Sharing Shetland's Roads Responsibly

In recent weeks, the reduced volume of traffic on roads in Shetland and elsewhere has led to an increase in the number of cyclists and walkers on local roads. As traffic starts to increase again, the Council’s Roads Service is asking road users to take steps to ensure they can all share the roads safely.

Drivers should be patient where necessary, give cyclists space and overtake with at least 1.5 metres of space – failure to do so can lead to prosecution and three penalty points on their licence.

Drivers should give cyclists at least 1.5 metres of space when overtaking

Cyclists are asked to ensure they comply with the rules of the road, check regularly behind them and signal clearly ahead of any manoeuvres, so that drivers and pedestrians are aware of what they are doing. The advice from national cycling organisation Cycling Scotland is to cycle in the centre of the lane (in the middle of the traffic flow) on a two lane highway, or closer to the road edge on narrower roads. Cyclists should also consider pulling over if queues of traffic are building up behind them.

Advice for cyclists from cyclinguk.org

Drivers of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) need more room to turn and stop so road users should avoid their blind spots. Cyclists and HGV drivers should be able to see each other in wing mirrors. HGV drivers should give cyclists and small vehicles space, not overtake too close and not cut in front too soon.

Councillor Robbie Mc Gregor, Chair of the Shetland Road Safety Advisory Panel and ZetTrans Vice-Chair said: “It’s been great to see so many people using our roads for exercise and essential travel on bikes or on foot in recent weeks. The health and environmental benefits for everyone are well known and we obviously want to support this in future. I’d ask drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to be considerate and patient, so we can all share our roads safely and continue this positive trend.”

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