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Motorway cyclist fined after van driver crashed trying to avoid himM58 cyclist (via Lancashire Police)

Motorway cyclist fined after van driver crashed trying to avoid him

Rider was taking his lockdown daily exercise when sat-nav error led him onto M58 in Lancashire
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, May 12, 2020 12:06
40

A cyclist who strayed onto the M58 motorway in Lancashire due to a sat-nav error has been fined after a van driver crashed while trying to avoid him.

The incident happened between junctions 4 and 5 near Skelmersdale last Monday 4 May, said Lancashire Constabulary.

Police said that the rider, dressed in a t-shirt and casual shorts, had ended up on the motorway because he had not switched the sat-nav app on his mobile phone to the cycling setting.

A spokesman for the force said: “He moved out in to Lane 1, causing a car in Lane 1 to swerve to Lane 2 into the path of a van.

“The van couldn't move to Lane 3 as another vehicle was there, so had to swerve to the left and went in between the cyclist and the car, colliding with the car in the process.”

No-one was reported to have been injured in the incident, which police described as “surreal,” adding that it was very fortunate that the cyclist himself hadn’t been “wiped out.”

Officers escorted him off the motorway, but somehow he ended up back on it, and had to be escorted off again by a police patrol.

Highway Code rule 253 states:

Prohibited vehicles. Motorways MUST NOT be used by pedestrians, holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters.

The man is not the first to have strayed onto a motorway during the current lockdown.

At the end of March, we reported how police told a cyclist who was found on the M60 near Cheadle, Cheshire, that “this does not constitute your daily exercise” and issued him with a fine.

> “This does not constitute your daily exercise,” police tell cyclist stopped on M60

And in early April, police in Leicestershire stopped and fined a cyclist on the M69 between Leicester and Hinckley.

Mortorway
motorway cyclist
Lancashire Contabulary
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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40 comments

Avatar
Dao replied to HLaB | 4 years ago
2 likes

I made an adventure journey out of a commute home once on an unfamiliar route. Missed the last exit and approached a roundabout where my only exit options were the M6 or the A500... I had the brainpower necessary to process "turn around" and went back to the last exit getting back to my country lane loop home. xD

there are dual carriage ways you can ride on, and some you should never even dream of trying.

I don't understand how someone can "accidentally" end up on a motorway and NOT think to immediately find their way back off.

Avatar
Canyon48 replied to Dao | 4 years ago
1 like

Dao wrote:

I made an adventure journey out of a commute home once on an unfamiliar route. Missed the last exit and approached a roundabout where my only exit options were the M6 or the A500... I had the brainpower necessary to process "turn around" and went back to the last exit getting back to my country lane loop home. xD

there are dual carriage ways you can ride on, and some you should never even dream of trying.

I don't understand how someone can "accidentally" end up on a motorway and NOT think to immediately find their way back off.

Cycling in the New Forest, I took a turn and ended up on the A31 dual carriageway before I knew it!

Avatar
brooksby replied to Dao | 4 years ago
1 like

Dao wrote:

I don't understand how someone can "accidentally" end up on a motorway and NOT think to immediately find their way back off.

Over the railing and walk across a field, if you have to, surely...?

Avatar
Hirsute | 4 years ago
4 likes

Should have his bike crushed.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 4 years ago
3 likes

"Officers escorted him off the motorway, but somehow he ended up back on it, and had to be escorted off again by a police patrol."

Wow!  Rides on motorway, causes crash, is escorted off by the police once, then goes back on it!  Missing all the cyclists not allowed signs on the way.  Perhaps he should stick to walking; not on the motorway obviously.

Avatar
srchar replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
2 likes

He'd probably end up on Manchester airport runway.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes

He must have been one of these militant cyclists i keep hearing about

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to Captain Badger | 4 years ago
1 like

Captain Badger wrote:

He must have been one of these militant cyclists i keep hearing about

Clearly not; he wasn't wearing lycra.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes

Covert Ops...

Avatar
FrankH replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
1 like

eburtthebike wrote:

"Officers escorted him off the motorway, but somehow he ended up back on it, and had to be escorted off again by a police patrol."

My guess is that the police used their discretion and "gave words of sdvice" for the first offence, after all, we all make mistakes. It's the second offence that earned him the fine.

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