By Jim Densham
Friday, 4 October 2019
A legal loophole means that parking in a mandatory cycle lane – breaking the Highway Code – isn’t always illegal. We are working to fix the law in Scotland, as Jim Densham, our Campaigns and Policy Manager for Scotland, explains.
A cycle lane should be a safe space to ride a bike on the road, but many cycle lanes are far from safe because cars, vans and taxis are parking in them.
Swerving or moving out into traffic to avoid parked vehicles in cycle lanes can be an unnecessary danger.
Worse still, those enforcing this breach of the Highway Code are often powerless to act due to a legal loophole.
Rule 140 of the Highway Code states that: “You MUST NOT drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation”.
When the Highway Code states that you ‘MUST NOT’ do something, that’s supposed to reflect laws which prohibit it. In other words, it’s a ‘MUST NOT’ in the Code because it’s an offence if you do.
