Not a Cycle Lane
All good practice recommends that cyclists should ride at least 60cm away from the kerb. Riding any closer to the edge leaves no room to manoeuvre in the event of an emergency, and necessitates swerving into traffic to avoid debris, drain covers and so on. However, novice cyclists sometimes find it difficult to judge a good road position, and often tend to ride too close to the kerb for safety.
Wigan Borough Council have recognised this problem and devised the simple solution of painting a line 60cm from the kerb to warn cyclists not to ride too close to the kerb. At first, we were concerned that the use of the cycle symbol might cause the stripe to be mistaken for a cycle lane. However, as Robert Owen from Wigan Council clearly explains:
| "Diagram 1057 indicates a cycle lane, track or route. As there is no cycle track or cycle lane this symbol indicates a route available to cyclists." |