More timely advice from the DSA, this time concerning junctions.
Rule 178
Advanced stop lines. Some signal-controlled junctions have advanced stop lines to allow cycles to be positioned ahead of other traffic.
Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked.
If your vehicle has proceeded over the first white line at the time that the signal goes red, you MUST stop at the second white line, even if your vehicle is in the marked area.
Allow cyclists time and space to move off when the green signal shows.
Read all the rules about road junctions (170-183)
I noticed recently someone was giving ridiculous advice about stopping in the cyclists’ forward area. Perhaps they should read this and learn.
As I explained in an article I wrote when I saw that, the word MUST (in bold red text in the paper copy) means that you must stop – by law – at the first line under normal circumstances.
These days you’d be forgiven for thinking that the marked area with the bicycle symbol is for taxis, Audis, and Corsas with loud exhausts and tinted windows. It isn’t, and the use of this space by those drivers bears tribute to how poor they really are when it comes to driving.
If you’re driving along normally and the lights change, you either stop at the first line or carry on. If you stop in the cyclists’ area then you’ve done it wrong (except in heavy traffic if the junction is blocked).