

From the way it's worded, I presume this is raised as a legal issue about changing lanes.

I couldn't point to specific legislation on the subject, and in the current survival-of-the driver-of-biggest-vehicle state of enforcement, due care / reasonable consideration are distant memories.

As has been said already, John Franklin has a good explanation and good advice about technique in Cyclecraft.

Stand on the pavement and watch the behaviour of drivers behind buses at stops. Many have no idea - getting too close behind a bus to see beyond it being top of the list. Add impatience to that incompetence and a cyclist's safety depends on more than knowing that they may or may not have priority.

thirdcrank wrote:From the way it's worded, I presume this is raised as a legal issue about changing lanes.

You aren't really changing lanes (unless lanes are marked), and certainly you are doing so less than the overtaking vehicle is. The lane of traffic is going around an obstruction.

That's one of the problems with cycle lanes. Once they're marked, you are changing lanes to get out of the cycle lane and around a vehicle parked in the so-called cycle lane, and when changing lanes you do need to cede priority to vehicles already in that lane.

It depends . If a car behind has already pulled out to overtake both you and the bus then it has priority. If you are the first out you have priority.
Following drivers are under an obligation to hold back only when you are making a manoeuvre to overtake. They don't have to hold back because they think you might want to overtake, though may do if they're courteous.

When a cyclist is riding a bicycle along a road, the whole lane is a ‘cycle lane’. This logic is based upon the premise that the cyclist may need to use ALL the lane due to bad road surface, ironwork, obstructions ( a bus ) or lubricant spills from other vehicles.
This is what many motorists, AND CYCLISTS, are ignorant of.

John Franklin’s ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’ are then rendered obsolete. The cyclist is legally entitled to ride where THE CYCLIST considers safest for all and more of the reasons previously mentioned.

A painted ‘Cycle Lane’ is there to inform motorists to ‘Keep out’ to ensure a thoroughfare for the steady progress of cyclists. It is NOT there as a mandatory lane for cyclists.

If there are any motorists reading, I DO NOT ride over potholes, over manhole covers, through oil slicks and into the back of buses FOR YOU!

I ‘Take the lane’….

Rant over.

I thought that we were trying to get away from 'The War on Britain's Roads'! If we approach such issues as if it was a battle, then clearly we are expecting a war.

We could discuss rights of way until the cows come home. The fact is that all manoeuvres of this type are a negotiation in every sense of the word. Do not expect a problem overtaking a stationary bus. It is successfully carried out thousands of times a day. As I posted earlier, planning ahead is the key.

Conflict only occurs when one or both parties does not understand the legalities involved and/or the other party's needs.

Ayesha wrote:Conflict only occurs when one or both parties does not understand the legalities involved and/or the other party's needs.

I so wish that I could agree with you but I think that you might reconsider this statement The whole point is that negotiation avoids conflict.