Cycling in Cambridge

A few months ago I moved house which means that I now have a 3 mile cycle ride into work every morning. To be honest I actually like cycling and find it very therapeutic but I have found that over the last week or so I have also had to relearn the rules of the road as applied to cyclists in this lovely town of Cambridge…

Now we all know that road users have to follow certain rules on the roads to keep themselves and others safe and these rules are printed in the “Highway Code”. It appears that the Highway Code used in Cambridge is slightly different to that used by the rest of the country and to be honest I’m finding it all very confusing.

For example, in Cambridge it appears that red traffic lights are only there for information and at best they only apply to powered vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists are allowed to ignore red lights altogether and frequently do. This obviously also applies to pelican and puffin crossings too!

Another good example is the fact that cyclist do not need to give way when joining a main road from a side street. In fact this rule change is so well entrenched that it is not even necessary for cyclists to look for other road users when performing this manoeuvre as the onus is firmly on the other road users to allow the cyclist to pull out. The only stipulation seems to be that the cyclist must cycle slowly when pulling out AND when cycling up the road they have just joined.

Also, did you know that there is an unofficial maximum speed limit for cycling in Cambridge of 7 mph???

Now I know what you are thinking and that is that its just the new students getting used to cycling instead of having mummy or daddy run them to school in the morning, but alas this is not the case and young and old alike act the same way so it MUST be a different Highway Code?

Still, it makes cycling to work and back “interesting” if a little terrifying at times…