Two metre clearance

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
John Holiday
Posts: 528
Joined: 2 Nov 2007, 2:01pm

Two metre clearance

Post by John Holiday »

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!
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[XAP]Bob
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Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by [XAP]Bob »

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.
Grandad
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Joined: 22 Nov 2007, 12:22am
Location: Kent

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by Grandad »

An upright trike has the same effect.
rareposter
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Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 2:40pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by rareposter »

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!
John Holiday
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Joined: 2 Nov 2007, 2:01pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by John Holiday »

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.
mumbojumbo
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Joined: 1 Aug 2018, 8:18pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by mumbojumbo »

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.
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gaz
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Location: Kent

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by gaz »

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.
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
rareposter
Posts: 1992
Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 2:40pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by rareposter »

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.
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tykeboy2003
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Location: Swadlincote, South Derbyshire

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by tykeboy2003 »

Just cough at them....
james01
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Joined: 6 Aug 2007, 4:48am

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by james01 »

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!
ChrisP100
Posts: 298
Joined: 24 Sep 2020, 9:00am

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by ChrisP100 »

There is a section of my commute that runs alongside an single carriageway A-Road. It's a narrow dual use cycle/pedestrian path, with about 1.2m of grass verge between the path and the limit of the carriage way markings. Very often, I get passed a lot closer than 2m, despite being on the path.

To make matters worse, it is guaranteed that when it rains there will be standing water both on the path and the edge of the carriage way, and this morning was no exception. TWICE in the space of about 800m I got absolutely drenched by passing vehicles practically hugging the white line at the side of the road, despite no traffic coming in the opposite direction. I'd have been better off and safer riding on the road.
prestavalve
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Joined: 24 Dec 2020, 8:03pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by prestavalve »

james01 wrote:When my kids were little I regularly used a child-seat on the back of the bike. I've never experienced such wide passes ...


When I took my kid to nursery on the back of my bike in Malaysia, people used to draw up next to me at lights and berate me from the comfort of their MPV about how dangerous it was to ride with a child and how irresponsible I was being. Then they'd tear off at twice the speed limit and overtake without signalling.

Technically they were correct, but in a deeply ironic way.
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Mick F
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Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by Mick F »

gaz wrote:
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.
It works perfectly for me.
Towed mine the length of the country a few times over the years, and it works brilliantly, locally and nationally, A roads, B Roads, twisty lanes, and dual carriageways, towns, cities, villages .......... everywhere.
Mick F. Cornwall
Tangled Metal
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Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Two metre clearance

Post by Tangled Metal »

Borrow a child trailer with kid or two. Then put baby on board stickers on the trailer. You'll get plenty of space but more than a few disapproving looks from the passenger seats of big SUVs. Those "you're an irresponsible parent" looks because these kids aren't in a metal box the size of a humvee!!!!
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mjr
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Re: Two metre clearance

Post by mjr »

ChrisP100 wrote:it is guaranteed that when it rains there will be standing water both on the path and the edge of the carriage way,

And what have the highways department said when you've reported it? Norfolk Highways seem to detest standing water and usually (but not always) act quickly to clear the drains.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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