What you can do next to fix the cycle lane parking loophole

I am deeply grateful to everyone who used our e-action to email your MSPs asking them to fix the law on parking in a mandatory cycle lane. We were hugely disappointed that MSPs squandered the opportunity and voted against the law change, despite more than 6000 emails being sent to them by our supporters. It was a huge effort in only a few days in the run up to the Transport (Scotland) Bill debate on Wednesday.

MSPs had an opportunity to finally close a legal loophole so it would once again become an offence to park, as well as drive or ride in a mandatory cycle lane, that is one marked by a solid white line.

As cyclists we all want people to understand that parking in a cycle lane risks our safety because a vehicle parked in a cycle lane forces us to move or swerve out into traffic, putting us in danger. The issue is very simple, but the law is a mess and that’s what we wanted to clear up.

The lawmakers need to better understand the safety issues, the laws, and what the Highway Code says about cycle lanes.

Jim Densham, Campaigns and Policy Manager - Scotland

Based on the arguments made in the debate, it's certain the lawmakers need to better understand the safety issues, the laws, and what the Highway Code says about cycle lanes.

All is not lost however - we have raised the profile of this safety issue and the loophole in Parliament and with the Government. The Transport Minister did promise during the debate to look at this issue in a wider review of rules and regulations, so we will hold the Government to its promises.

We will also continue to remind the Government that unless it is serious and brings forward real solutions to these and other problems, it will continue to fail to meet it target to get more people cycling.

The loophole in the law remains in Scotland and in the rest of the UK – people will continue to park in cycle lanes without penalty.This time MSPs failed to fix the law on Scotland but we will continue to make the case for the law to be fixed at Westminster.

The next step: Have your say to put cycling at the heart of Scottish Transport  

The Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy will set the agenda for Scottish transport for the next 20 years.

It is quick to create a personalised and unique response to the consultation, which you can then edit before sending to Transport Scotland, and help us seize this opportunity to move cycling up the agenda.

Take action