What defines a cyclepath.

John Pitcock wrote:
My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory" but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

Maybe this is where the confusion started.

This was before I was born, so I obviously wasn't looking into the
detail of the law back then, but I'd be surprised if it's actually
changed. "Compulsory" now means that it is compulsory for other classes
of vehicle to stay out, not for cycles to stay in. I suspect it meant
the same 32 years ago. I can certainly see where the confusion would
come from, though.

The latest legislation I could find on this was the 2002 Traffic Sign
Regulations:
URL:http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023113.htm
which clearly state that the sign refers to a "Route for use by pedal
cycles only":
URL:http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/023113ab.gif

Incidentally, the same document defines a "cycle lane" and a "cycle
track", but not a "cycle path". I shall leave it as an exercise for the
interested reader to follow the definitions through ;-)

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
MartinM wrote:

IIRC cordoned off lanes with a kerb. Never actually
used one but saw them from the car on the way up to London.

A40?

no A217, but would not be surprised if A40 had them as well as it was
built in the age of "car is king"
(BTW I now use the cycle track alongside it)

MartinM opined the following...
uk.rec.motorcycles would probably throw up more, be my guest if you
don't mind being called a "tree hugging freeloading ****" (from a
recent thread on the same subject)

Please. "Whinger"... not "****". Although the thread was almost enough
to make me want to write a reply.

Jon

Danny Colyer wrote:

This was before I was born, so I obviously wasn't looking into the
detail of the law back then, but I'd be surprised if it's actually
changed.

Hmmm. It's probably due to some sort of confusion. There were some
cycle lanes set up shortly after the war, IIRC, whch were compulsory,
but I don't know that the blue and white sign ever applied to them. But
I know a man who does, as they say, and a question will be fired off as
soon as I get home.

--
Guy

Please. "Whinger"... not "****". Although the thread was almost enough
to make me want to write a reply.

you're a braver man than I ;-)
I think the line about riding motorbikes on the pavement is also very
telling.

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 11:09:51 GMT, "John Pitcock"
wrote in message
:

My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory" but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

According to John Franklin the round sign used to mean compulsory and
the rectangular sign advisory. *The meaning was changed in the late
70s or early 80s. The round sign retains its compulsory meaning in
most other countries.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 11:09:51 GMT, "John Pitcock"
wrote in message
:

My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory" but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

According to John Franklin the round sign used to mean compulsory and
the rectangular sign advisory. The meaning was changed in the late
70s or early 80s. The round sign retains its compulsory meaning in
most other countries.

Finland being one (the only other reference I could find to it)

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 11:09:51 GMT, "John Pitcock"
wrote in message
:

My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory"
but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

According to John Franklin the round sign used to mean compulsory and
the rectangular sign advisory. The meaning was changed in the late
70s or early 80s. The round sign retains its compulsory meaning in
most other countries.

Thank You
stoney silence from all the other posters who told me I was talking
b****cks I see ;-)

On 15/11/04 10:31 am, in article
, "MartinM"
wrote:


Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 11:09:51 GMT, "John Pitcock"
wrote in message
:

My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory"
but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

According to John Franklin the round sign used to mean compulsory and
the rectangular sign advisory. The meaning was changed in the late
70s or early 80s. The round sign retains its compulsory meaning in
most other countries.

Thank You
stoney silence from all the other posters who told me I was talking
b****cks I see ;-)

You were and still are. Compulsory does not mean that you *have* to use it
(ie it is in a different sense to that one might usually expect.) It is
compulsory in that it is an exclusion of all but bicycles from that path.

Much like mandatory and advisory cycle lanes.

...d

"MartinM" writes:

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 11:09:51 GMT, "John Pitcock"
wrote in message
:

My 1972 edition of the Highway Code says "Cycle lane, compulsory"
but the
word "compulsory" hasn't been in subsequent editions.

According to John Franklin the round sign used to mean compulsory and
the rectangular sign advisory. The meaning was changed in the late
70s or early 80s. The round sign retains its compulsory meaning in
most other countries.

Thank You
stoney silence from all the other posters who told me I was talking
b****cks I see ;-)

That's because there's nothing, so far, demonstrating otherwise...

I'll be hapy to apologise if someone can point to any kind of
reasonably authorative source demostrating that there was ever
compulsion on cylists to use cycle lanes. Describing something as
"compulsory" does not do so. Compare with the current situation where
we have "mandatory" cycle lanes - it is _not_ mandatory for cyclists
to use them, rather for motorists not to.