Modern Vespa

Hi all

On my route to / from work there are quite a few bus lanes, however, only one has a motorbike on it (allowing bikes to use it)

My question is, my tax band as is probably yours, is a BICYCLE

Are scooters only allowed in a bus lane if the motorbike is on the sign or can we use any with the bicycle on the sign?

Hope this makes sense

No, the 'bicycle' is merely a VED classification, and nothing whatsoever to do with anything else. The motorbike sign *and* the hours of operation are what you need to take on board. I'm amazed at the number of car drivers who don't read the hours of operation, so often you'll see long queues avoiding the bus lane when it isn't even in operation - you can whizz up the inside and pass the lot.

Cool thanks

I always look for the hours both when driving and now on the bike but wasnt sure on the bike rules

I love this too ! lol Here in good old N.Ireland we have the pleasure of using the bus lanes 24/7 (unless posted) makes rush hour a gift on the Vespa IFAIK Birmingham has same rules ?

Only use bus lanes if the motorbike sign is there....

I work in various council offices in London and I've seen many bikers getting fined for this

wiz up the inside by all means but be very careful about traffic turning left out of the bus lane , if other road users don't know when to use bus lanes you can bet that scooters on their inside will not have entered their minds when they decide to turn .

Sorry for the minor thread hijack here, but does anyone know if a MP3 LT can be used in a bus lane if it has the motorcycle icon on the sign? Being classified as a B1 Trike, I tend to keep out just in case.

Anyhow, I've been astonished how few bus lanes in London allow motorbikes at all. On my way to work, I'd be surprised if it's more than 10%.

David

It's not a car so I would think it would be ok... I'll ask someone at work tomorrow......

The LT is fine in bus lanes.

Fantastic - thank you.

Bristol allows motorcycles in bus lanes, Cardiff doesn't.

Talking of the scenario where a car driver turns left a across the bus lane, who do you think would be at fault in a collision?

That depends entirely on the circumstances, as each should be looking out for the other.

However, it ought to take a witnessed idiocy by the rider to make any division of responsibility swing in favour of the vehicle crossing the bus lane.

it's also worth noting the location of bus lane cameras, and bearing in mind that scooters remain undetected in bus lanes unless the camera is behind you.

i have used this knowledge to great advantage in a couple of very long, very stupid bus lanes in north london 8) not that i'm advocating law-breaking, mind you

Thats a good point, any cameras I know of always watch the bus lane from the front

Yes, but most of them can swivel if the operator wants it to. I have a lovely sequence of images going up Cambridge Heath Road, from the front, then from the rear and finally, a close up of my number plate. That sequence cost me £60.

And buses themselves have cameras, front and back.

Beware of reading the operating hours..

I was fined for cutting through the very end of a bus lane 3 years ago. This is how Westminster Council get extra money!
They follow me with one of those camera mounted on high poles: they sent me a film which showed me proceeding correctly on the empty main road and no buses on the bus lane. About 4-5 meters before the end of the bus lane I did cut diagonally to enter the waiting zone for those turning left (road extraordinary empty for daytime)
Obviously I represented myself but this was a" technical" penalty charge and common sense was definitely out of the equation.

My former boss was fined for swerving into a bus lane with his car to let a fire engine with lights and sirens on?!!
He was told that either should have avoided letting it through by changing lane or on the same day he should have called in Transport for London to get a reference code....

Riding and driving in London is getting to video-game status. I also laugh at these over scrutinised camera watching which should be used to catch pirates and real dangerous drivers. Think of Formula 1 procedures for drivers at start and at the boxes (entering and exiting) if they get something wrong they get a 10 secs penalty... we get £120 out of the wallet.

They can be very erratic. I have a bit on my journey home where I pass from Westminster (bus lanes are OK for bikes), to Southwark (bus lanes also OK for bikes). In between, there's a few hundred yards where I'm in Lambeth (bus lanes NOT OK for bikes). At the junction between Lambeth and Sthk, the same bus lane continues unbroken across the junction, but I can only ride in it legally on one side of the junction.

These changes *are* signposted, and I go that way every day, so I know the rules (especially after getting a ticket for it ) but god help anyone who's just visiting, or even from another neighbourhood in London.

the bus lanes i'm talking about run along a number of roads in north london which also happen to coincide with my route to work. they're exceptionally long and typically uninhabited by buses. many of them don't have any cameras at all, and where they do, it's simple enough to duck back out into the flow of traffic to avoid them.

i guess what i'm saying is that if you're going to flout the rules - and in some cases it makes perfect sense to do this (i'd rather run up a bus lane than attempt to filter up the outside of a mile-long queue with two lanes of fast-moving traffic coming at me in the opposite direction) - plan your strategy carefully and observe how the cameras behave.

in many places i suspect the prohibition of motorcycles in bus lanes is down to nothing more than laziness/ignorance on the part of bureaucrats, who find it simpler and cheaper to deem it 'dangerous' and ban it.

@benelli boy - there is a similar arrangement coming up to Angel tube station in Islington - the 'ok for bikes' section of the bus lane ends abruptly, signalled by a sign that's usually obscured by a bus one second you're legal, and the next you're not.

Unfortunately council logic isn't dictated with common sense, but instead the size of the wallet.

Today on the news it said westminster council are sitting on £41.6m profit from parking fines and charges. Hasn't it crossed their minds that if they and other councils put the money back into the roads and transport (like sorting out the god awful potholes), more jobs would be created?...making everyone happy!