Think that I may have discovered a way of persuading drivers to give riders plenty of clearance- tow a trailer!
Was out this afternoon litter picking on local Sustrans routes , but had to ride down busy roads to get there. Almost without exception was given plenty of clearance & some inquisitive looks. Only exception the impatient idiot in an Audi and another in a Seven Series BMW! How dare I delay them for a few seconds!
Two metre clearance
Re: Two metre clearance
Trailers are nearly as effective as riding a 'bent. Towing a trailer with a 'bent is funny.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Re: Two metre clearance
An upright trike has the same effect.
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Re: Two metre clearance
Best one I had for that was riding along a busy road in the Peak District between two popular tourist villages and there was a police 4x4 parked up very prominently on a bend, visible from both ways. The road can occasionally be a bit of a racetrack and it's got a few bends that catch drivers out.
I was wearing good hi-vis and had front & rear flashing lights and had a helmet mounted light (not turned on) as I knew my ride would be finishing in darkness. The policeman waved as I passed and I'm guessing the drivers behind me must have thought that I was part of some sort of close-pass operation. Every one of them almost climbed the opposite pavement as they overtook safely and carefully and considerately.
The helmet-mounted light does actually look a lot like a camera so I think the whole ensemble worked with thee police presence to give drivers the idea that there might be consequences to their actions. Need that all the time!
I was wearing good hi-vis and had front & rear flashing lights and had a helmet mounted light (not turned on) as I knew my ride would be finishing in darkness. The policeman waved as I passed and I'm guessing the drivers behind me must have thought that I was part of some sort of close-pass operation. Every one of them almost climbed the opposite pavement as they overtook safely and carefully and considerately.
The helmet-mounted light does actually look a lot like a camera so I think the whole ensemble worked with thee police presence to give drivers the idea that there might be consequences to their actions. Need that all the time!
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Re: Two metre clearance
True regarding Police presence.
Not sure that many drivers are sufficiently observant to recognise a helmet mounted camera.
Certainly true about caution when riding trikes or recumbents, as I know from riding my Newton trike & Windcheetah recumbent.
Safe cycling.
Not sure that many drivers are sufficiently observant to recognise a helmet mounted camera.
Certainly true about caution when riding trikes or recumbents, as I know from riding my Newton trike & Windcheetah recumbent.
Safe cycling.
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Re: Two metre clearance
Seems an odd way to enhance safety-youbcould tow facsimile police-car for a similar effect.i use an inflatable jacket which makes me a bout a metre wide,enough for my safety.
Re: Two metre clearance
John Holiday wrote:Think that I may have discovered a way of persuading drivers to give riders plenty of clearance- tow a trailer!
Glad it works for you, it certainly doesn't for me.
There'll be tarmac over, the white cliffs of Dover ...
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Re: Two metre clearance
John Holiday wrote:True regarding Police presence.
Not sure that many drivers are sufficiently observant to recognise a helmet mounted camera.
I appreciate this is very much anecdotal / my personal experience but I tend to start using the helmet-mounted light in winter time as a supplement to the bar light when I have rides I know or suspect will end past sunset and riding in daylight with the torch mounted on the helmet (but not turned on), it's a very obvious sticky-outy thing and it does *seem* to result in wider / more considerate passes.
I did once have a rider chase me down on a commute and ask about the camera as he was thinking of getting one and he was rather put out when I showed him it was just a light.
The close passes caught on camera are almost invariably from bike-mounted cameras which are much harder to spot especially from a car. Having a big cylindrical object on the helmet is obvious. You notice it on motorcyclists too, a lot have square Go-Pro type cameras mounted on one side of their helmet which again is very obvious.
- tykeboy2003
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Re: Two metre clearance
Just cough at them....
Re: Two metre clearance
When my kids were little I regularly used a child-seat on the back of the bike. I've never experienced such wide passes - in fact I was sometimes the cause of embarrassing tailbacks when a particularly nervous driver (usually female) was terrified of passing. Years later and it's still tempting to carry a dummy baby on some of the busiest roads around here!