4 ms·
I've never found bicycles to be a massive issue on roads. They're slow and narrow, so they're easy to overtake. Where I am there's often tractors on the road.
by LAC-Tech 4y ago
I've never found bicycles to be a massive issue on roads. They're slow and narrow, so they're easy to overtake.
Where I am there's often tractors on the road. A lot harder to overtake, and I still manage to refrain from getting angry at them either!
People need to just chill the fuck out.
- tcfhgj 4y agoThey're only narrow when they drive in the dooring zone and minimum distance isn't kept during overtaking (Germany: 1.5m in town, else 2m)
- klabb3 4y ago> the dooring zone Which is the most dangerous place to be of all. Cyclists must avoid this zone except for near-zero speeds. I usually tell new cyclists to assume that you are never seen unless you are right in front of a car. Assume all cars have no mirrors, side windows and all doors can be opened at any time. In a car, the mentality is usually "if I have the right of way I'll do it", on a bike it's a death wish.
- LAC-Tech 4y ago1. Most of the time I encounter cyclists is on country roads, which is 90% of my driving. 2. In the city they're even less of an issue, because the speed limit is 50 km/h and they're doing what, 20-40km/h? It's not that big a deal especially if you factor in intersections, roundabouts, etc. 3. They're still narrower than farm tractors. Or herds of cattle. It's just not that big a deal.
- bipson 4y agoA lot of people, those around me included, seem to not grasp that for safe overtake of a bicycle you still require a second lane (at least partially) besides your own. But in traffic and the laws lane usage is binary. There is no such thing as half lanes, you cannot use the second lane "a little". You either need it, or you don't. So overtaking a bicycle, a motorbike, a pedestrian on the road or a tractor, etc. it is all the same. What I'm trying to say is, where I live people forget that all the time, and then they think they can "squeeze by", endangering cyclists, motorcyclists and most of all the opposing traffic. I see this multiple times a week in the summer.
- aikinai 4y agoThis is some seriously counterproductive absolutism, and I cycle everyday and don't own a car.
- desas 4y agoIt's literally the guidance that every police force in the UK work to, you need to leave a space of 1.5 metres between your car and the cyclist when overtaking at 30mph. It might be that our road lanes are narrower than yours of course. See https://www.northants.police.uk/police-forces/northamptonshire-police/areas/northamptonshire-force-content/about-us/about-us/close-pass/ https://www.northants.police.uk/police-forces/northamptonshi...
- machinawhite 4y agoYeah I've had a police car leave a space of maybe 1.5cm between me and their VW transporter. They don't care either
- desas 4y agoThe police are just people. They employ some bad drivers, just like they employ some bad people.
- kuschku 4y agoIt’s the same in Germany. Also, cyclists have to keep roughly the same distance from parked cars (“reasonable distance”, OLG Düsseldorf ruled 2018 that this means 1.5 meters from parked cars or 80 cm from a curb if there are no cars). With those two rules combined, in most city streets bicyclists require a full lane.
- bluecalm 4y agoA safety rule every cyclist understands after a close call or two. Don't ride too close to the curb and especially not if there are cars parked. Very nice you have that codified in law.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- LtWorf 4y ago> They're slow and narrow, so they're easy to overtake. In italy they go side by side in groups of 2 or 3… (which is forbidden but who cares).