Last night I was following a bus that stopped on what appeared to be the approach to a zebra crossing.
Inspection 'on the fly' appeared to show that a bus stop with a half width bay was positioned on the approach to the crossing, within the traditional Zig-zag distance. The Zig zags at the pavement side had been shortened to approx 5?m, whilst the centre of the road zigzags extended the normal length. The crossing had an island in the centre of the road, effectively narrowing the road to the point where overtaking would be only possible by a bike or a slow moving vehicle.
I did not attempt to overtake, much to the annoyance of the car behind me.
The questions are
is the bus actually allowed to stop here?
are you entitled to overtake a stationary vehicle that is parked in this position?
This is a busy urban enviroment, is it a new traffic slowing move (I hesitate to say calming), or a subtle revenue generation opportunity, with a bib waiting concealed behind the stationary bus.
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pmh (was peter)
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Highway code -You MUST NOT overtake the moving vehicle nearest the crossing or the vehicle nearest the crossing which has stopped to give way to pedestrians.
Laws ZPPPCRGD regs 18, 20 & 24, RTRA sect 25(5) & TSRGD reg 10, 27 & 28
As the bus was not moving, and not (as far as you could tell, busses not being transparent) 'stopped to give way to pedestrians' then I would have thought you could not be prosecuted under the legislation mentioned above.
But I could be wrong...
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I'm surprised, to say the very least, that approval has been given for a bus stop to be situated within the zig-zag areas of a zebra crossing.
Any motorist who stopped to drop off or pick up passengers or park on the zig-zags zone who was spotted by a police officer would face a fine and three penalty points - and rightly so.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Seems they have marked the bus stop in the wrong place. It would appear that it should be after the crossing itself.
Traffic Signs and General Directions 2002 Reg 27/28 deal with zig zags controlled area which means a length of carriageway -
which is adjacent to a signal-controlled crossing facility and has a zig-zag line marked along each of its edges (with or without zig-zag lines also marked down its centre);
a zig-zag line shall convey the requirement that the driver of a vehicle shall not cause any part of it to stop in the controlled area in which it is marked with execptions and this applicable:
does not prohibit the driver of a vehicle from stopping it in a controlled area - for so long as may be necessary to enable the vehicle to be used for the purposes of in the provision of a local service, (local service" does not include an excursion or tour as defined by section 137(1) of the Transport Act 1985) and the vehicle, having proceeded past the light signals to which the controlled area relates, is waiting in that area in order to take up or set down passengers.
A zig-zag line shall convey the requirement that, whilst any motor vehicle (in this regulation called "the approaching vehicle") or any part of it is within the limits of a controlled area and is proceeding towards the signal-controlled crossing facility to which the controlled area relates, the driver of the vehicle shall not cause it or any part of it
(a) to pass ahead of the foremost part of any other motor vehicle proceeding in the same direction; or
(b) to pass ahead of the foremost part of a vehicle which is stationary for the purpose of complying with the indication given by a traffic light signal for controlling vehicular traffic.
dvd
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That's interesting DVD - I was recently chased and stopped by a police officer (who I *think* was traffic) because I passed a bus (plus a couple of cars) which had stopped at a bus stop on the exit of a crossing.
The road was wide and, because I'd kept a reasonable distance back, I could see that it was clear to pass, whereas the cars right behind the bus where so close they had no option but to stop.
The traffic car was coming the other way, and he swerved towards me, so pushing me much closer than I wanted to be into the side of the bus - and he yelled at me through the window. I could see him turning around, blue lights on, so I pulled over and stopped. I had the CEO of one of our suppliers with me so I didn't want a big argument but I defended my actions and critised his quite firmly - he backed down straight away. I was pretty amazed by his action in swerving towards me - the manoevre wasn't one of my best, but he made it much worse. If anybody had got off the bus and run round the front of it then I had very little clearence.
He didn't take any of my details and I did think of asking him for his collar number but really just wanted to get on.
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Any motorist who stopped to drop off or pick up passengers or park on the zig-zags zone who was spotted by a police officer would face a fine and three penalty points - and rightly so.
Yep, I did this once. Stopped to allow passenger to alight just after the crossing (but still on in zig zag) just as a traffic cop came the other way. He was going on about the three penalty points and £60 pound fine but let me off with it. (1.00am on a back road in which me and him were the only cars driving around)
And yes, I?ve never done it again, lesson learned.
I wouldn't have thought that these lines wouldn?t be allowed to be modified, what with strict regulations regarding their specification and enforcement.
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I kid you not, but maybe you could find the local "Lines & Signs Inspector" and ask him/her about the set up there.
Is there such a thing as a Lines and Signs Inspector? I hear you ask.
You bet, and there is a post advertised on the RIG Police Recruitment Web Site www.policerecruit.co.uk
Signs & Lines Inspector
VACANCY DETAILS:
Type:
Contract
Ref: 1555.02
Salary/Pay:
Location:
London (Region)
Start:asap
Description:
This is an interesting opportunity. The sucessful candidate will be expected to deliver a prompt and effective site investigation service to check accuracy and validity of signs and road markings. They will also be responsible for both the reactive and proactive delivery of the signs and lines maintenance function.
Post will involve a lot of out-door working, sometimes carrying equipment; therefore a good level of fitness is required.
There will be need to research and collate information and knowledge of Word/Excel is essential.
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Regardess of the law, I would make a judgement on wether or not to overtake on visibility grouds. I have often had buses in front stop for minutes on end at vacant bus stopes purely as they are running early.
i refuse to be held up and will always overtake if i can do it safely (and without a plod folowing behind).
Paul
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