Close passing applies to us too

Chris Hayes wrote:

Chris Hayes wrote:

Confession: I sometimes deliberately close-pass cyclists who are using mobile phones if they wobble in my way; usually on the superhighways and parks in Central London.  If you do this, please stop. 

Does that not constitute a punishment pass?

However much the behaviour of others may annoy you, you have no right to be handing out the summary justice.

Or if you are a hypocrit like what I am, you don’t mention it publicly.

Interesting to note that if a

Interesting to note that if a motorist does a close pass it’s pitch forks out and there’ll be a hanging tonight. 

A fellow cyclist who should be more aware of the road conditions and how cyclist may react, you are at fault!

It depends on the size of the

It depends on the size of the pothole. If you only moved out less than a metre or so, then the overtaking cyclist should have left more room and he would be at fault for overtaking when not safe to do so (i.e. He was performing a maneuvre and thus should have anticipated the bad road surface). If you swing out more than about a metre, then I reckon you should have checked first, but with a pothole, you might not have had any choice about it and had to go around for your own safety even if you had checked and seen an overtaking cyclist (the checking would most likely have tipped off the overtaking cyclist that you were about to move, though).

Overtaking other cyclists should always be performed with a decent safety margin. As an overtaker, you have the better view of the situation and should be able to react quickly enough to avoid getting within “brushing” distance.

I did get told off the other morning about overtaking a cyclist without using a bell which surprised me as I hardly ever use a bell to warn that I’m overtaking. I left him a good 2 metres of room (I used the other side of the road as he was close to the middle line – only a small back road), so I think I just startled him with a quick silent pass.

Surely the passing cyclist

Surely the passing cyclist would have a bit of common and give the inside rider a bit of room. Wasn’t a chain gang after all. Loads in my club have been ‘told off’ for close passes, it’s intimidating for the less ‘initiated’. A bit of empathy is called for here I think.

S’funny: I have never been

S’funny: I have never been overtaken by another cyclist who called out or used a bell before or as they were doing so. Never. (I always do, so it grates a little).

As regards the OPs comments and subsequent replies , don’t we expect *anyone* (motorised or not) to overtake us leaving enough room that if we suddenly have to move because of, say, a pothole then there won’t be a collision…?

700c wrote:

Sounds like he was a bit close but your moving out to avoid pothole may have caught him by surprise. So best to always check before you change road position

Yeah! Why not a quick look over the shoulder before moving? A quick indication with the hand wouldn’t have gone amiss and marked you out as an experienced rider.  I believe you can get mirrors that clip to the glasses if a quick look is too much travel.

It’s not a problem I have come across, no one can over take me.

sergius wrote:

Dunno, I don’t particularly see anything wrong with passing fairly close to another cyclist (though obviously you wouldn’t to a kid etc); however I always call out before overtaking – they’ve no way of knowing you are there 99% of the time.

Agree, I’ll usually call out something like “on your right” it’s not difficult.