How do you deal with people overtaking too close

gibbers82

Hi,

Had my bike over a month now and i have noticed the massive difference in car drivers attitudes, some seem to give you plenty of space while others literally clip you even when both sides of the road are free.

Does anyone else get frustrated by this, i think that car drivers don't understand that if i see a pothole last minute or a dodgy drain then i will have to swerve out just like they would if they encountered a pot hole.

I don't see why they get so irate, are people really in that much of a hurry that they will risk injuring someone.

A bloke at work responded saying "you don't pay road tax" however when i said neither do horses and you don't treat them like cyclists do you it totally shut him up !

I guess this is unfortunately a part of road cycling and something that i am going to have to learn to live with.

class5700

it is something you will have to live with, however something I've found helps is cycling a little farther out into the lane. this will force the driver to wait for a decent gap before overtaking, but what I then do is as I hear the car is just over my shoulder I move closer to the edge, thus giving me a bit more room over whatever Mr In-A-Rush has deigned to provide.

another solution is to cycle on smaller roads, lanes, and at low traffic times, although this may not be possible depending on where you live/commute/work etc.

also, you may remind drivers that you do indeed pay road tax (I assume you have a car) and that they are free to buy a bike as well if they want.

imposter2.0

gibbers82 wrote:

i think that car drivers don't understand that if i see a pothole last minute or a dodgy drain then i will have to swerve out just like they would if they encountered a pot hole.

If you see a pothole 'last minute' - then you are not properly looking where you are going. You should not ever need to 'swerve out' - especially when there is traffic passing you. No offence, but that's a remarkably dumb thing to do.

Obviously if something (ie cat, squirrel, etc) runs out into the road, then things may be different. But if you are having to make a dangerous maneouvre in order to avoid something which you should be able to see under normal circumstances, then you need to think about the way you are riding...

jgsi

Imposter wrote:

gibbers82 wrote:

i think that car drivers don't understand that if i see a pothole last minute or a dodgy drain then i will have to swerve out just like they would if they encountered a pot hole.

If you see a pothole 'last minute' - then you are not properly looking where you are going. You should not ever need to 'swerve out' - especially when there is traffic passing you. No offence, but that's a remarkably dumb thing to do.

Obviously if something (ie cat, squirrel, etc) runs out into the road, then things may be different. But if you are having to make a dangerous maneouvre in order to avoid something which you should be able to see under normal circumstances, then you need to think about the way you are riding...

Thats telling him... ! ;-)
ffs mate, we all get caught out from time to time...

imposter2.0

JGSI wrote:

Thats telling him... ! ;-)
ffs mate, we all get caught out from time to time...

Maybe so - but it was the 'swerve' bit that got me. I would hate to think that 'new' road riders assume that swerving out into the line of traffic is an ok thing to do...

chrisaonabike

I continue pedalling, and enjoy the scenery.

People are arses. Unless you're actually prepared to fight them, learn to live with it.

MichaelW

As a rule of thumb, drivers will give you the same clearance that you give yourself from the kerb.

letap73

On a bright sunny day, a white van driver deliberately drove very close to me blaring his horn. I gesticulated towards the receding van where upon he decided to slow down and stop, I noticed his passenger pass him an iron bar. What I have learnt is that there are some motorists out there who are looking for the opportunity to "legitimately" hurt someone. There is no point in responding to them.

danlikesbikes

Just ride in a fairly positive position far enough away from the curb that you have room, looking down the road for potential obstructions.

If you come to a part of the road where their are traffic islands or it narrows if you leave enough room cars will push past you and it can feel awfully tight so road position is really important to help keep you safe and if cars have to slow down then that's just their issue not yours.

If your in a good road position and riding confidently (not swerving and looking over your shoulders) most will give you the room you need, some just have no concept of special awareness irrespective of if you are on a bike or in another car (those drivers who don't know where the whites lines are etc). Then there are some who are just rude & if I'm honest I just ignore them or smile and politely wave as it tends to calm the situation down rather than getting angry back which tends to end up less calm.

StillGoing

gibbers82 wrote:

Hi,

Had my bike over a month now and i have noticed the massive difference in car drivers attitudes, some seem to give you plenty of space while others literally clip you even when both sides of the road are free.

Does anyone else get frustrated by this, i think that car drivers don't understand that if i see a pothole last minute or a dodgy drain then i will have to swerve out just like they would if they encountered a pot hole.

I don't see why they get so irate, are people really in that much of a hurry that they will risk injuring someone.

A bloke at work responded saying "you don't pay road tax" however when i said neither do horses and you don't treat them like cyclists do you it totally shut him up !

I guess this is unfortunately a part of road cycling and something that i am going to have to learn to live with.

Nobody pays road tax anymore since it was abolished in 1937. Everyone, vehicle owner or not and lifetime pedestrian, makes a contribution to the upkeep of the roads through taxation. It's a tired argument but you might like to put your work colleague back in his box.

markhewitt1978

I generally shake my fist at them and shout. Then briefly imagine catching up with them and dragging them out of the car. Then they speed off leaving me with simmering resentment.

ForumNewbie

I can't help shouting when they pass too close. I try not to swear or be insulting, just shout "too close" and put my hand up. Most times they don't hear unless the windows are open or an it's an open top car. I find 'professional drivers' like white van men quite often pass too close. I hate it when big lorries and buses pass close as they should give even more room as the wind from them when passing fast can almost blow me off the bike. On my commute I am sometimes passed by a big solid crane lorry, which really scares me.

I have never seen any warnings, guidance or publicity to drivers about how much room they should give cyclists, so maybe we should not be surprised that so many don't seem to appreciate the potential danger of passing cyclists so close.

DavidJB

I used to scream and rant...now I just ignore it. Not worth the hassle. If I do catch up with them I polity advise them they were too close.

secretsam

Plenty of good advice here. No sense in losing your rag. IF it's really bad, remember their number and report them (eg the iron bar incident).

But as another poster said - don't hug the kerb. You know those poxy white lines that sometimes get used as "bike lanes"? Imagine using the actual line as a guide to where you should be riding.

lambpie

Try to ride positively (i.e. away from the curb within around 1m) and command the section of road and when your making manoeuvres, signal clearly, early and be decisive... but you should also be defensive at the same time - anticipate the worst from drivers, especially when turning right onto a minor road from a main one (fast approaching traffic from behind) or entering a roundbout and as others have said, look ahead and plan early especially pot holes.... never swerve, and if needed learn to hop it!! It's all about giving yourself time. Never get into an argument - not worth it and you'll probably lose.

I have a 21 mile commute on roads varying from country lanes to main A roads and into Leeds - sometimes drivers do pass close, but often it "feels" closer than it actually really is. Rarely do I (touch wood) get buzzed really close. Maybe it's because of the above....

Initialised

Ride to the right of the left most tyre line or about 1.5-2m from the edge. If you get a close pass you've got room to escape.

Take the lane when:

the road/lane is too narrow for a lorry to safely pass you
at traffic islands
when you are at, near or over the speed limit (its for motorised vehicles)
when you are keeping pace with traffic
at and through junctions and especially roundabouts
when you need to turn right
in plenty of time when you anticipate any of the above

If some one does pass you too close then you are not far enough out and should move further out.

On the flipside, when it's safe for cars to pass you let them.

markhewitt1978

All good advice but of course it's possible to take the lane and still have a car pass you close. So it's not a catch all defence.

team47b

ForumNewbie wrote:

I have never seen any warnings, guidance or publicity to drivers about how much room they should give cyclists, so maybe we should not be surprised that so many don't seem to appreciate the potential danger of passing cyclists so close.

It would make no difference, over here, by law, cyclists must leave 1.5mtrs space when overtaking parked cars and cars must leave 1.5mtrs space when overtaking bikes and cyclists are allowed to ride two abreast on a road with clear visibility, but people still drive too close and overtake too fast because they are totally unaware of anything outside their safe cocoon, everyone should ride a bike before getting a driving license.

Moonbiker

Swear at them.

Initialised

markhewitt1978 wrote:

All good advice but of course it's possible to take the lane and still have a car pass you close. So it's not a catch all defence.

Yes but you'll have room to escape when it does happen.

BrandonA

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I generally shake my fist at them and shout. Then briefly imagine catching up with them and dragging them out of the car. Then they speed off leaving me with simmering resentment.

Sounds pretty accurate.

Luckily I never seem to catch them before the next set of lights so I've never actually needed to drag them from their car though.

Manc33

Ones that drive right on my back wheel for 2 miles when they could pass me any time annoy me more. Or ones that need 6+ feet between you and them to pass (same thing). Drivers that think their cars are 18 feet wide are dangerous drivers that can't judge properly!

They must come up behind and think "Bloody hell a cyclist" and they haven't got any confidence driving at all, they should blame themselves, not me. They are the ones pussyfooting around and waiting for a massive gap to overtake me when they could just go past anytime.

I know this because a big convoy always passes me afterwards and none of those cars hang on my back wheel.

class5700

Manc33 wrote:

Ones that drive right on my back wheel for 2 miles when they could pass me any time annoy me more. Or ones that need 6+ feet between you and them to pass (same thing). Drivers that think their cars are 18 feet wide are dangerous drivers that can't judge properly!

They must come up behind and think "Bloody hell a cyclist" and they haven't got any confidence driving at all, they should blame themselves, not me. They are the ones pussyfooting around and waiting for a massive gap to overtake me when they could just go past anytime.

I know this because a big convoy always passes me afterwards and none of those cars hang on my back wheel.

ha ha. good point. mind, it's the drivers the in the convoy behind I have the most sympathy for. driving for miles and miles at 30-40 in a 60. we've all been there! :roll:

........

one thing I don't mind though is drivers squeezing by me at low speed on narrow lanes. I cycle in the lanes quite a lot and am perfectly happy to let people through without waiting for a passing space. I just ride in the middle till they're going at my speed right behind, then move over to the hedge and let them pass.*

* this doesn't work with tractors! :shock:

Mikey23

i had exactly this situation the other day with a landy and horse box following me for miles and would not overtake although it could have easily and safely done so. When i pulled in there was a massive build up of traffic and i was getting all the grief... not fair

sniper68

I hadn't really given this much thought until I rode in France a couple of weeks ago.I rode in two different regions,The Jura and The Cote D'Azur and found the drivers there to be so courteous!Everyone(even white van man) went really wide to pass even on the narrower roads.Drivers sat patiently behind on blind bends when climbing then passed when safe.No honking of horns or shouting/gesturing.It really was a joy to ride there 8)
Fast forward a week and on my first ride back home I really noticed the difference :shock:
Personally I think some car/van drivers get a kick out of buzzing cyclists and I think some just don't notice you're there until the last minute :roll:

HebdenBiker

13% of people have an IQ between 70 and 85. These people can confidently be described as "stupid". Give them a high-powered metal box weighing a tonne, and they become "dangerously stupid".

If drivers are representative of the adult population as a whole, this means that on average, every 8th vehicle that passes you is being driven by a dangerously stupid person.

As for "having a word" with a close-passer, there is no point in trying to reason with a person with an IQ of 80. They will be incapable of understanding your point of view, and will possibly respond with insults, threats or violence. Prisons are full of people with low IQs for this reason.

Of course, IQ is not the only factor in considering driving ability.

briantrumpet

ibbo68 wrote:

I hadn't really given this much thought until I rode in France a couple of weeks ago.I rode in two different regions,The Jura and The Cote D'Azur and found the drivers there to be so courteous!Everyone(even white van man) went really wide to pass even on the narrower roads.

Hmm, I wouldn't entirely agree - after five weeks in south east France for me, second day back riding in Exeter and some old fart in Topsham Road does the jabbing finger "Get on the cycle path" signal (this is a sadly common occurrence). At least French drivers are merely careless when they try to run you off the road, though on the minus side they tend to be doing 60mph coming at you from the opposite direction while overtaking another car. Not all French drivers are saints ... or if they are, in the south east there is a large number of careless saints.

sniper68

briantrumpet wrote:

Hmm, I wouldn't entirely agree - after five weeks in south east France for me, second day back riding in Exeter and some old fart in Topsham Road does the jabbing finger "Get on the cycle path" signal (this is a sadly common occurrence). At least French drivers are merely careless when they try to run you off the road, though on the minus side they tend to be doing 60mph coming at you from the opposite direction while overtaking another car. Not all French drivers are saints ... or if they are, in the south east there is a large number of careless saints.

I was merely commenting on my experience and I didn't come across any bad driving.On some of the busier roads they did pass VERY fast but not once did I feel at risk/in danger.I will concede that there will be bad drivers over there but the roads are a fair bit quieter(especially in The Jura) so maybe this is why I had the experience I did :?:
Even riding through towns on the Cote D'Azur was a complete contrast to riding here.

Biomech

A bloke at work responded saying "you don't pay road tax"

There's no such thing - it's a vehicle emissions duty. So unless you've had a dodgy curry the night before, you're pretty exempt :P

I'm new too, I always have a gopro strapped to the front when I go "out" on my bike now. The very first time I did (only 2 rides ago) I had 2 cars have to break suddenly when they try to pull out of a junction in front of me.

I do have a question also;

What's the law/deal with which side to pass slow or stationary traffic on?

Left side seem's the likely option, but it's illegal (at least in a car) to undertake plus you have the car-curb gap issue.

Passing on the right seem's more legit, but then you're heading into oncoming traffic and drivers are even less expecting of you on the right.

How about dual lanes, can you just tonk down the middle of the traffic regardless of which lane you're in/want?

Initialised

Legally you can pass on either side of queueing traffic, it's called filtering.

Use your judgement to pick whichever is safest at the time. Usually when traffic is queued, unless there's a wide bike lane, right is safest for me.

Biomech

That's what the LBS said, use common sense.
But what if the traffic is moving but slower than you are on the bike? Would passing on the left or weaving be considered "illegal"?