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"Don't be a dummy" - police escort London-bound cyclist off the M1M1 cyclist (source BCH Road Policing on Twitter)

"Don't be a dummy" - police escort London-bound cyclist off the M1

Rider found battling against elements as traffic speeds past
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, Oct 13, 2013 19:55
43

Police have told cyclists “don’t be a dummy” after escorting a London-bound rider off the M1 in Hertfordshire today as he rode along the hard shoulder, struggling against the wind and rain and with traffic passing at speed just yards away. 

A picture posted to the Twitter account of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit was accompanied by the message: “Somebody thought it was ok to cycle to London on the M1, escorted safely off at Redbourn. #dontbeadummy.”

As the photo shows, visibility was poor on the motorway as a result of the rain, but the rider was pressing on against the elements with no rear light on his bike.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Constabulary told Mail Online: “We were alerted just before midday today of a man travelling southbound on the M1 on a push bike.

“We did a very slow escort off with him at the next junction, which was junction 9 at Redbourne. We gave him words and advice, and I believe he's now getting a train. He was planning to go to London.”

It’s at least the third time a cyclist has strayed onto the M1 this year.

In June, a woman was escorted off the motorway after she was found riding on the hard shoulder between junctions 13 and 14 close to Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

The previous month, Derbyshire Police arrested a man found cycling between junctions 28 and 29 of the motorway after he failed to comply with their instructions.

Cycling on motorways is banned under section 253 of the Highway Code.
Sometimes cyclists do end up on them, whether through an honest mistake or because they deliberately break the law, or are ignorant of it.

Famously, in 2002, a pair of cyclists from Kenya preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester were found training on the M61 in full national kit.

After riding up and down the hard shoulder for the best part of an hour, police escorted them off the motorway, putting the episode down to a “genuine mistake.”

Hertfordshire
motorway
M1
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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43 comments

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Chuck replied to bohrhead | 11 years ago
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bohrhead wrote:
KNOWNOTHINGBOZO wrote:

Why is he lucky no one hit him? He's on the hard shoulder, do cars regularly drive along them at speed? Other than Alex Ferguson in a queue of course. I occasionally have to ride a long a dual carriageway with no hard shoulder. What's the difference? Far more dangerous I would say.

My thoughts exactly. Other than the on/off ramps it must be about the safest possible place to cycle, especially in low visibility situations like the ones he was in.

It reminds me of the cycle lane along the A14- effectively it's the same thing as far as I can see (not that I've ever seen anybody on it!) As KNB points out, most regular riders will be familiar with people passing at 70 just over their right shoulder, with less room to maneuver than there is on the hard shoulder. I think it's reasonable to wonder if this really is objectively more dangerous.
That's not to say this guy's not a bit of a muppet!

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Colin Peyresourde | 11 years ago
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Just to link in with another thread (or two), I guess it shows the need for cycle training.

I guess I am being a bit provocative, but if you've never passed your driving test you've never had reason to read and know your highway code - which is the only place which tells you can't ride on a motorway....cycle craft at the minute is just something passed down from cyclist to cyclist. There is nothing which helps with blind spots and the meaning of traffic signs which is imbued to the public at large in any other way.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to Colin Peyresourde | 11 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde wrote:

I guess I am being a bit provocative, but if you've never passed your driving test you've never had reason to read and know your highway code - which is the only place which tells you can't ride on a motorway....

I can't remember the last time I was on a motorway (I don't drive myself) but I seem to recall there are signs at all slip roads onto them saying no cycles, pedestrians, etc?

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Al__S replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Simon_MacMichael wrote:

I can't remember the last time I was on a motorway (I don't drive myself) but I seem to recall there are signs at all slip roads onto them saying no cycles, pedestrians, etc?

Nope. ALl that is supposed to be conveyed by the blue "Motorway" signs. The signs you're thinking of appear at the entrances to restricted traffic dual carriageways

There are differences- eg learner drivers can use the latter, but not motorways.

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Colin Peyresourde replied to Al__S | 11 years ago
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Al__S wrote:
Simon_MacMichael wrote:

I can't remember the last time I was on a motorway (I don't drive myself) but I seem to recall there are signs at all slip roads onto them saying no cycles, pedestrians, etc?

Nope. ALl that is supposed to be conveyed by the blue "Motorway" signs. The signs you're thinking of appear at the entrances to restricted traffic dual carriageways

There are differences- eg learner drivers can use the latter, but not motorways.

+1 - there are no signs which show that cyclists and pedestrians are pro-hibited, as a road user you are supposed to know that motorways are automatically off limits.

It's a little bit like the way HMRC require you to complete a tax return if you are getting income from sources which are not employment.....no one tells you this, you are just supposed to know. But you've kind of proven my point.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 11 years ago
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Well, if one uses the same logic as former transport minister Norman Baker, its clear that motorways are by far the safest routes to cycle on.

As he pointed out, the Netherlands has a higher level of cyclist KSI per capita than we do, and therefore we have safer cycling than they do. Thinking Bakerlogically, one can note that almost no British cyclists are killed on motorways. Thus they must be much safer for cycling than minor roads.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 11 years ago
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FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Well, if one uses the same logic as former transport minister Norman Baker, its clear that motorways are by far the safest routes to cycle on.

As he pointed out, the Netherlands has a higher level of cyclist KSI per capita than we do, and therefore we have safer cycling than they do. Thinking Bakerlogically, one can note that almost no British cyclists are killed on motorways. Thus they must be much safer for cycling than minor roads.

To be fair to Norman Baker, it was former road safety minister Mike Penning who said that: http://road.cc/57138

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A V Lowe | 11 years ago
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When I got dropped at Warrington at 4 am and (with no trains for a few hours) opted to ride to Liverpool, the only route signposted to Liverpool was via M62 - which at that time of day was deserted. However I did spot a sign to Rainhill and knowing that this was on the Liverpool & Manchester railway and rode that way. The Sustrans person at the event suggested I should have ridden an unlit, unsurfaced and even less path trafficked path alongside the canal - this received due derision from others attending.

A similar position can be found in many other places. Cross the Forth Bridge heading for Perth and the only route signposted is on the M90, and in Glasgow we even had a black on white sign for a local destination that sent you via the M8. A 'popular' use of the M9 is from the Dunblane junction to the A84 junction for Stirling, as again it is (or was) the only route signposted to Stirling and a lot more direct then taking the old road. When the roads are signed for every road user to use effectively then perhaps we'll see a bit less cycling on the motorways of the UK

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Ush replied to A V Lowe | 11 years ago
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A V Lowe wrote:

When the roads are signed for every road user to use effectively then perhaps we'll see a bit less cycling on the motorways of the UK

Makes sense. And some motorways should definitely have physically separated bike lanes along them... it's one of the few places they'd actually make sense.

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FMOAB | 11 years ago
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Would love to know what the words of advice were 19

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antigee | 11 years ago
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with traffic passing at speed just yards away

so a lot safer than most roads then 103

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frisbee79 | 11 years ago
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Passed this guy this morning, he was walking his bike by this point. Police car hadn't got to him by then. Weather was horrendous, visibility very poor, he was very lucky nobody hit him. We did wonder what he was doing!

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sm | 11 years ago
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I wonder if they'll be entering that picture into the Chris Hoy riding in Autumn competition. Winner.

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