Does anyone have car doors 1.5m wide?????

[mjr]

If we're quibbling any 1.5m door width bit for overtaking cars then why is the inside distance for cyclists only 0.7m from kerb or parked car doors? Is 0.7m enough to prevent dooring accidents?

You should pass cars wider.

IIRC, 0.75m from the kerb arose to reduce the risk of you falling across the kerb in a life-threatening way if the worst happens. Most wheels are about 622 + (2*35)mm =692mm so it won't take much sideways momentum beyond that to clear it, but it still leaves you some wiggle room and is far enough out to clear most gutters and gratings.

[thirdcrank]

Re the grand piano, at first thought the idea of something big to visualise as the basis of a campaign seems attractive but we have to remember that the current advice is based on leaving as much room as you would for a car and we wouldn't be discussing it now if that hadn't failed utterly.

[Tangled Metal]

... BTW what's the motorcycle take on this?

I don't think motorcycles are perceived as delaying traffic. There are all sorts of reasons why some drivers don't like motorcycles and their riders, but causing a hold-up isn't one of them.

But then the safety positioning might be relevant. Perhaps.

[RickH]

"The standard width of a grand piano is also about 5' "

http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/types.html

We recommend that you leave the width of a...

Grand Piano

between you and the cyclist.

Are you implying we should all tow a grand piano as a safety measure to ensure safe overtaking?

Surely an upright would be better so you can turn it sideways to filter through narrow gaps!

[Cyril Haearn]

Sorry, I had to pawn the Bechstein grand.. [after Noel Coward]

A welsh harp would be the thing, not so heavy, can be turned so it is narrow for gaps or wide for safety, makes the most beautiful music

Cymru am byth!

[Lance Dopestrong]

Mrs Dopestrong thinks I've lost it, rushing out to my car with a tape measure. My Smart Fortwo, 136cm when right open. The doors are huge and open out to close on 90 degrees.

Mrs Dopestrong's current model Kia Sportage, 96cm at full openeess.

[Cyril Haearn]

What a queer business, is the door size inversely proportional to the status of the vehicle?

[Lance Dopestrong]

What a queer business, is the door size inversely proportional to the status of the vehicle?

I think not, seeing as the Smart Fortwo has the largest door and is the most awesome car out there. It's the lesser cars that have the smaller doors

[FasterFerret]

Ok.

So we can change the advice to:

We recommend that you leave the width of a...

Grand Piano (towed or un-towed)
Welsh Harp
Upright Piano
Smart ForTwo's door
or
a Smart ForTwo

the-new-2007-smart-fortwo-coupe.gif (40.19 KiB) Viewed 1548 times

between you and the cyclist.

[FasterFerret]

or a Smart ForTwo... on it's side

the-new-2007-smart-fortwo-coupe2.jpg (7.41 KiB) Viewed 1548 times

[Lance Dopestrong]

There was a brief trend of ne'er do wells tipping them onto their sides. Luckily mines goes in the garage.

Nice technical pic of the W451 there, though mine is a different version.

[mjr]

That said, I agree that it's not the best measure. I'd suggest the rule of thumb should be to move the car completely into another lane. Then even with narrow lanes, I think you'll still be more than 1.5m away - and seeing as even with wide lanes, you have to put some of your car into the next lane (do the maths), so you have to wait for a gap in that lane anyway, why not move over completely?

Depends on the Lane width.

If you have wide lanes (>4.25m) there may well be enough room for a car (though not a bus or truck) to safely overtake in the presence of oncoming traffic.

Take the dimensions from the mat as an absolute minimum then that would be 0.7m (kerb-cyclist) + 1.5m (cyclist-car) + 1.8m (width of car) = 4m. IMO that is not quite enough I would like to see an extra 50cm, which can be achieved in a 4.25m lane by overrunning the centre line with the right hand wheel.

I'm fairly sure that we've had this discussion before: both 1.8m as the width of a car and 4.25m as the width of a wide lane are out-of-date. Cars have gotten wider and highways departments now widen the shoulders and/or hatch the centre until the lanes are 3.7m wide at most (on plain straights) - they'd rather have painted hatching than dedicate any road space to cycling!

[Cyril Haearn]

What a queer business, is the door size inversely proportional to the status of the vehicle?

I think not, seeing as the Smart Fortwo has the largest door and is the most awesome car out there. It's the lesser cars that have the smaller doors

4.5m wide with both doors open, looks like a plane
I would be worried it might take off

[Lance Dopestrong]

It sometimes feels like it might do just that!

[Mike_Ayling]

Have there been any cases of motorists throwing fully open their car doors as they pass a cyclist?

The likelihood a motorist or more likely the passenger opening the door fully while in motion is probably very small.

There was a very non PC joke on this subject:

Priest/Pastor says to redneck driver:
I got him with the door my son.

Mike