[HoarseMann]

I was forced to have a chat with a van driver who had stopped to ask me why I wasn’t riding in the door zone when passing parked cars the other day. I asked him to google what the highway code says about overtaking cyclists.

That got me thinking, what would you discover if you did that? The top hit (for me at least), is an outdated article on the RED driving school website. Which is mostly ok, but had this corker at the end…

[quote]Whilst you won’t get points on your licence for failing to pass a cyclist while observing a minimum distance, you may be served with points (or worse) for dangerous driving if you are found to be at fault for knocking a cyclist off their bike.[/quote]

So there you have it, close pass cyclists with wild abandon and you’ll be fine unless you knock them off (and it was your fault, and they can prove it). Sadly, this is the reality for most close passes (apart from the dangerous driving bit, nobody gets done for that), but it’s a bit odd to see this advice being given on a driving school website!

Topic

[Jack Sexty]

Good point, I shall ask why

Good point, I shall ask why this is. 

[vthejk]

Sorry Jack, is this just me

Sorry Jack, is this just me or has the line about ‘not getting points on your license for not observing a minimum distance’ not been changed at all?

 

[Jack Sexty]

Well it seems this post has

Well it seems this post has got some attention – we’ve just been informed that Red Driving School has now updated the part of its website in question… 

[wtjs]

All this is ‘how many angels
All this is ‘how many angels can fit on the point of a pin’ stuff, when the Bad Cops are sticking firmly to their imaginary interpretation of the Highway Code, which is that No Pass Is Too Close

[Sriracha]

So I’m tempted to ask what is

lonpfrb wrote:

the Highway Code is specific that 1.5 metres is the minimum below 30mph and 2 metres above 30mph.

So I’m tempted to ask what is the passing distance at 30mph? If you’re going to take the interwebs to task over accuracy …

[I]give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215).
As a guide:
leave [b]at least 1.5 metres [/b]when overtaking cyclists at speeds of [b]up to 30mph[/b], and give them [b]more space when overtaking at higher speeds[/b]

pass horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles at speeds under 10 mph and allow [b]at least 2 metres [/b]of space

allow [b]at least 2 metres[/b] of space and keep to a low speed when passing a pedestrian who is walking in the road (for example, where there is no pavement)

take extra care and give [b]more space[/b] when overtaking motorcyclists, cyclists, horse riders, horse drawn vehicles and pedestrians in bad weather (including high winds) and at night

[B]you should wait [/b]behind the motorcyclist, cyclist, horse rider, horse drawn vehicle or pedestrian [b]and not overtake if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances.[/b]
[/i]
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203

Which (as regards cyclists) boils down to:
Up to 30mph, not less than 1.5m,
Over 30mph, over 1.5m

[lonpfrb]

Whilst the interweb is
Whilst the interweb is replete with wrong or outdated content the Highway Code is specific that 1.5 metres is the minimum below 30mph and 2 metres above 30mph. Why would anyone look at a legacy commercial site when gov.uk is the system of authority…

Surely van drivers are fully aware since the vehicle requires MOT, VED, and they DVLA, too, which is all online at gov.uk..

Then there is ‘ignorance of the law is no defense’, but I hope you would not come to that. .

Ride safe.

[chrisonabike]

A good variation!  Looking

A good variation!  Looking forward to “no, as much room as I care…”

[IanMSpencer]

Nah, it was a Morris 1100,

Nah, it was a Morris 1100, KNL 166E.

[AlsoSomniloquism]

The link to the website with

The link to the website with a big banner proclaiming National Driving School of the Year 2022. Not sure if it is a win proclamation or just a boast that is one of probably two national driving schools left. 

[swldxer]

DOOR mirrors.

DOOR mirrors.

[HoarseMann]

Yes, I think it’s more about

Yes, I think it’s more about the defined distances, which weren’t a thing back then. But even so, I did manage to get someone points and a fine for close passing without knocking me off! (was not easy though).

The ‘as a car’ bit has always been a bit vague, but I had a new one in that chat the other day, when the van driver had recalled it said ‘as I can’.

There’s me saying ‘you need to give me as much room as a car’, to which he replies ‘as much room as I can, that’s what it says in the highway code, not as a car, as I can, you’re not as wide as a car, you’re a bike!’.

[IanMSpencer]

It is in line with the old

It is in line with the old advice about “give cyclists as much room as you would a car” which I have often pointed out is skimming past, potentially clipping wing mirrors.

I would write to Red and suggest they amend that. I look forward to what their reply is (I suspect “crickets”).

[Author]

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