Not overtaking cyclist

[creampuffs]

I was driving down a very narrow twisty road 20mph speed limit when I caught up with a very slow cyclist. Double white lines down centre of road, lots of blind bends. Had to slow to 10mph at one point. Cars started queuing behind me getting irate and beeping because I couldn't overtake. One even went round me and the bike at one point. But I honestly couldn't see how to pass safely. It would have meant risking either a head on crash or knocking over the cyclist. Got to the end of the double white lines and finally had a clear view to overtake when not 1 but 2 of the cars behind me decide to overtake us aggressively. Was I really unreasonable to wait until it was safe to overtake? Left feeling quite upset and rattled by the other cars' behaviour as clearly everyone else thought I should have just overtaken.

Of course you should wait until it's safe to overtake. I drive down country roads a lot and in some places there really aren't areas where it is safe to overtake cyclists.

I get frustrated sometimes and I'm sure the cars behind you were as well but if it's not safe then it's not safe.

I have never seen 20mph limits outside of residential areas. Can’t imagine a winding country road with a 20mph limit. Is this a thing?

Yes it really is 20mph. It's fields/hedges on one side, high walls and very narrow bit of footpath on the other. It's in London . It's not a very long stretch that is so twisty with double white lines , just bad luck that I happened across a slow cyclist just at the worst point I guess.

I would have done the same thing OP, hate overtaking cyclists at the best of times, I wouldn't worry about the cars behind me let them overtake if they wish to do so, some people have no patience on the road

You get the odd aggressive twat but if 3 cars in total overtook you then I’d be inclined to think your judgement was off and you could have passed safely at some point. Also a narrow twisty road at 20mph? Are you sure have that right? Usually 20 limits are in densely populated areas and roads like you describe are national speed limits. Obviously I could be totally off the mark and you were really unlucky to encounter a gaggle of aggressive drivers. If you’re totally confident you did the right thing then no need to give it a second thought.

You did the right thing, I do exactly the same. I will not overtake until I have space and time to over take in the same space that I would if I were overtaking a car. I dont just brush past the cyclist, I go into the other lane on the other side of the road to give good space

People are arseholes. Thats all you need to remember!

OP - I would have done the same.

If I can't see clearly, I don't overtake cyclists.

Just ignore the motorists beeping you and don't let them influence when you overtake cyclists.

Yanbu. Bollocks to the impatient drivers.
My car has very little power and I'm a cautious driver. I'm forever getting crap from other drivers. I even did the advanced driving course as I was sure it was me being crap, reader; it wasn't.

I really hate being in this situation but would have done exactly what you did. People are impatient and rude. The fact they overtook at the same point as you, shows you waited until the right point, they were just jackasses to not let you overtake first (although I would have been straight out, they wouldn't have gotten a chance!)

A double white line in the middle means no overtaking. Even emergency vehicles don't cross them. So what you did was correct.

At the end of the day, you have to make the risk assessment, justify your actions and live with the consequences. If you aren't comfortable overtaking at any time, don't do it. Not worth the risk.

I had it once where I was perfectly happy to just follow behind a massive group on NSL, twist country roads. Honestly they were so twisty and so many cyclists I couldn't ever see far enough ahead to make a judgement so I just didn't. They obvs got pissed off with me and kept waving for me to overtake, but I didn't. Eventually one stopped and blocked me and ranted that I was making their group uncomfortable, I should have overtaken and left them be etc. I just explained that if it went wrong, it would be all on me and that as the person in control of the car, it's MY decision.

You get the odd aggressive twat but if 3 cars in total overtook you then I’d be inclined to think your judgement was off and you could have passed safely at some point.

Possibly, but I’ve had that before when it really hasn’t been safe to overtake. Also, a lot of drivers of more high-powered cars don’t seem to realise that just because they can overtake (almost) safely doesn’t mean I can in my small, low-powered car with limited acceleration.

Double white line does not mean you can’t overtake a bike and if other cars managed to get round you and the cyclist then it sounds like you should have overtaken the bike.

Other cars took a risk, perhaps unnecessarily given the OP came up to a point where it was then safe.

Just because someone else does something it doesnt mean OP should have done it. People are idiots

When we lived in the deep deep countryside I was forever being harassed by people who wanted to drive really nice and quickly round the blind bends. They would come up dangerously close, flash ( their lights) beep the horn….

One day I got so fed up with a particularly aggressive bloke in a flash car that I pulled over virtually into the ditch to let him steam past. Fortunately the road where he had driven headlong into the combine harvester coming In the other direction was wide enough for me to pass by safely.
( I did see that he was standing beside his not now so smart car shouting , I’m not completely heartless)

Wrong. You can cross double white lines to overtake a stationary vehicle or a slow moving bicycle, horse etc

That's only for cars. You can overtake bikes, horses etc. still.

I wouldn’t overtake where I didn’t feel safe either. You did nothing wrong.

I wish karma like this happened more often.

Was the combine ok, though? I presume yes, but given speed and assholery, better to check.

Well I've learned something new as a result of this post.

"You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph or less."

Only overtake when it's safe to do so which is what you did

If I get somebody in a rush behind me I go slower

The 3 cars should not have overtaken you but you could have overtaken the bike if safe to do so.
If either me or DH was on the bike, we'd have stopped to let the build up of traffic go but equally we'd not have been riding down a road like that with not many safe spots to be over taken on.

I don't know how much room some people need when they overtake cyclists. You don't know how to judge speed and distance if cars behind you were overtaking.

You should give a cyclist the space that you would a car so you would really be on the other side of the line. I tend to drop back so I have time and space to safely accelerate and get past the cyclist with minimal time on the other side of the road. But I would be wary on a narrow twisty road.