CTC welcomes removal of centre lines on rural roads

Are they removing just the "broken lines" and leaving the double white lines?  Following upgrades to the A1, I regularly need to use a couple of miles of local "link road" with a 60mph limit.  I've noticed how a sizeable number of drivers will simply never cross the double white lines to give you more space, but will happily fly past giving you a minimal amount of space, even though there is no oncoming traffic.  This really needs properly studying and results investigating.  As an idea, rather than testing the theory on real people - why not use simulators?

it seems to work OK in the Netherlands - when there isn't room for a seperate cycle lane, then on smaller roads they keep the cycle lanes either side, and have a single motor lane in the middle. 

but that's the Netherlands ...

Horribly flawed.  It might encourage traffic from behind to move over further when overtaking but it also encourages all tragic to driver in the middle of the road and also faster as there is one wide lane not 2 narrow ones.  They most certainly didn't do the research around here.

Horribly flawed.  It might encourage traffic from behind to move over further when overtaking but it also encourages all tragic to driver in the middle of the road and also faster as there is one wide lane not 2 narrow ones.  They most certainly didn't do the research around here.

How long will the speed reduction last for before people resume their speeding?  Logically there is no evidence that it will last forever.

I dispute the idea of cycle lanes in rural areas though. For a start it's often safer to take the lane as the road is narrow enough to start with (meaning there's no way enough room for a cycle lane anyway) plus have you seen the state of most rural roads?

More holes than my sieve, ffs.

Research backs up that people slow when no markings are laid. I tend to drift into the middle portion of the lane and then move back to verge when other vehicles are oncoming. It does make you slow down when the reference line is removed. You have to judge if there is room. When the line is there you can see from distance that you've room and don't slow down.

For cyclists, again drivers move further over because they don't feel they are in the wrong side of the road

very few drivers cross the central white line when passing a cyclist, even when there is room to do so. No need for the things whatsoever.

The essence of these proposals is that we're ok with using people on bikes as a speed reduction measure: If a motorist is driving and sees a person cycling, they slow down. But, as anyone reading this website can attest to, not all do. And it only takes on person driving too close/too fast to kill me.

In my experience doing this traffic engineering game, the only thing that slows down the type of people who drive too fast is physical measures. Reducing the speed limit will do very little to make a real difference to motor vehicle speeds, particularly the drivers who risk overtakes where it's not safe.

In my experience this only works if the speed limit is 30 or below. Most of the New Forest is a 40mph limit and on sections without white lines I don't feel like I get given any more space. Drivers do slow down compared to lined sections but that's because the road is narrower - I'm not aware of any sections where a road wide enough for a centre line has had lines removed.

There's a 30mph section between Sandy Balls & Fighting Cocks (stop sniggering) where there are no white lines which has been artificially narrowed - solid white road limit lines well in from the edge of the tarmac - and you'll still get overtaken by drivers squeezing by in the face of oncoming traffic. Of course they assume that the white lines are designating a cycle lane and get monumentally enraged if you don't use it - and will happily cross into it if there is oncoming traffic - https://goo.gl/maps/6mbqJvAQHLE2

In some ways I think the absence of white lines makes an overtake with oncoming traffic more likely - because the driver isn't making a conscious decision to move into the other lane. I wonder if this is also the reason why on roads with centre lines drivers seem loathe to cross them - like its a psychological barrier because it tells them they are driving somewhere they shouldn't...