Driving and cyclists

[Jessie1995]

Hi guys,
im really careful around cyclists ( only overtake when it’s clear and I can move over into other lane etc )
however recently I’ve been experiencing cyclists undertaking me on the left hand side. Now I think from reading up on it they can do when cars are stopped at lights etc. but I’m talking as I’m just driving along. Only in 20mph roads this happens on when I’m driving 20mph no faster but I can see them in my blind spot hovering behind me and then swiftly undertake me on the left.

am I right to just continue? Aslong as I’ve seen them there and perhaps slow down a little? Today it happened as I’m approaching a zebra crossing but other times just when I’m driving along at 20mph 🤦🏼‍♀️

it always throws me off a bit as I always like to give them plenty of space but they are squeezing down the side of my car when I’m moving along too. I know it’s their decision but just wanted clarification on whether I just need to continue as I would aslong I am aware they are there and then have clocked them being infront of me again.

thank you! From an anxious driver haha!

It’s perfectly legal and acceptable for cyclists to filter on the inside of stationary and moving traffic.

It’s great that you’re using your mirrors and are aware of them and you do not need to stop

It's right to give cyclists plenty pf room wjen overtaking them as you don't know whether they are aware of you, whether they are about to swerve to avoid a pothole that could cause an accident, or be overcome by a sneezing fit.

The same uncertainty doesn't apply if they are choosing to undertake you so I don't think you are obliged to get yourself over the other side of the road to give them room (obviously often wouldn't be safe)

However they are being unsafe and rather srupid doing this, and they are still a more vulnerable road user due to not being encased in a ton of metal. Same as if pedestrians are crossing the road in an unsafe way - they fact that they are being idiotic doesn't absolve you of your duty to put their safety first.

Therefore I think it would be appropriate to reduce your speed a bit if you notice them in your wing mirror so that if they hit a pothole and get catapaulted off their bike just as they undertake you, the resultling collision is less likely to be fatal.

If their idiocy did cause a fatal accident it wouldn't be your fault, but the small cost of losing a few mph of speed for 15 seconds is an appropriate safeguard against the trauma that such an incident would cause you.

I also find it odd when you're overtaking a cyclist they expect you to pass them giving plenty of room, and rightly so but they don't apply the same common sense and squeeze up the inside where suddenly a 3 inch gap is an acceptable space to pass.

After a cyclist scraped down the side of DH's car I now tend to drive more over towards the kerb if in slow moving traffic then they have a choice to wait behind, overtake or as some do use the pavement until they can get back onto the road.

Crumpleton · Today 04:35
I also find it odd when you're overtaking a cyclist they expect you to pass them giving plenty of room, and rightly so but they don't apply the same common sense and squeeze up the inside where suddenly a 3 inch gap is an acceptable space to pass.

@OpusGiemuJavlo explains the difference clearly

After a cyclist scraped down the side of DH's car I now tend to drive more over towards the kerb if in slow moving traffic then they have a choice to wait behind, overtake or as some do use the pavement until they can get back onto the road.

I do this now to stop them undertaking, I hate it when they don’t have enough room but try to get past anyway. Either it’s safe to overtake and they can do that, or it’s dangerous and they can wait.

I am a cyclist, driver and also have a motorcycle so try to see everyone’s point of view!

Or you could move further away from the kerb

...and you re also a Policeman too as you are policing the roads as well.

Its not your job to drive in such a way to stop other road users doing what is perfectly legal.

Would you like it if a car driver moved out to try and make it more difficult for you to over take whilst out on your motorcycle?

Worry about your own driving instead of trying to correct the faults of others?

I'm mainly a motorist and very occasionally a cyclist.
Any driver who deliberately wedges out a cyclist by staying inches from the kerb is BVU and a twat

It's a lot more dangerous to the cyclist to overtake (potentially being sideswiped by 30mph traffic coming in the opposite direction if they are unable to move back over to the left after passing you as you sped up as they started passing (they don't know you aren't a dangerous driver) rather than undertaking traffic that is moving slower than they can pedal.

A cyclist does not have the luxury of being fully surrounded by a tonne of metal that will get fully padded with airbags in the event of a collision so it is ok for them to choose maneuvers that would be totally inappropriate for a car driver, so long as they are paying due regard to the safety of more vulnerable road users than themselves (pedestrians, child cyclists)

it is totally ok for a cyclist to pass traffic moving slower than they can pedal - this advantage to cycling is what should be getting more of us (excluding disabled people obviously) out of our cars and onto bikes in order to reduce traffic that endangers pedestrians and improve city air quality. On roads where there isn't enough room for bikes to pass freely the network of roads should be worked on to create better free flow for cyclists e.g. by reducing parking spaces

Do you recognise that cyclists can often be faster than cars in 20mph zones? I cycle frequently and my pet hate is being overtaken in a clear part of 20mph zone, and then as soon as the overtaking car encounters an obstacle (parked cars, queue of traffic), they pull in and block me, so I undertake. If the overtaker just held back then there would be no need for any cyclist to undertake; it’s deeply frustrating to be held up by motor traffic who don’t understand cycling traffic flow.

I do undertake, because I think it’s ridiculous that half ton metal boxes should expect default priority.

Surely cyclists are also bound by the 20mph limit. I guess they have no speedo though 🤷🏼‍♀️

Moving to the kerb to stop cyclists filtering down the inside of stationary traffic is total arsehole behaviour - I used to cycle regularly in London and it used to do my fucking head in when cars did this, forcing me to overtake between two lanes of traffic instead. Just move over and let the bikes through FFS 🙄

@Crumpleton I also find it odd when you're overtaking a cyclist they expect you to pass them giving plenty of room, and rightly so but they don't apply the same common sense and squeeze up the inside where suddenly a 3 inch gap is an acceptable space to pass.

It's almost as though people riding bikes are all separate human beings and not one weird cycling hive mind? I never undertake cars and I don't think the fact that other people have a less risk averse approach than me means it's somehow odd that I want you to give me plenty of room when overtaking.

Some drivers are dangerous lunatics but I don't assume that's a universal, not least because I am one myself.

I was walking across a pelican crossing in London traffic light was red, my right of way, two lanes of cars were already stopped I was half away across and cyclist thought rules didn't apply to them came straight between the two lines of cars and hit me, knocked both of us fighting..
That's a fucking arsehole behaviour right there...FFS🙄

@Crumpleton of course it is! Doesn’t mean your behaviour in your car isn’t also fucking stupid! It’s possible for more than one thing to be stupid at the same time 🙄

@RemarkablyBrightCreature

The 2022 Highway Code no longer asks for cyclists to stay on the left side of the road – or, indeed, to use any provided cycle lanes. Instead, cyclists are told to ride “no less than half a metre” from the kerb or verge.

It happens

I was cycling over a toucan crossing a couple of months ago and a car jumped the red light. Fortunately I still look, as pedestrians should, so she didn’t hit me.

Yes, cars jump red lights too and the consequences are far more likely to be fatal