London Bus Lane Etiquette

As bus lanes operated by TfL have been opened to bikers in London, it
seems a good time to discuss safety issues when using bus lanes.

This isn’t a new idea, some London bus lanes have been open for some
time as part of a trial, and of course in other parts of the country
bus lanes have been available to PTW’s for some time.

But it’s important to emphasise that this privilege could be withdrawn
if we abuse it or if the accident rate turns out to be unacceptably
high. So the onus is on us as riders to use them sensibly now to ensure
we can continue to use them! Using an empty bus lane as an excuse to
blast to the front of the queue at high speed is not likely to further
that end.

Some riders have questioned the benefits, but many of the routes that
are open are along main roads into London and a careful ride down the
adjoining bus lane is definitely quicker than sitting in a four mile
queue of standing traffic and rather less stressful than filtering down
the outside of that queue.

Although the trials have been a bit indeterminate on whether there are
fewer risks to riders, my gut feeling is that it’s probably safer,
provided some simple precautions are taken by the rider.

A key consideration whether you are an experienced commuter or
recreational rider who’s decided to try his hand at riding into town
rather than drive or take the train, is that whilst bus lane access
offers new opportunities to riders, it also means there are new dangers
to think about, and some new wrinkles on hazards we should already all
be aware of.

The first thing to remember is that we do not have exclusive access to
bus lanes – we’ll be sharing them with other road users including
pedestrians crossing the road, buses (obviously), taxis, bicycles, car
and van drivers using the lane illegally and last but not least other
bikers on a variety of machines from 50cc scooters to sports bikes.

The second important point is not to forget that other road users will
not be used to bikes in them yet, so extra attention is needed whilst
everyone gets used to the new system. Even bus drivers will have to get
used to the speed that bikes appear compared with the average cyclist.

The third point is that most of the hazards that might catch us out are
common to any multilane road, but there is one important difference -
the traffic on the bus lane is more than likely to be moving relatively
freely whilst the lane on our right is often slow moving or stationary.
This difference in speed is known as lane shear and leads to most
accidents in queuing traffic. The greatest danger is when the lane
alongside us is stopped.

So what problems can we expect? I can foresee several areas:

• vehicles stopping ahead of us
• vehicles emerging from the left
• vehicles encroaching on or entering the bus lane
• vehicles, cycles or pedestrians crossing our path
• problems when we try to leave the bus lane ourselves

Vehicles that will stop in the bus lane
We need to remember that the buses and taxis use bus lanes. They stop;
regularly! Buses stop at bus stops, but taxis can and do stop anywhere,
and rather suddenly at that! And we will also encounter other vehicles
that are parked or unloading, perhaps legally in a bay or illegally
outside the paper shop or at the cash point machine! If they stop just
ahead of us or the bus we’re following, they can bring the lane to a
halt unexpectedly. Keep a good following distance – too close and we
not only lose our own chance of seeing ahead, but no one can see us
either.

Vehicles emerging from our left
One worry I have is that drivers emerging from our left will tend to
glance down the bus lane and if they don’t see a bus, will then focus
on the main flow of traffic to look for a gap and pull out without a
further check. Meanwhile the approaching biker thinks “they must have
seen me” and carries on without any precautions.

Drivers see what they expect to see – and they are looking for a bus in
a bus lane, and to a much lesser extent, a cycle. It’ll take a while
for drivers to get used to seeing bikes in the bus lane. So we need to
react accordingly by slowing and covering the horn and brakes.

Also we need to beware of the driver who will just pull out anyway in
the full knowledge we are there and will have to stop. Again, the
greatest danger is when the lane beside us is stopped.

Vehicles that will encroach on or enter the bus lane from our right
Other hazards to watch out for are things that might make a vehicle encroach on or enter the bus lane temporarily:

• Junctions
  on the RIGHT; if a car ahead stops to turn right, expect the car beside
  you to swing left into the bus lane to pass it; if an articulated lorry
  needs to turn right into a narrow road, it may swing left first into
  the bus lane to make the turn.
• Traffic islands in the centre
  of the road, for example at traffic lights or on pedestrian crossings;
  trucks may need to move left to pass to pass them safely and encroach
  on the bus lane.
• Roadworks or vehicles parked awkwardly in the other lane; drivers might enter the bus lane to make space for oncoming vehicles.
• Left Hand Bends; if the road is narrow, expect the trailer of an articulated lorry to encroach on the bus lane.

We’ll encounter a similar problem at the end of the bus lane, perhaps
at a junction where traffic moves left legally before turning left.
It’ll be tempting to try to get past as many cars as possible, but far
safer to slow down and let vehicles merge. Watch out for the driver who
dives in before the bus lane actually ends too!

Vehicles turning left across our path
When we are passing to the left of a stationary or slow moving queue,
it’s up to us to remember drivers are not likely to be aware we are
coming up on the inside. According to a bus driving friend, drivers
don’t spot approaching double deckers before they turn left across the
bus lane, so there’s no reason to expect they’ll spot us on two wheels.
It’s not always simple carelessness, the view out of most nearside door
mirrors on cars is frequently poor.

So we’ll need to apply top observation skills to spotting places where
drivers can and will turn to the left and moderate our speed
accordingly.

That’s not just junctions, but anywhere on the left where they can
turn; petrol stations, carparks, driveways, delivery accesses. Anywhere
there is a dropped kerb is where someone can turn!

Vehicles turning right across our path or crossing
The biggest danger is probably where vehicles can cross our path from
the opposite direction. The result is a near head-on collision and the
results are often serious for the rider of the bike. This kind of
accident contributes significantly to PTW fatal accidents in London.

Where traffic is heavy but slow moving, vehicles turning across our
path into side turnings from the opposite direction or from the
opposite side of a cross roads won’t see us either even though they’re
facing us – we are hidden by the traffic queue in the road to our
right. Once again, the faster we ride, the less chance we have of
reacting to such hazards.

In particular take care if traffic in the lane alongside comes to a
halt – the chances of someone flashing a turning car through a gap and
into your path is extremely high.

Cyclists turning right from our left
In particular be considerate of cyclists, don’t blitz them, remember
they’ll be turning right themselves so pass carefully and give them
plenty of room whilst passing..

Pedestrians crossing the road
Pedestrians can cross just about anywhere, and so to a lesser extent
can cyclists, though any junction is a likely spot. Of course, watch
out for pedestrian crossings – they will walk through stationary
traffic straight out in front of you.

Speed & Stopping Distances
Don’t underestimate the benefits of what seem to be quite small
reductions in speed in terms of stopping distance. Just as when you
double your speed your stopping distance quadruples, so if you halve
your speed you can stop in one quarter of the distance. So even
apparently insignificant reductions in speed can have quite noticable
consequences.

If I’m covering the brakes, at 30mph I can stop the bike in about 5
bike lengths on a reasonable surface. At 20mph, I can stop the bike in
2 bike lengths! Yes, TWO! Now work out the distance from where the kerb
turns into a sideroad on the nearside and where the offside front
corner an emerging car will be. That should give you some idea how late
you can brake and STILL miss that car!

The other thing to consider is that when we hit the brakes we don’t
lose speed in a linear fashion – if we had enough space that we could
JUST stop without hitting that emerging car at 20mph, you might be
surprised to know that if we were in fact doing 30, we wouldn’t hit the
car at 10mph as we might expect; we’d still be doing 20mph!

Other Tips
When the traffic is flowing, try not to sit alongside lorries, coaches
or vans, all have restricted views from the driver’s seat, and even if
the driver looks, he may well not be able to see you down in the blind
spot on the left. The best option is to stagger adjacent to the gap in
the other lane.

Watch out for foreign plated vehicles. Drivers from abroad won’t be
used to the system in the UK anyway, and will probably not be aware of
motorcycles in bus lanes.

Know the route; read the signs, know the layout of the junction and where vehicles move.

Watch the road surface. Road works are likely to have left poorly
filled trenches, manhole covers are often found right in the middle of
the lane as is loose gravel, and of course, buses spill diesel and drip
oil right down the middle of the lane. The wide white lane marking
extremely slippery too.

Try to avoid swapping between the normal carriageway and the bus lane.
If we move into the main flow of traffic to pass a stationary bus, we need to watch out for the pedestrian who’s just got off.

Final Thoughts

Most importantly if someone does something silly and we can’t swerve or
stop, we are going too fast! Don’t forget the bike’s fitted with a
horn, either – don’t be afraid to use it.

Lastly, there are what one person described as the “more touchy feely
considerations”. Most of what we do on a bike looks dangerous and
aggressive, and initially at least, it’s likely that quite a few
drivers, pedestrians and cyclists won’t realise we are actually not
breaking the law, but using bus lanes perfectly legally. It is going to
annoy car drivers even more than usual to see bikes swarming past
whilst they are stuck listening to the traffic report on the radio, so
try to pass considerately.

Maybe all this sounds horribly dangerous, but hopefully you can see there are simple rules for
staying out of trouble. As someone else said to me when I was
discussing the issues of riding in bus lanes, “think of it as filtering, rather than as a licence to blast along an empty road, and you should be OK”.

Good advice in my opinion.