Does passing distance apply to oncoming vehicles?

[Pete Owens]

There is a big difference between overtaking and passing oncoming vehicles.

Overtaking is optional. It is something that you may want to do if you approach a slower moving vehicle, but if you don't you are still making progress. It is entirely up to the overtaking driver to ensure that they have enough time and space to complete the manoeuvre. It doesn't require the active cooperation of the driver you are overtaking. Indeed if you look at traffic on busy single carriage way roads you will see it tends to consist of platoons of vehicles following a vehicle that they would overtake if there was an opportunity.

When meeting oncoming traffic, both vehicles are stopped completely until you can find a way past. This may mean you need to squeeze past brushing the hedges and clipping you wing mirrors - so needs to be done very slowly.

So back to the OP. I would say that the 1.5/2 m rule does apply in cases where both vehicles simply pass each other without slowing significantly. If the approaching driver can keep their car entirely in their half of the road then the other half should be enough for a cyclist. If the car needs to cross the centre then both vehicles need to slow down and negotiate past each other - and the degree of negotiation will depend on how much space is available.

It is for the cyclist to decide how narrow a space they are prepared to accept at any given speed. So don't move over until the oncoming vehicle has slowed to a pace you are completely happy being passed at in the available space. And if it is very tight that may mean the motor vehicle stopping completely.

[mjr]

There was a video on twitter a few weeks ago of a Land Rover whizzing past a few inches from cyclists on a country lane without slowing, causing a woman to fall in the ditch. The motorists had no conception of what was wrong: "He didn't hit her, it's her own fault if she can't balance the bike".

The video was from last summer, before the Highway Code update.

The whizzer wasn't the direct cause of the fall, which was more due to the rider in front of them doing an emergency stop and the faller paying more attention to the whizzer than the stopper.

But the whizzer was convicted of careless driving anyway because it was caught on camera that they had passed too close on a road too narrow for a vehicle that wide to pass safely. The relatively high speed made it even worse and look awful.

The official advice (from Northants Police I think, who are far from bike-friendly IMO) was that the driver should have stopped and waited for the group to ride past.

[DaveReading]

My understanding, I can only pass by you if you are stationary or coming towards me. If you are moving in the same direction then I must be overtaking you.

The Highway Code uses "pass" and "passing" extensively to include overtaking, for example

"pass horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles at speeds under 10 mph and allow at least 2 metres of space"

"make sure that you have enough room to complete your overtaking manoeuvre before committing yourself. It takes longer to pass a large vehicle"

Does it?
The first example does not mention overtaking. I see that as applying to both directions.
Second example is in two sentences first applying to overtaking and second one covers travelling in both directions.
That’s how see it.

Yes, passing includes overtaking, i.e. that's what you're doing if you pass another vehicle travelling in the same direction as you.

Note that I didn't say passing is synonymous with overtaking, because (as you rightly say) it also applies to traffic coming towards you.

We appear to be in complete agreement.

[AlanS777]

When I was learning to drive in Glasgow (note - literally hundreds of bikes around )https://www.yoodrive.com/driving-instructors-glasgow, my instructor told me that when approaching a bicycle, you have to leave them as much space as possible. Doesnt matter which direction you happen to be approaching them from.