Close passing

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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Ontherivet77
Posts: 332
Joined: 3 Jun 2009, 3:20pm
Location: Lancashire

Close passing

Post by Ontherivet77 »

Well, I've been back on the commuter route now for the past 4 to 5 weeks and what has struck me is, apart from the increase in traffic volume, the sheer number of drivers who fail to allow a safe distance to pass when overtaking. Is this problem getting worse or is it just my imagination?
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chris_suffolk
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Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 10:01pm

Re: Close passing

Post by chris_suffolk »

Do you ride in primary? I find it helps as they have to actively overtake rather than just passing
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Cugel
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Joined: 13 Nov 2017, 11:14am

Re: Close passing

Post by Cugel »

Ontherivet77 wrote:Well, I've been back on the commuter route now for the past 4 to 5 weeks and what has struck me is, apart from the increase in traffic volume, the sheer number of drivers who fail to allow a safe distance to pass when overtaking. Is this problem getting worse or is it just my imagination?

Humans are copy-cats.

If enough copy some bad behaviour they see on a daily basis, the bad behaviour becomes a norm in that domain as the human herd do the herd-like thing. I know of several places where the normally good behaviour of drivers becomes bad simply because they've seen enough others behaving badly there, on many occasions, that it becomes the norm to behave badly in that fashion at that place.

A set of traffic lights where someone began to jump red because they saw a delay before the opposing set went green so soon everyone does it, even becoming impatient if one non-herd human refuses to break the rules. A T-junction where no one stops because there's normally little to no traffic coming. A canal bridge taken at speed for the same "reason".

So, if you commute on a route full of thrusting Toads anxious to get to work or on some other "mission", there will be some who start to close-pass cyclists, horse riders and even other cars going only at or below the speed limit. The herd of Toads will notice and, one by one, copy the miscreants on the grounds that "everyone does that here".......

Elsewhere, the very same drivers may well pass properly or even obey the speed limit!

Humans - you can often hear them baaaing (or is it croaking).

Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
John Maynard Keynes
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Close passing

Post by reohn2 »

I'm convinced there's a significant number of drivers who are thick as bricks and there inept driving reflects that,there are also element of drivers who see it as a right to bully other road users when the opportunity arises,and see cyclists as a gift to their moronic,idiotic and numbskull attitude to driving(I could give many,many examples of both types of driver but won't trouble the forum with the details).
It's that simple.

The problem is recognising which is which and as a result I am forced to treat all drivers by the lowest common denominator,ie; potentially moronic dangerous idiots,as it's safer that way.
Once one begins to treat other road users as remotely sane all is lost and a false sense of security is entered into,followed,I'm convinced,by disaster :?
But to answer the OP's question.Yes it's getting worse.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
brooksby
Posts: 495
Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:02am
Location: Bristol

Re: Close passing

Post by brooksby »

I was close passed on Friday evening here, heading away from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol - https://goo.gl/maps/ZWaWtetQ14D2 - parked cars all the way along on my left, my side of the road, and I'm damned if I'm going closer to them. Cars following me, overtaking as gaps appear in the oncoming traffic. This black BMW passes me, travelling faster than anyone else, and about a foot off my starboard grip. Sharp intake of breath. Bear in the mind the car passing in front of it, and the one after it, did "proper" overtakes out into the other lane. A few seconds later I pass him, driver's side window is open so I pause, politely suggest that he learns to overtake properly. His response: "Well, I didn't hit you, did I?" :twisted:
Ontherivet77
Posts: 332
Joined: 3 Jun 2009, 3:20pm
Location: Lancashire

Re: Close passing

Post by Ontherivet77 »

chris_suffolk wrote:Do you ride in primary? I find it helps as they have to actively overtake rather than just passing


Yes, but it's not always easy to maintain a good position whilst dodging potholes and being horn blasted by angry drivers.
Tangled Metal
Posts: 9505
Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Close passing

Post by Tangled Metal »

I ride about 0.72-1.0m out from the gutter not the kerb, approximately. I ride with this gap until I get annoyed by one too many close passes. That's wrong, all close passes are I've too many but I'm not bothered by one or two. One I get about 3 or 4 close passes I get annoyed and ride well out in primary. Being a stretch of winding road with double white lines in the centre drivers stop overtaking me when I'm in primary unless they can see a big gap coming when they pass on the other side of the road.

Personally it's not bad up here so I don't do this often. I do consider my safety and tend to ride based on my instincts. I learn my route and get used to traffic patterns, potholes and other features on my commute. I know the hazards, dangerous sections and the way drivers react to my presence on each section and react to different patterns of cycling behaviour. Put simply I learn what I need to learn about my route to keep safe.

I think reading situations and hazards is a skill that can be learnt but is often kind of instinctive or comes through experience. I learnt about hazards on an advanced driving course but my instincts are to be cautious. Whatever works to get you home safely every day. Alternatively move to a quieter part of the country, like where I live.
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tykeboy2003
Posts: 1277
Joined: 19 Jul 2010, 2:51pm
Location: Swadlincote, South Derbyshire

Re: Close passing

Post by tykeboy2003 »

brooksby wrote:"Well, I didn't hit you, did I?"


Was he a police officer?

Sounds like it.
MikeF
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Joined: 11 Nov 2012, 9:24am
Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Close passing

Post by MikeF »

I think commuting probably is the most likely time for close overtakes. I don't find close overtakes occur very frequently, but I don't commute. The vast majority of drivers seem to overtake with ample clearance. I also notice I tend to cycle slightly further from the kerb than some cyclists but not in primary.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
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