Bus Lane Abuse

There’s a section of bus lane I cycle down on a regular basis (pretty much all bus lanes allow cyclists) but I’ve noticed a worrying trend.

Whilst I would occasionally see a car in it, it’s now getting to the point that every time I ride down it I’m tailgated by a car, often being driven aggressively.

I sat there for half an hour recently, between 4:50pm and 5:20pm, on a typical Tuesday evening rush hour. The results were shocking:

Of the 39 vehicles using the bus lane, over 60% of them were using it illegally. Only buses and cycles have a legal right to use the bus lane. One vehicle was a taxi but according to the signage even they are prohibited in this particular lane as it is part of the Sheffield bus corridor.

An additional concern is that the road is a 40mph road and many of the drivers jumping the queue also did it at very high speed – were they to strike the back end of a cyclist the results could be fatal.

I’ve now taken the matter up with the council, police and my local MP about enforcement cameras, although I did suggest that an hour of the camera van there would probably net them £2000+ in fines alone.

I’ll report back what I find.