Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Happy Days
Just read in MCN today, that motorcycles will be allowed in most London bus lanes for the foreseeable future. After months and maybe years for surveys (at a cost to us, of course), they've finally seen sense.
Good Start To The New Year I Say

As someone who rides his bike in London during the week, I couldn't agree with you more....

Someone in local government saw sense, who'd have thought it.

This is excellent news.

mr_magicfingers wrote:Someone in local government saw sense

Isn't that an oxymoron?? :laugh:

Why aren't all bus lanes nationally the same? At present it is up to the local councils to decide, there is no consistency and the Highway Code can not be definitive. If you travel from one area where it is allowed to another where it is not and the signs are not clear you could end up getting a fine for something that you believed was allowed.
This is good news for London now what about all the other bus lanes?

Here's a bus lane related story from work.

When we were working the SE TFL stewardships from the Old Kent Road depot, one of my mates got a letter from fleet saying that they had to pay a bus lane fine because he'd been photographed somewhere in Norwood.

Knowing the area, he got it into his head that TFL or whoever were wrong, as there were no bus lane cameras in that area... so he drove down to prove it, and yes there were no camera masts to be seen.

A couple of weeks later another fine arrived for the same place and time that he was proving them wrong, and our boss wasn't exactly a happy bunny.

Still believing that he was right, said bloke drove down again, but this time parked up well away and walked through,scouring every lamp column,mast etc in the vicinity, still nothing ..... then he found it attached to a building.

It ended well though as our company still paid both fines, and him seeing the error of his ways.

Mr Free Market wrote:

mr_magicfingers wrote:Someone in local government saw sense

Isn't that an oxymoron?? :laugh:

No, usually there just morons.......

I thought you could use bus lanes in the smoke already, last trip down there I did, must admit I was getting a few funny looks :pinch: :whistle:

Marco46 wrote:Happy Days
Just read in MCN today, that motorcycles will be allowed in most London bus lanes for the foreseeable future. After months and maybe years for surveys (at a cost to us, of course), they've finally seen sense.
Good Start To The New Year I Say

It's the "most" bit that's caught my eye. I'm not sure, not having read the article, exactly what's included and what's not but it would make me wary about using them if I'm ok on this stretch of road but liable for a fine 200yds later when I've crossed some invisible boundary and missed the postage stamp sized sign changing the rules as I was trying to avoid being taken out by a taxi doing a U turn at the time. If I ride 10ft to the right in a normal lane I'd be ok. I live close to London but not in it so while I do ride through the city frequently I don't know anywhere well enough to know which bit of bus lane is ok and which is off limits. Presumably buses don't have this problem.

Beware the borough of Lambeth! They will sting you in the bus lanes.

Marco46 wrote:Happy Days
Just read in MCN today, that motorcycles will be allowed in most London bus lanes for the foreseeable future. After months and maybe years for surveys (at a cost to us, of course), they've finally seen sense.
Good Start To The New Year I Say

Ah bit late again aren't they ... of course if you were on a MAG or BMF mailing lists, or got a news feed from Backroads Rider or Right to Ride you would have know about this good news at Xmas