Cycling and the LAW

[hanzao]

Posted by guys i do my Sunday rides with]

http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/1976.asp

I did not know some of these rules :S

"Under the Road Traffic Code, it is an offence to speed. The Code also requires that you do not ride carelessly or recklessly. "
Ok what is the speed limit? oh it means on the road.. what about PSP?

[Baalzamon]

PSP 50k unless signed I believe.

[fixed]

Posted by guys i do my Sunday rides with]

http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/1976.asp

I did not know some of these rules :S

"Under the Road Traffic Code, it is an offence to speed. The Code also requires that you do not ride carelessly or recklessly. "
Ok what is the speed limit? oh it means on the road.. what about PSP?

one too many square brackets

Posted by guys i do my Sunday rides with
http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/1976.asp

Given there is no limit posted for PSP's, does the 50km limit for suburban streets apply on PSP's?
I would say it would depend on the particular opinion of the officer making the allegation of traffic infringement.

do not ride carelessly or recklessly.

Again opinion of officer and witnesses.

I would like a definite reference that indicates that PSP's in WA are limited to 50km/h.

[Marty Moose]

I thought psp limit was 22kph I remember reading this back in the early 90's I'll try to dig it up.

MM

[fixed]

I thought psp limit was 22kph I remember reading this back in the early 90's I'll try to dig it up.

MM

That's what I am trying to address. Please post a reference that has current legal standing.
22km/h can be exceeded on most declines without even pedalling.

I regularly exceed 40km/h on sections of Perth's PSP's where conditions and traffic permit.

Perhaps the Department of Planning lurkers can add their two cents worth?

[rolandp]

I was also unaware of:

Train passengers who travel with their bikes require a permit. Bike Permits are issued free from Perth, Joondalup, Armadale and Midland train stations as well as from customer service assistants and transit guards at stations or on board.
No bicycles are permitted in the first passenger car of the train.

I've never had a permit when I've taken by bike on the train and would not have known that I couldn't enter the first passenger car.

Note, the page finishes with the common catch all statement:

Although every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this publication is correct, the publishers accept no responsibility for the contents nor do they assume any duty of care to any person who might act on reliance of its contents. The booklet is only a guide to the road rules in Western Australia and not meant to be used in place of the Road Traffic Act 1974, Road Traffic Code 2000 and Road Traffic (Bicycles) Regulations 2000 or subsidiary legislation.

[Aushiker]

I thought psp limit was 22kph I remember reading this back in the early 90's I'll try to dig it up.

MM

That's what I am trying to address. Please post a reference that has current legal standing.
22km/h can be exceeded on most declines without even pedalling.

Hi

Would the Road Traffic Code 2000 as amended do do?

Regards
Andrew

[Aushiker]

Hi

From the Road Traffic Code 2000 as amended November 2009:

default speed limit, for a vehicle

(a) that is limited to a particular speed limit by these
regulations that is slower than 110 km/h, means that
slower speed limit; or
(b) that is not otherwise limited to a particular speed limit
by these regulations, means a speed limit of 110 km/h;

Part 3 — Speed restrictions covers speed restrictions.

carriageway means a portion of a road that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, and includes the shoulders, and areas, including embayments, at the side or centre of the carriageway, used for the stopping or parking of vehicles; and, where a road has 2 or more of those portions divided by a median strip, the expression means each of those portions, separately;

Regards
Andrew

[fixed]

so if the PSP is not signed for a particular speed limit then the state open road speed limit applies? cool (goes looking for 115 tooth chain ring and motorcycle pacer)

I personally have not seen a speed limit sign placed on ANY section of PSP in the prescribed format that complies with the Road Traffic Code. One speed limit I have seen is the warning painted sign on the path itself at the Claremont Showgrounds chicane on the PSP "20km slow". This area is a two-way blindspot, and I always slow down for it. The sign does not not comply with the Road Traffic Code regs and schedules.
If there are specific speed limit signs for PSP around Perth please enlighten me, I would imagine they have been dreamt up by zealous Local Guvmint apparatchiks.

I would say that as a given the default built-up area speed limit of 50km/h applies (Part 3 Section 11 (2))

A person shall not drive a vehicle in a built-up area, at a speed
exceeding 50 km/h, except within a speed zone in which a
higher speed is permitted.

Road Traffic Code as amended Nov 2009
I checked Part 3 pp 41 - 47 - nope nothing there
I checked Part 15 pp 235 - 246 - nope nothing there

Thanks for the link Aushiker, you've confirmed there is no speed limit prescribed (proscribed?) for the PSP
Enforcement of speeds on PSP comes down to the interpretation of reckless or careless riding by an authorised officer issuing an infringement notice as described under the regs .

[roller]

is all this to-ing and fro-ing about what is the legal speed on a PSP just about having another thing to complain about?

(once you know what the limit is)

ie "oh i saw some biker, such a moron, was easily going 10 km/h over the speed limit for that particular section of the PSP"


or do people want to know because they actually are worried they might get pulled over by a policeman (or woman) one day?

[paul33]

Our mate Howard Satler has a high ranking officer on air each week, I think its Tuesday before 1500 If I remember next week I will try and ask the question on what is the speed limit.


This question has been raised before and still we seek an answer

Paul

[Crankitup]

Since speedometers (1) aren't mandatory items for bicycles and (2) require human input to set up (i.e. subject to error) I wonder how many cases would hold up in court.

[r2160]

Wow, you guys in WA are lucky. Here in NSW, any bicycle taken on a train requires a purchased ticket.

Cheers
Glenn

[ColinOldnCranky]

Without reading thru rules and regs on applicaiton of speed limits, it may be relevant to be aware that when regs and laws refer to the roadway, that includes a whole lot of space we would not identify as road, including footpaths and verges.

Carriageway is what you and I normally think of as roadway.

So anything that states the limit applies to te roadway would, I think, include the footpaths too. Do signed speed limits apply to the "roadway"? Or just carriageway?

[TonyS]

I wrote Cycling and the Law so will try and clarify the points raised. There is no actual posted speed limit on shared paths in WA, but if a police officer has reason to believe a cyclist is travelling too fast for the prevailing conditions, they can issue an infringement for reckless riding. This assessment of "too fast for the prevailing conditions" could mean riding too fast for the path sightline, too fast for the condition of the path, too fast for the amount of moisture on the path, too fast for the number, density and type of path user present at the time etc. etc. Also, because cyclists have an automatic duty of care to pedestrians on shared facilities under the law, a police officer will carefully assess whether a cyclist is adhering to that duty when any pedestrians are present.

The one exception to this "no actual posted speed limit" scenario occurs for paths located in some local government authorities. They have the power to create a by-law requiring users of certain facilities such as parks and reserves (or paths travelling through these facilities) to adhere to a posted speed limit and a couple of councils in WA have now done that. Enforcement of these by-laws is problematic because of the lack of a speed measuring device on most bicycles. To date, Bikewest is not aware of any local government speed-related infringements proceeding to Court, so the full implications of the posted speed limit policy are not yet known.

The Public Transport Authority used to require cyclists to obtain a free permit to take their bike on a train. They may still do officially, but in practice simply don't worry about it anymore because of the increasing number of bikes being carried on their services. I will check with the PTA on the latest regulation and if it has changed, I will amend our brochure accordingly.

Thanks
TonyS

[ColinOldnCranky]

Ask yourself, if you WERE booked for allegedly doing, say, 75 clicks ANY place, would you fight it? Or just sit back and bask in the glory and adulation?

I mean, imagine having recorded for all eternity an "offical" (ie credible) achivement of 75kph on your bike. And not in a controlled made-for-records velodrome. I'd buy every copy of the paper and pass them around! Forward the links. Start up a "75KPH - COLIN CHRISTENSEN - HE DA MAN" facebook fan site. Get my mates to talk it up on talkback radio...

[ColinOldnCranky]

I hate that bit in WA about not being able to ride two abreast on any path. And Idon't even ride in company!

Come on! Is that reasonable! Yeah, maybe in the days when a guy walked in front of your car carrying a red flag.

"The law is an ass"? I think the ass is getting a bad deal.

[fixed]

Ask yourself, if you WERE booked for allegedly doing, say, 75 clicks ANY place, would you fight it? Or just sit back and bask in the glory and adulation?

I mean, imagine having recorded for all eternity an "offical" (ie credible) achivement of 75kph on your bike. And not in a controlled made-for-records velodrome. I'd buy every copy of the paper and pass them around! Forward the links. Start up a "75KPH - COLIN CHRISTENSEN - HE DA MAN" facebook fan site. Get my mates to talk it up on talkback radio...

you left out - while doing a mono
that's the sunday times covered.