Your Rights on the Road
Lots of people will tell you lots of little lies about how cyclists should and should not behave on the roads on the UK. Many of these people may not have ever read the highway code. Some of them may be angry drivers shouting at you for exercising your legal rights on the road.
The gist of it is that cyclists have the same priority and rights as motor vehicles. This means other road users must give way to you at T-junctions, roundabouts, and in multi-lane traffic just as if you were driving a car.
There are some things you should do:
Note: This was correct at the time of writing. Check the bottom of the page for the date of last edit.
Read The Highway Code
The Highway Code should be considered your source of truth for how to ride a bicycle on the roads in the UK. There are rules for cyclists which mostly relate to safety, but there are also important rules about bicycle aspects at traffic lights and on road crossings which you should know about.
Try reading it from beginning to end on a wet afternoon. It’s not that long and it will help clear up a lot of misconceptions.
Know Your Rights
The law offers you some protection when you’re on a bicycle. In addition to having the same priorities at junctions as motor vehicles, you are also entitled to be overtaken safely.
Basically, you should be respected by other road users. That’s what the highway code is meant to be about: road users should respect each other, with everyone using the Highway Code to guide their behaviour.
Safe Overtakes
Anyone driving a motor vehicle must overtake you safely. They must give you enough space, for some definition of “enough”. In practice this means that a driver must leave enough space for you not to be put in danger. Think to yourself: if you fell off your bicycle right there and then, would the driver have enough time to react and either avoid you or stop before they hit you? If the answer is no, then the other vehicle is too close.
This means that what the police or a magistrate would consider to be a safe overtake usually scales with the speed of the vehicles involved. For example, if the traffic is stopped or bumper-to-bumper, it might be safe for you to filter amongst the vehicles without it being considered dangerous. On the other hand, it is not safe if a driver passes you with less than 1.5m to spare on a road with a 20mph or 30mph speed limit. At higher speeds, drivers should give you even more space: a driver has no business putting their vehicle in the same lane as you on a 40mph, 50mph, or even 60mph road.
There is one rule of thumb, though: if you can touch the motor vehicle, it’s too close.
Priority over other vehicles
Other vehicles must give way to you just as if you were a car. This means that you have priority over traffic entering from side roads at a T-junction, and over other traffic entering a roundabout that you’re already on.
More importantly, this also means that other vehicles must give way to you if they want to cross your lane unless signs and road markings indicate otherwise. This includes cycle lanes and bus lanes, too.
Remember: an indicator doesn’t magically give priority.
The lane is yours
You are entitled to use the full lane, as if you were a car.
No ifs, no buts, no asterisks.
It’s that simple.
Clearing Up Common Misconceptions
There are some common misconceptions about modern-day cycling in the UK. Some of these may be the result of the old “Cycling Proficiency” you may have taken at school, which since been abandoned by the govenment and cycling advocacy groups.
A lot of these misconceptions might be the result of being told things by an adult when you were young, or perhaps by an angry driver who’s proved to you the existence of their middle finger.
In no particular order, let’s clear some up.
You don’t have to use cycle lanes
“Get in the cycle lane”!
An angry driver
Use of dedicated cycle lanes is not compulsory. They can make your journey safer, but some of them make your journey more dangerous. Use your own jugement and discretion 😄
You can ride on the carriageway of nearly any road, except on motorways, or where cycling is explicitly prohibited. You will know if you’re not allowed to cycle on a road because it will have one of the two following signs:
You are allowed to cycle past “no motor vehicle” signs like this:
You don’t have to ride at the edge of the road
No part of the highway code requires you to cycle in the gutter. Cycle wherever you feel safe and comfortable.
You don’t have to dismount
At the time of writing, blue rectangular “cyclists dismount” signs have no legal standing. They are merely advisory. You do not have to dismount just because you see this sign:
You are allowed to filter through traffic
You are allowed to ride your bicycle amongst slow or stationary traffic and overtake it. You must obey all other road laws whilst doing so: you mustn’t mount the pavement or cycle on the wrong side of traffic islands which have blue arrow signs, for example.
You don’t have to wear a helmet
Bicycle helmets are not a legal requirement. It’s up to you if you wear one.
You can wear what you want
You don’t have to wear high-visibility or reflective clothing. You can wear a disonaur onesie, a lovely summer dress, or anything, really. Some people even cycle naked.
You don’t need lights during the day
You are legally required to use a front white light and a rear red light at night, i.e. between sunset and sunrise. It’s up to you when to use lights at all other times.