Bike specific traffic regulations in Europe

[peecis]

Hello!
Just now returned from ride to Belgium (ferry from Riga to Lubeck, by bike to Groningen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Kiel, ferry to Klaipeda) and now I have question about some bike specific traffic regulations in Europe:
1) police tolerance about speeding;
2) traffic jams - do bikes have to stand with cars?
3) parking. is it ok to park bikes on pavements?

I'll tell about Latvia:
1) +20 km/h for bikes almost always is ok.
2) if there is not continuous road marking line on road, it is not illegal to drive between lines in traffic jams. also in other "not standing in traffic jams" cases police is quite tolerant, except for crossing double line.
3) from this year - yes


The question came in my mind when we almost had problems with German police for not standing in traffic jam. In Belgium seems that everything is ok

Sorry for my English

[Steve C]

Hello!
Just now returned from ride to Belgium (ferry from Riga to Lubeck, by bike to Groningen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Kiel, ferry to Klaipeda) and now I have question about some bike specific traffic regulations in Europe:
1) police tolerance about speeding;
2) traffic jams - do bikes have to stand with cars?
3) parking. is it ok to park bikes on pavements?

I'll tell about Latvia:
1) +20 km/h for bikes almost always is ok.
2) if there is not continuous road marking line on road, it is not illegal to drive between lines in traffic jams. also in other "not standing in traffic jams" cases police is quite tolerant, except for crossing double line.
3) from this year - yes


The question came in my mind when we almost had problems with German police for not standing in traffic jam. In Belgium seems that everything is ok

Sorry for my English

Hello peecis - your English is fine!

My Latvian, on the other hand, is rubbish!

Others will answer about other European countries; the only thing I can say is that my experience is the same as yours - that it is different in lots of countries, making it harder to know what is and isn't allowed.

Speed. In UK, best to assume that +10per cent is the most you'll get away with but the police take less and less interest in the speed of traffic in the UK and leave the job to cameras. What that means in practice is that you might get away with it right in front of a police car but you might not. You'll never get away with it passing a fixed camera (clearly marked except on overhead gantries on motorways and big dual carriageways) or moveable van (though clearly marked, often easily missed).
Stories of French police hitting hard on speeding UK traffic dashing for the ferry come up in our media most years...

In traffic jams, bikes don't have to stand with cars so long as it's safe to do whatever manoeuvre the motorcyclist is doing and doesn't contravene any specific instructions (like your solid white lines - same here). We call it filtering and pretty much always ok so long as it's safe to do - so if there was an accident, you might have to prove you were riding safely. Only time you mustn't do it is; you can pass all the traffic waiting at a pedestrian crossing but must not pass the front vehicle.

Parking is becoming an increasingly difficult issue in the UK. Five years ago, a bike would be ignored so long as it was out of the way. Not so any more but it varies from area to area because parking is controlled by the local borough. Mostly best to assume it's not ok to park on pavements.

[Lutin]

Hi Peecis

One thing that I have heard, but not yet confirmed, is that in Germany filtering past slow or standing traffic is not tolerated (and possibly illegal). I have also heard that car drivers will open their doors to prevent a motorcycle from filtering past.

Maybe someone could confirm this?

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Don't take the following as authoritative! This is based on stuff I've read on the Internet... so beware.

By and large, filtering in Germany is illegal, BUT the police advise motorcycles to filter as to not get stuck at the back of a traffic jam. So long as the other vehicles are stationary, it's okay to filter between the leftmost lane and the lane beside it. In case of an accident the lanesplitting vehicle is seen as the offending party unless it can be proved (witness or police report) that the non-lanesplitting vehicle or person (in the case of someone opening their door as you come along) did not apply due caution.

In Austria it is legal, but most car drivers don't know this yet so beware.

In Holland it is legal and the code of conduct is that you only filter between the far left lane and the one next to it, if traffic is moving at or below 50-60kph; you must not be driving more than 10kph faster than the other traffic. Cars are very used to bikes filtering between the mentioned left lanes and will usually create a wide path for bikes to drive.

I believe Belgium has similar rules as Holland.

Most other countries do not specifically allow or ban it, and use a similar 'code of conduct' as described for Holland.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Vader?

[Nickel Arse]

As for filtering on the German autobahn.
It states in StVo (rules and regs) that it is not allowed, however it is tolerated by the police as long as the traffic is stationary and your speed is not deemed as being too fast, as for people opening their doors it used to happen in the summer at 40 degrees now with AC units they wouldn't dare open the doors and let heat in, as for everything just be careful... and don't forget your panniers doh

[moon]

The road traffic legislation in france is to the french what cricket is to the english. An english child of 8 can understand perfectly the rules of cricket but an adult french male is incapable of so doing! In the same way there are rules & regs over here that i still don't know about...

Filtering has, untill recently, always been tolerated in france & most cars will push right over in their lane to let you past so's you don't have to cross over the center line. I believe that there is a crackdown on lane splitting at the moment, especially in the big cities. Technically it is illegal to overtake in an "agglomeration" (within the city limits, be it a city, town or village) which is why the cars push over to let you by without crossing the line... I've always found that if you're sensible about it, you'll get away with it.

Paris is a case apart, there IS a crackdown on everything relating to motorcycles in paris at the moment, 0 tolerance on speeding, lane splitting & pavement parking. the French tolerance on speeding has dropped over the last few years from +/- 20km/h to almost 0. They're also in the process of finr tuning the system for fining foreigners, so beware!

as with all these things, I find that if you're sensible about it & respectful of the other road users & the police, you'll get away with most stuff, but gone are the days when I would happily average 170km/h for hours on end on the french autoroutes...
(besides, i ride a transalp now...)

[Jacqueslemac]

...and contrary to what you might have read, not all speed cameras in France point towards the oncoming traffic. I spotted two new ones on my way back from Normandy last week, both the other way round, perhaps so they can now catch motorcyclists?

[moon]

...and contrary to what you might have read, not all speed cameras in France point towards the oncoming traffic. I spotted two new ones on my way back from Normandy last week, both the other way round, perhaps so they can now catch motorcyclists?

indeed thay can, mon ami! there's one not 2k from where I sit. the 3rd (i think) generation of automatic cameras take you from behind...


they're also about 1/3rd the size of the 1st gen units. They are however still clearly signalled, between 5 & 700 metres before the unit.

MooN

[steveR]

indeed thay can, mon ami! there's one not 2k from where I sit. the 3rd (i think) generation of automatic cameras take you from behind...


they're also about 1/3rd the size of the 1st gen units. They are however still clearly signalled, between 5 & 700 metres before the unit.

MooN

On that note, any recommendations for a good and up to date spee... safety camera database for France?