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Cyclist arrested after police force rider off M3 motorway

Hampshire Constabulary say rider failed to stop at first – and moved into the outside lane

A​ cyclist has been arrested after police forced him off the M3 motorway in Hampshire, with the rider moving into the outside lane of the motorway after an initial attempt by officers to get him to pull over.

Hampshire Constabulary’s road policing unit said on Twitter that they were alerted to the presence of the rider at 0510 this morning.

The cyclist was reportedly riding in the centre lane of the motorway at junction 13, the exit for Eastleigh and Chandler’s Ford.

However, when police tried to get the cyclist to pull over, the rider moved into the outside lane and officers subsequently forced him onto the grass verge.

A photo tweeted by the road policing unit’s account shows four police vehicles at the scene.

Officers said that the cyclist was arrested “for causing danger to road users and suspected possession of a class A substance.”

Cyclists are among the classes of road user banned from motorways under Rule 253 of the Highway Code.

However, here on road.cc we have reported on a number of cases in which a cyclist has ended up on a motorway, often due to a sat-nav error or because of ignorance of the law, despite signage at entry points saying that bicycles are banned.

Just last month, we wrote of how police in Hertfordshire stopped a cyclist who was riding on the M25 London orbital motorway – only to discover the same man riding on the M1 around an hour later.

> Police stop cyclist on M25 – and then find same rider on M1

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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ChrisB200SX | 2 years ago
3 likes

arrested “for causing danger to road users"

This is clearly a fallacy, how can a cyclist cause danger to road users on a motorway... unless there are pedestrians on the motorway??

I presume this police force will now be arresting every single person who drives in a mandatory cycle?

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hawkinspeter replied to ChrisB200SX | 2 years ago
3 likes
ChrisB200SX wrote:

arrested “for causing danger to road users"

This is clearly a fallacy, how can a cyclist cause danger to road users on a motorway... unless there are pedestrians on the motorway??

I presume this police force will now be arresting every single person who drives in a mandatory cycle?

It can be very dangerous as some drivers will feel the need to brake check the cyclist and/or tell them what they're doing wrong.

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giff77 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Meanwhile in Glasgow we have Deliveroo making use of the main carriageway of the Clyde Tunnel rather than the cycle lane underneath. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/deliveroo-rider-spotted...

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robike replied to giff77 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Good for him - I guess the Clyde cycle tunnel wasn't "practicable" for that journey.

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Grahamd | 2 years ago
7 likes

I had to look up the offence “for causing danger to road users" it covers multiple aspects including:

(c)interferes (directly or indirectly) with traffic equipment,

in such circumstances that it would be obvious to a reasonable person that to do so would be dangerous.
 

Should we not be asking the Police to enforce this every time the wands on cycle lanes are removed / destroyed?

Avatar
mdavidford | 2 years ago
9 likes
Quote:

However, when police tried to get the cyclist to pull over, the rider moved into the fast right-most / offside lane

It's not a 'fast' lane.

Avatar
Sriracha | 2 years ago
5 likes
Quote:

Officers said that the cyclist was arrested “for causing danger to road users and suspected possession of a class A substance.”

Odd, but when a person is stopped in a car and found in possession of class A drugs, they don't call them a motorist.

Anyway, at least he had the sense to ride in primary to discourage close passes!

Quote:

The cyclist was reportedly riding in the centre lane of the motorway

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