Do sports events roadside Marshals have any authority..?

[John K]

I'm just wondering because round this part of the world there have been quite a few bicycle events and all the roundabouts on the A46 have had chaps with flags and high vis jackets on.

 

Now I know they are there to warn us that folk on bikes will be about and to be extra aware.

 

But when the marshals jump into a roundabout to stop traffic on the roundabout because a pack of riders have got a good pedal on down a hill and don't want to stop for the roundabout (cos the cars on it would have right of way) what is the actual law?

 

Again they are there to warn us guys in bullet proof tanks that squidgey unprotected folk are about and I welcome that.

 

But I thought only officers of the law can actually tell traffic to stop.

 

And what would happen if a marshal tried to stop a car, who ignored him and then went to have an accident with a cyclist that assumed the marshal had stopped the traffic and went on the effectively disregard the rules of the road.

 

This sounds like the sort of liability nightmare that would make your typical lawyer priapic with anticipation...

[jonjh1964]

It's all linked to the road closure regulations - this might be helpful http://www3.hants.gov.uk/trafficmanagement/public-events/events-guidance/environment-traffic-management-appendix-three-duties-powers-and-responsibilities.htm

[stephenh]

I don't think they do have such authority, but if you ignore their request, and as a result had a collision you might be held to have been driving recklessly.

However, I was involved recently as a volunteer marshal on the road cycling section of a half ironman event. What happened on that was that an official road closure order was made for the roads in the route. Our instructions from the organisers was that if a driver wanted to enter and drive along the route, we should warn them that the road was closed, and that they would be creating a serious hazard if they proceeded as well as committing a criminal offence. However we were not to attempt to stop the driver by, for example, standing in front of their vehicle. Instead, we were to immediately telephone our "line manager" and tell them what had happened, and if possible give them the registration number of the vehicle. We all had to make sure we had a fully charge mobile 'phone of course. The line manager would then contact the police, who were patrolling the route on motorcycles, and they would then intercept and stop the motorist.

I have no association with cycling, we were just an organisation (charitable) who  were invited to act as marshals for our nearest part of the route, and in return we get a donation to our charity account.

[Davep1]

I always thought that 'racing on a public highway' was a pretty serious offence - I know bikes (and yes I am also a keen cyclist ) are racing against the clock not each other - but its pretty obvious that to get a good time, you need to take some risks that are really not acceptable amongst 'normal' traffic.

 

Dave.

 

Edit - Organised events with formal road closures are great - to be applauded, but when a local cycle club 'takes over' a stretch of public road on a bank holiday, it just causes chaos, and unnecessary danger.

[John K]

@ johnjh1964 - an interesting read, but like these guidance notes all seem to, it got a bit fluffy towards the end especially..

 

it must be noted that, with the exception of the police powers to authorise bicycle races and time trials, no organisation has the power to approve or authorise an event on a highway. The only powers relating to approval or authorisation relate to road closures and, in certain cases, the use of signs and portable traffic signals.

It is the event organiser’s responsibility to ensure the event is safe and causes minimal disruption. The event organiser may be liable to prosecution in the event of an incident resulting from his event. The advice and guidance provided by the police, District Council and Traffic Authority is aimed at minimising the risk of an incident occurring.

 

@ Stephen H - deffo no road closure, all the local event seem to happen on the A46

 

@ Davep1 - the local events seem pretty organised, riders have numbers on and the marshals are well kitted out, but not official enough for road closures

 

To be honest it does seem a bit vague and seems to rely a lot on common sense (which we all know isn't very common). I've seen idiot drivers who seem to be determined to make a point and bloke cyclists in a race and I've been cut up by a cyclist who may be under the impression their event has more 'authority' than it actually has.

 

It's all a bit scary TBH. I like binary rules. Either close the road or race on a track. I'm happy either way..!

 

And absolutely no disrespect to any marshals ever... They are the 'unpaid heroes' (who was that quote from?) that made UK motorsports possible which gave us the best motorsports teams and engineers in the world. Full Stop...

[Yanto]

I used to marshal at time trials for my club.

 

We had no authority to stop traffic.

 

The role was warn with "authority" both cyclist and motorist in the event that at for instance a T - junction where the car would have priority it looked like the TT rider would arrive  (give way/stop sign)at the same time or just before a car arrived.  By that it was to stand at the edge of the road with a flag and request that the driver slow down, or indeed speed up, whilst usually another marshal would wave the cyclist to slow down.

 

The idea was to keep traffic moving and reduce the chance of the rider overrunning a junction into the path of a car.

 

I also used to time trial where we warned that WE HAD to obey the rules of the road, so stopping and giving way if required.

 

Closed road racing is a different matter, and usually the road would have a rolling road block rather than being closed, but this isn't always the case.

 

In fact just recently I caught up with a ladies road race and followed them for a few miles, there were marshals on motorcycles stopping any overtaking but cars were still coming the opposite direction.  If I'm honest i didn't want to pass them as the view was rather good especially when they were out of the saddle and "honking" up hills.

 

Cyclist do lots of "honking" the French say "danceuse" which is much nicer, but try not to do any "bonking" which medical folk call "hypoglcemia" which is horrible no matter which word is used - but I have strayed from the subject.  

[Blatman]

I like binary thinking (well, I would...). If the road isn't officially closed, then it's open. Do I have right of way? Yes or no is the answer. If I do then I will proceed. If I don't then I will give way. What could be simpler? 

I love cyclists, pedestrians and all other road users, right up until the point they abuse their position by assuming the car driver is always in the wrong. We've all seen it; pedestrians (I call them meanderthals) ambling across the road 10 meters from a zebra/pelican who, when confronted by a car driver going about his legal business come over all self righteous. Listen pal, I'm not driving on the pavement, you're walking in the road...

 

And then there's cyclists who routinely jump red lights or jump on the pavement to "legally" avoid the red (I'm a Londoner and a former motorcycle despatch rider so I see this dozens of times a day and have seen it thousands upon thousands of times) who seem to think that when they get in to difficulty after jumping a red light or nearly mowing down a load of peds that it's someone elses fault.

 

And then there's peds on Zebra crossings. They must wait for traffic to stop. Traffic is not obliged to stop until the pedestrian has entered (put a foot on) the crossing. Stepping off into the flow of traffic forcing the driver the slam on the anchors is poor form and shows an ignorance of the rules. And with the exception of Toucan crossings, the rest of the crossing types are for PEDESTRIANS (and equines if you're in the country) and those people using wheeled aids to get about. Cyclists have no right of way on a crossing if they are on the cycle. If they are walking it across then fair enough, but if not they take their chances they're in the wrong according to the rules of the road.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82

 

If only there was a cycling proficiency test (yes, that's irony) or some sort of rule (apart from Darwinism) that compelled cyclists and peds to know what they need to know before stepping out from behind a routemaster into the middle of the road...

 

[/rant]