Two metre rule

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tatanab
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by tatanab »

peetee wrote:
peetee wrote: organisations should be taking advantage of the high profile of the 2m rule and putting that forward for vehicles passing cyclists? After all, why should the welfare of a stranger in a queue be of more value than a stranger on a bike?


I would welcome comments on this particular point. Perhaps campaign along the lines of “2m. You give it in a queue so give it on the road too.”
Assuming this is about social distancing rather than clearance when passing a cyclist.
1. The drive of a passing vehicle is already 2m away from a cyclist unless passing extremely closely.
2. The passenger in a passing vehicle might be within 2m, but is usually behind a closed window.
3. Being outside it is often stated that you are at a lower risk.

Taking that closed window point - if you are walking down a street of flat fronted terraced houses, would you give 2m clearance to a window just in case somebody is sitting behind it? And if that window is open?

I think it would just make a campaigning organisation look silly (sillier) to Normal Norman.
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mjr
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by mjr »

tatanab wrote:Taking that closed window point - if you are walking down a street of flat fronted terraced houses, would you give 2m clearance to a window just in case somebody is sitting behind it?

Yes, unless the effective width available is less than 2m. Why wouldn't anyone?
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brooksby
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by brooksby »

tatanab wrote:Taking that closed window point - if you are walking down a street of flat fronted terraced houses, would you give 2m clearance to a window just in case somebody is sitting behind it? And if that window is open?


What about when you're waiting at traffic lights and a car with an open driver's window pulls up next to you, on your left? Waaay closer than two metres... :(
pwa
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by pwa »

Cycling on a busy shared use "community route" yesterday, we encountered many family groups, all exercising social distancing with varying degrees of skill. So long as you exercised patience it was all fine and friendly. But then came the exception, a particularly large family group coming the opposite way down the former rail line, the path at least 3.5m wide, so my wife and I moved over to hug the left side. But the family coming the other way looked like they were not going to single out as required to make a good distance. And the bloke I assumed was the father (a bit on the chunky side) just stuck to the centre of the path, riding beside a woman towing a child in a trailer. Perhaps he saw that as protecting them in some way, but it left him too close to us, and much closer than the width of the track required him to be. So as he approached I made my "whoooah" sound and stuck my right arm out to show the minimum room I was asking for. He had time to shift over but he just rode into my hand, leaving me hoping I'd caught him in the mush. Well, I was annoyed. Out came the hand sanitiser shortly after.

It was a pity because we encountered lots of people on that ride and apart from that one bloke they were all trying to keep a distance.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by [XAP]Bob »

peetee wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:Downhill and uphill are relative to direction of travel surely (of course a one way road only has one permissible direction of travel)



Sorry, you’ve lost me.



. They continue to trim verges and ignore dangerous potholes. On the coast road near me there is a stretch of road running steeply downhill where the surface is in a terrible state (yes it has been reported). Intermittent tree cover makes it very difficult to spot but It has been ignored for weeks. As the road continues uphill, potholes there have been marked for repair. It is not difficult to work out which represent the greater danger to cyclists.


Potholes downhill and uphill, you assert that those downhill are more dangerous.
Had you been cycling the other way then you’d have said the same, but meant the opposite set.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Maybe it is a one-way road, or maybe peetee only rides it in one direction (why? :wink:)
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Reddington
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Reddington »

mjr wrote:
tatanab wrote:Taking that closed window point - if you are walking down a street of flat fronted terraced houses, would you give 2m clearance to a window just in case somebody is sitting behind it?

Yes, unless the effective width available is less than 2m. Why wouldn't anyone?

Because it’s pointless!?
It’s been stated(or overly stated) that the likely hood of catching it is increased if you are within 2m of an infected person for 15 minutes.So giving 2m when walking past someone is just a pointless exercise!
Two riders passing on a shared narrow trail with less than 2m between them takes a second or two so 3m,2m or 2ft make little difference.Its a case of total overreaction from us in my opinion.
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Maybe the risk is smaller at 2m, but there is surely some risk. It is best to keep as much separation as possible, when passing PoFs I get as far away as possible, often more than 2m
Already did this before cv, to reduce collision danger
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Reddington
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Reddington »

The shared trails around here are much busier with walkists,cyclists,horsey types etc so it’s almost impossible to maintain any distance at all.The trail is roughly 2m wide but in busy parts where it passes through villages etc it gets especially difficult to pass at 1m let alone 2m.
peetee
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by peetee »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
peetee wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:Downhill and uphill are relative to direction of travel surely (of course a one way road only has one permissible direction of travel)



Sorry, you’ve lost me.



. They continue to trim verges and ignore dangerous potholes. On the coast road near me there is a stretch of road running steeply downhill where the surface is in a terrible state (yes it has been reported). Intermittent tree cover makes it very difficult to spot but It has been ignored for weeks. As the road continues uphill, potholes there have been marked for repair. It is not difficult to work out which represent the greater danger to cyclists.


Potholes downhill and uphill, you assert that those downhill are more dangerous.
Had you been cycling the other way then you’d have said the same, but meant the opposite set.


I stand by my original post for the simple reason that for the ‘uphill potholes’ to be a problem on the way down I would have to be riding on the wrong side of the road! :shock:
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Maybe it is a one-way road, or maybe peetee only rides it in one direction (why? :wink:)


Well yes, that's why I explicitly mentioned one way roads in my original post...

I stand by my original post for the simple reason that for the ‘uphill potholes’ to be a problem on the way down I would have to be riding on the wrong side of the road! :shock:

Somewhat rare for potholes along a stretch of road to all be on one side, though since councils often repair one side of the road at a time it's probably less rare than I think.
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.
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mjr
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by mjr »

Reddington wrote:
mjr wrote:
tatanab wrote:Taking that closed window point - if you are walking down a street of flat fronted terraced houses, would you give 2m clearance to a window just in case somebody is sitting behind it?

Yes, unless the effective width available is less than 2m. Why wouldn't anyone?

Because it’s pointless!?
It’s been stated(or overly stated) that the likely hood of catching it is increased if you are within 2m of an infected person for 15 minutes.So giving 2m when walking past someone is just a pointless exercise!
Two riders passing on a shared narrow trail with less than 2m between them takes a second or two so 3m,2m or 2ft make little difference.Its a case of total overreaction from us in my opinion.

So you ordinarily close pass other riders and front doors and windows? That's antisocial IMO, virus or not. Don't cry to me when someone stepping out of their house or leaning out their window knocks you into the road.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Tangled Metal »

We live on a terraced Street with our front doors opening straight into the footway.i very much doubt you'd have a problem with front doors hitting cyclists because there's often a pavement that's got enough space plus doors open inwards. However 2m distancing rule can easily be broken. Mostly by pedestrians or neighbours talking through open windows. Cyclists tend to be the other side of parked cars.

I'm sure that's a common situations with terraced streets. Certainly up north. And that's before you meet the clothes lines across the street, cobbles and his delivering bread up steep hills with an impractical, front loaded bicycle!!! :lol:
Tangled Metal
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Tangled Metal »

Apparently Germany has a 1.5m distancing rule. Would anyone like to point out the differences between German levels of success in dealing with the pandemic compared to the UK levels of success?

Just pointing out that distance is possibly the least important factor in dealing with the virus.
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Paulatic
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Re: Two metre rule

Post by Paulatic »

Tangled Metal wrote:Apparently Germany has a 1.5m distancing rule. Would anyone like to point out the differences between German levels of success in dealing with the pandemic compared to the UK levels of success?

Just pointing out that distance is possibly the least important factor in dealing with the virus.


Hallelujah I’m pleased someone else has seen the light. :D

WHO is still 3ft AFAIK.
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