Here’s a story in the Sheffield local press this week…
A community speed group, made up of Liberal Democrat councillors and volunteers, has spoken out about a notoriously fast “speed track” 30mph road through the village of Ringinglow, which residents have said it is “just a matter of time” until there is a collision on.
The group clocked 190 drivers, 13 of which were speeding, with one doing 60mph, their details to be passed on to the police. However, one member of the Southwest Local Area Committee scheme has also spoken about cyclists riding “well in excess” of the 30mph limit.
“As you’d expect the majority of motorists noticed the hi-vis jackets and dropped their speed accordingly, but we still clocked someone doing 60mph and a group of cyclists at 44 mph,” councillor Barbara Masters said. “Its purpose is education not entrapment. It involves training, as you would expect, and volunteers must comply with regulations.”
A (yet to be found) “lively discussion on a local Facebook group” ensued, according to The Star, with some pointing out speed limits do not apply to cyclists, while others apparently said riding past the pub at high speeds would be a danger “not least to themselves”.
From some Strava segment digging the village appears to come at the base of a long, straight descent, and heading east probably means a fairly hefty tailwind on some days.
We’ll try to find the “lively” community group discussion, but shades of this classic…
> Police stop cyclists riding at 39mph in 30mph zone despite speed limits not applying to bicycle riders
As established there, there are no speed limits for cyclists in the UK — except where local byelaws apply, such as in some parks. The Highway Code sets out speed limits for vehicles, but does not include bicycles, meaning — byelaw-restricted areas such as some promenades, paths or parks aside — cyclists cannot be fined for speeding.
Instead however, cyclists can be charged with dangerous cycling, under the 1988 Road Traffic Act Section 28, which states an offence is committed if “the way they ride falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful cyclist” and it “would be obvious to a competent and careful cyclist that riding in that way would be dangerous”, with “dangerous” referring to “danger either of injury to any person or of serious damage to property”.
The charge of ‘wanton and furious cycling’ can also be applied if an injury is caused in the case of a collision.
