[nniff]

There is virtually no traffic on the roads and still I’m being close-passed. If people can’t drive safely when there’s nothing except their own vehicle and one bicycle to deal with, how can we expect them to cope in normal circumstances. In the absence of any mitigation, would it not be reasonable to ban anyone who close-passes now for being demonstrably incompetent?

One a day so far, on predominantly rural roads, including a van driver who decided to overtake level with a parked car, a driver forcing her way past on a single track road, a scaffolding lorry driver who couldn’t be bothered to move over at all, etc. It’s worse than my normal daily ride into London.

Topic

[Awavey]

its funny as I had thought

its funny as I had thought today maybe I should try that approach,go more MTB style, look less of a roadie & blend in more with all the new people on bikes 🙂 but didnt in the end and fwiw no real issues this ride, but I probably only encountered a handful of cars in a couple of hours.

[MrGear]

hirsute wrote:

hirsute wrote:

Why don’t you just pullover for a few seconds? There must be plenty of space for this.

More pertinently, why don’t people who are speeding stop speeding?

If I had to pull over every time some numpty came hammering up behind me way above the speed limit, I’d never get anywhere.

[Rick_Rude]

My empty road close pass

My empty road close pass experiences usually involve flat caps and Hondas. Not fast but just the usual Boris and Doris going for a pointless drive. 

[Hirsute]

Umm… Cycling Mikey
Umm… Cycling Mikey

[ktache]

Why not, I’ve had

Why not, I’ve had “discussions” with a cancer medic about why driving whilst tired could possibly be dangerous, the same medic needing “proof” that using a mobile at the wheel was extreemly hazardous and refusing to look at it when found, and I’ve seen nurses in uniform staring at smart phones when in motion in their cars.

Driving does something to people.  It can turn wonderful people whose interest is saving lives into monsters who take them.

[bikeman01]

If the Merc etc is doing a

If the Merc etc is doing a close pass it’s probably not being driven by a Doctor.

[Spangly Shiny]

Agreed about the volume of

Agreed about the volume of traffic increasing. I have noticed a gradual increase over the course of this last week. Except in the city centre (Leeds) where it is still quite delightfully traffic free. 

[ktache]

Perhaps it’s just me on my

Perhaps it’s just me on my big  ol mountain bike and tending to the baggier side of clothing, but I seem to be getting only the ignorant and idiotic close passes rather than the obvious punishments.  Mainly sticking to the now very dry bridleways and byways, with really quite a lot of cooperation on the little roads.  Big roads I’m still encountering a bit of impatience.

So far it seems more freindly than say school holiday commute time, where the emptier roads seem to encourage more impatience, but I do fear as it continues, both the volume of motor traffic will increase (I see from some stats it already has) and some of the niceness will disappear.

[David9694]

A ban on close passes. Period

A ban on close passes. Period. 
it’s not been a better time cycle or even walk or horse ride, but car- borne idiots unsurprisingly, yet surprisingly are still out there. 

[Awavey]

yes my experience so far has

yes my experience so far has been the close passes Ive had, which fwiw are way down from normal but thats just lack of traffic around imo, are of the deliberate scare you to teach you a lesson for being there variety, not the normal lack of attention ones.

[Hirsute]

Why don’t you just pullover
Why don’t you just pullover for a few seconds? There must be plenty of space for this.

[Spangly Shiny]

In my recent experience as a
In my recent experience as a professional driver only the polite and considerate drivers have taken themselves off the roads. All the mgif’s, tailgaters, speeders and close passers are still out there. There just seems to be more of them in with the absence of the nice guys (and gals).
I notice too that the balance of road traffic has moved significantly up market with a higher proportion of Porsches, Range Rovers, AMG Mercs etc on the roads, are they all REALLY key workers? Now I concede that a lot of doctors and such do drive these motors, quite rightly but the shift in balance is very noticeable.

[ibr17xvii]

Podc wrote:

They probably think you shouldn’t be there – even more so than normal – and you need to be taught a lesson.

Round my way, most road users are being quite well behaved but speeds seem to have gone up, and a few drivers are already slipping in to the ‘not expecting there to be anyone else about’ mode. 

 

This is certainly true in some cases.

I was out on a (local & solo) ride yesterday & a van on the other side of the road was beeping his horn & shaking his head at me.

[brooksby]

Have to admit I’ve been

Have to admit I’ve been driving into the office for the last nine days (is it only nine f-ing days since Johnson said to close everything down?), and it’s the most I’ve driven a car in years.

What I’ve found difficult is driving along obeying the speed limit when you see a car come speeding up behind you, then sitting a few feet off your rear bumper.

Out of the city, when this happens, the following car then usually overtakes and disappears into the distance.

I’ve said it elsewhere, but there are a lot of motorists who think that the mostly-empty roads mean that they can finally drive like they’re in a car advert…

 

[Podc]

They probably think you

They probably think you shouldn’t be there – even more so than normal – and you need to be taught a lesson.

Round my way, most road users are being quite well behaved but speeds seem to have gone up, and a few drivers are already slipping in to the ‘not expecting there to be anyone else about’ mode. 

 

[Author]

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