This thread has depressed the living day lights out of me. I cycle, sometimes. I drive more than I cycle. When cycling, on my retro ladies bike with a basket, I try to keep,left and pull,over where possible. I never go through red lights. I cycle On Cycle lanes where possible and get off and walk when I have to cross on a pedestrian crossing. I make eye contact with people. I wave and smile when they let me in. And despite all that, while keeping left down a one way street by school, a guy in a massive landrover passed me in such a way that his wing mirror was centimetres away from my
Shoulder. I nearly wet myself with fright. So I decided to take the middle line to avoid being knocked over.
Then a week later, a twat tooted at me to pull over when there was about 20m to go to an intersection, and where I was going to pull right to walk on the pavement to the crossing. IMHO there wasn't room for him to,pass so I stuck my arm out in a "wait" gesture. He was perhaps 20 seconds away from the intersection. He wound down his window and screamed abuse at me, surprising the builder working on a house nearby. I'm afraid I wasn't very ladylike and told him it wasn't safe and he needed to learn to share the road. There was so much more I'd like to have said.... If I'd been in my car, he'd have had to have waited just as long, so why behave like that?
This kind of behaviour makes me drive more often. Which means there is one more car on the road, which means more traffic and slower journey times for cars. I find it extraordinary that drivers have not worked out that the more cyclists use the road, the less road traffic, fewer cars=faster journey times!
OP. Pleà se please please don't pass unless you can give the cycle a wide berth. They might most wobble with fright under your wheels. Gaining 10 seconds of time, is it worth another person's life?