Reminds me of Melbourne, on Sunday mornings (generally) you will find large groups of cyclists on the motorways, the inside lane becomes their track for the duration. They've even been known to close down the odd motorway for the benefit of them.
Now thats open minded policy making ....
I can't think of a legitimate reason to be allowed on DC's, same speeds as motorways, similar trafic densities.
Except often they aren't the same speed as motorways and don't have similar traffic densities. Occasionally it's useful to be on a DC if it's going in the same direction you are, rather than minor roads which aren't. That said, I'm not sure I've ever ridden on an NSL DC.
I always used to prefer TTing on dual-carriageways as there was so much room for other traffic (and I'd often stay in hard shoulder area anyhow). Racing around B-roads and single carriageway A-roads I felt more at risk.
Most TTs are also done in the morning to try and avoid traffic but obviously if it's a 50 or 100 miler then people are still going to racing into the afternoon.
At the end of the day if a car hits a TTer and claims they didn't see him then the driver is at fault, chances are they were just on autopilot cruising at 70+ and thinking about many things other than actually driving (I know this as I'm guilty of it myself - being distracted that is not hitting someone...).
I can't think of a legitimate reason to be allowed on DC'sexcept DCs aren't all out of town bypasses. They can be upgraded arterial roads, smack bang in the middle of the city and generally a reasonable way of getting where you want to go without heading miles out of your way or having to use ratruns (quite often presenting their own dangers)
I acknowledge your points tinas, I personally don't want to go and ride every 70mph DC in the country just cos I can, 50s are scary enough for me and pretty boring to ride TBH (ignoring near death experiences) but if you start banning cyclists from roads without a damn good reason you're marginalising cyclists even more than they are now.
Well designed DCs should be reasonably safe places to be, good sight lines, few junctions, multi lane so fairly easy to overtake properly. All we need is for people to drive appropriatley, these aren't Mways, there are slow moving vehicles about watch what you are doing and drive safe. Not rocket science.
I acknowledge your points tinas, I personally don't want to go and ride every 70mph DC in the country just cos I can, 50s are scary enough for me and pretty boring to ride TBH (ignoring near death experiences) but if you start banning cyclists from roads without a damn good reason you're marginalising cyclists even more than they are now.Well designed DCs should be reasonably safe places to be, good sight lines, few junctions, multi lane so fairly easy to overtake properly. All we need is for people to drive appropriatley, these aren't Mways, there are slow moving vehicles about watch what you are doing and drive safe. Not rocket science.
Yes but TTers are using roads such as the A12 which are basically 2 lane motorways. Even overnight, early in the morning, or at weekends that road is often congested.
Of course banning cyclists from every DC would be stupid, but equally there is an element of responsibility on the part of organisers and individual cyclists to avoid dangerous routes where possible. Going back to the OP, in my humble opinion fog + rush hour would meet that criteria.
trying not to get wrapped up in all this but can't help myself. Sorry not trying to get in an argument with everyone retro but do you mean the A12 near great yarmouth? This highlights my earlier point if you ban* bikes from it how the hell do you get from GY to lowestoft? either to the west of A12 on country roads miles out of your way or east of the A12 which includes, from the looks of google maps, a dirt road through a golf course, both routes probably lovely for a weekend jaunt but not for people who just want to travel from one to the other.
roads such as the A12 which are basically 2 lane motorwaysare motorways or are (mis)treated as motorways?
*I know you didn't suggest banning bikes from it but it sounds like the sort of DC that some would want a ban on.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/suppletablesfactsheets/pedalcyclist2008.pdf
Not seen this before! Some of those stats are worrying - especially the one about the number of hit and runs involving cyclists. Seems far more common that other collisions. Time to start using that helmet cam i think...
D0NK - Membertrying not to get wrapped up in all this but can't help myself. Sorry not trying to get in an argument with everyone retro but do you mean the A12 near great yarmouth? This highlights my earlier point if you ban* bikes from it how the hell do you get from GY to lowestoft? either to the west of A12 on country roads miles out of your way or east of the A12 which includes, from the looks of google maps, a dirt road through a golf course, both routes probably lovely for a weekend jaunt but not for people who just want to travel from one to the other.
roads such as the A12 which are basically 2 lane motorways
are motorways or are (mis)treated as motorways?
*I know you didn't suggest banning bikes from it but it sounds like the sort of DC that some would want a ban on.
No, not at all - I should have have been clearer in my post. I meant the bit in Essex. It goes from a single/small dual carriage way at the Suffolk end into a much larger/faster road around Colchester/Chelmsford and continues like this until it reaches the M25.
Cyclists should be able to ride safely anywhere they are legally allowed to otherwise they should be barred from doing so as on the motorway.
agreed... playing with your friends on a busy carriageway is another matter entirely however..
Yeah that happened when I was home the other weekend. Why anyone would cycle on the A19 is beyond me, not somewhere as a driver you'd expect to see cyclists 
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