Cycling UK Forum

Coffee wrote:

rbrian wrote:1.5m is not that much, only half a lane. When I was learning to drive I'm sure I read in the Highway Code you should leave as much space passing a bike as you would passing a car, which I took to mean give them the entire lane. In fact, it still does, look here. So another sign that seems like a good idea, but, like cycle lanes, in fact has the effect of eroding our rights on the road, and making things less safe.

I'd go for 1.5m rather than the 30cm odd that 50% of drivers give me.

you get 30cm!! jammy so and so, I get plenty within a rulers length of my bars pretty much every time I'm out, I'd happily settle for a metre so long as they are driving in a straight line, it's when they cut in before they are really past you that gets me hot under the collar.

anothereye wrote:If every car gave me 1.5M I would have no complaints. Having said that I think it also depends on the cars speed.

Gerry

+1 for that. a fairly small number of drivers give me 20cm if i'm lucky !!

Though i must say that bus drivers give me the most room and overtake in a considerate manner.

It is difficult to judge how close a passing vehicle is especially in the heat of the moment.
I have practiced getting along side my own parked car to try and judge.

I have been able to see passengers' legs on their seats as they passed me.
I have seen parts of the car obscured by my handlebars, giving the appearance that they were actually passing under the bars but it was not really so.
This is mainly on a derestricted narrow trunk road.
Articulated lorries whose cab was back fully to the side of the road and going straight again while I was still alongside the trailer.

One driver who was passing me on the inside, I would have taken the mobile phone from his ear if the window had been open.

meic wrote:One driver who was passing me on the inside, I would have taken the mobile phone from his ear if the window had been open.

You should at least have tapped on the window. If they're close enough for you to touch* them, they're too close.


*and by "touch" and mean thump, preferably holding a hammer.

I am pretty sure that if I tried merely turning my lower arm and slapping each car with my palm as they passed I would finish my journey to town in a vehicle with blue lights of one sort or the other.

French law states that when overtaking, you must give cyclists 1.5m in the countryside and 1m in built-up areas (presumably because of lower speeds).

Sometimes I wish other cyclists overtaking me in places like France, Belgium, Norway would give me more room on cycle paths. Or at least warn me by dinging a bell! Many's the time I've jumped a mile by their close overtaking.

Is that French law widely obeyed or widely ignored?

Obeyed - and I can't wait for my trip to the Alps in July. Sometimes I'm given so much room when being overtaken, I fear for oncoming traffic. French drivers may be maniacs regarding other motor vehicles, but have a great tolerance for cyclists.

I did find that in the Pyrenees last year, traffic seemed a bit faster in the south.

The only fracas in France occurred in Bordeaux, when a female motorist deliberately clipped my mate's pannier, screaming "One way street". I pointed out that there were signs allowing cyclists to ride contra-flow.

If you do have someone overtake too closely, they're likely to be a foreign tourist. The Dutch seemed particularly bad.

anothereye wrote:I'm thinking of putting it on the back of my jacket.

Me too.
Round here, 5 inches is considered to be adequate clearance for a cyclist (funny, no driver would pass a mother-and-buggy as close as they pass us. When I am cycling with my 6 year old niece, drivers actually STOP for us, SLOW DOWN and everything! Not for me on my tod, though)

I've had quite a few near misses where the driver gave me enough room after they had passed me. One actually crossed the white line a few yards after they nearly knocked me off. It's frightening that someone can misjudge their speed by so much.

I think these signs are a great idea. It's obvious speaking to motorists who've passed too close, or friends who don't cycle that many close overtakes are not because the driver is reckless, but because they don't know how to overtake a cyclist. For those drivers, these signs would make a difference. Obviously the willfull recklessness of others would continue, but a reduction in close overtakes is a good thing in my opinion.

The worry about wearing a sign like that on your back is the number of drivers who would then pass extra close to be able to read it

t old codger wrote:I've had quite a few near misses where the driver gave me enough room after they had passed me.

Happens to me a lot too. I think it's just Grand Prix overtaking (sit on the other person's bumper in their slipstream, then shoot by), which some do as a matter of course. Trouble is, you get past a bike quicker than a car, so you've already overtaken by the time you've finished moving out, and you end up cutting up the cyclist, then giving sufficient clearance to an imaginary rider 10-20 metres in front of him/her.

rbrian wrote:You should at least have tapped on the window. If they're close enough for you to touch* them, they're too close.

*and by "touch" and mean thump, preferably holding a hammer.

Thumping's good, and certainly gets attention. Of course you're not hitting the vehicle, you're fending yourself off because he passed too close.

Where exactly is that sign, relative to the road. It looks like its overhanging the path, rather than the road. I wonder if its intended to tell cyclists on a cycle path to keep well away from the road.