Are there any laws about locking bikes to municipal (i.e. public or council) lamp posts, railings, signposts, etc.? This is a difficult question to answer as there is no general law that gives a cyclist the right to lock their bike to railings, signposts or any other municipal or councilowned signage or street furniture. Obviously, specifically designed bike racks and parking stands supplied by local authorities can be used, and many ‘expert cycling sites’ claim that, if there are no suitable parking stands available, you can use secure, immovable street furniture such as railings or lamp posts to lock your bike, provided it isn’t causing an obstruction to passers-by. Whether you can in fact legally do this is dictated by local by-laws. By-laws are laws made by a local authority and only apply within a specific geographical area. They are usually only created when there is no general legislation that deals with particular matters of concern to local people – like too many bikes cluttering up public railings for example. You can check with the appropriate local authority which should have a numbered list of their bylaws. 8 www.eta.co.uk
Cycling and the Law
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