Cyclists undertaking
Discussion
On my morning commute, I have a mile or so run down a wide(ish) 40mph road (see pic, the A65 from Rawdon to Horsforth, for anyone interested).
For the most part it is downhill, meaning cyclists can be moving along at 25-35mph.
Passing them early in the journey is normally pretty straightforward, however further down the hill, traffic typically increases and moving speed can drop to 30mph or.
At this point, I fairly regularly experience cyclists wanting to pass me back on the nearside (this is on stretches prior to the cycle lane, for those with local knowledge).
I'm on two minds as to best practice here; do I leave as large a safe gap as I can to my nearside to enable the cyclist, close the gap before the cyclist approaches to deter or do nothing to influence?
Go offside of a car on a busy commuter route full of central islands and refuges at 30mph? That would be a bit mental.
As for leaving space to the nearside- my issue is that to leave sufficient space for them I would need to straddle the centre line/enter the hatched area, which might not be on when the cyclist chooses to enter my nearside.
That's the 'dilemma'.
As for leaving space to the nearside- my issue is that to leave sufficient space for them I would need to straddle the centre line/enter the hatched area, which might not be on when the cyclist chooses to enter my nearside.
That's the 'dilemma'.
S100HP said:
Why pass them in the first place if you know you're going to have to slow shortly?
You don't know that you will. Even where you do, you might have a mile at 40mph before the traffic slows. There's no reason to avoid making appropriate progress to sit behind a cyclist at 28mph, just in case the traffic slows at some point out of view. Just to make sure I'm clear- I'm not critical of cyclists or looking to impede them to suit my own progress. I'm asking about scenarios where they put or are looking to put themselves into unsafe positions that require my attention and/or action.
Looking at your picture it looks like there should be plenty of room to move to the right without crossing the hatched area and leave the near side to the cyclists, unless you're in a BFO truck, so I would do that.
As a cyclist I would then take responsibility for my own life and decide whether or not to overtake or undertake or neither.
As a cyclist I would then take responsibility for my own life and decide whether or not to overtake or undertake or neither.
keirik said:
Looking at your picture it looks like there should be plenty of room to move to the right without crossing the hatched area and leave the near side to the cyclists, unless you're in a BFO truck, so I would do that.
As a cyclist I would then take responsibility for my own life and decide whether or not to overtake or undertake or neither.
On that piece of road, if I passed a cyclist without crossing the centre line or encroaching on the hatched area, you would justifiably feel squeezed and that I had passed more closely than is comfortable (and outwith the demands of the HC).As a cyclist I would then take responsibility for my own life and decide whether or not to overtake or undertake or neither.
The situation I describe is where the traffic is flowing and a cyclist approaches from behind. They have 3 choices; overtake on the nearside, overtake on the offside or maintain position.
My question relates to what should I do to avoid encouraging the cyclist to put us both in a position of conflict/danger?
janesmith1950 said:
On that piece of road, if I passed a cyclist without crossing the centre line or encroaching on the hatched area, you would justifiably feel squeezed and that I had passed more closely than is comfortable (and outwith the demands of the HC).
The situation I describe is where the traffic is flowing and a cyclist approaches from behind. They have 3 choices; overtake on the nearside, overtake on the offside or maintain position.
My question relates to what should I do to avoid encouraging the cyclist to put us both in a position of conflict/danger?
I agree, but if they're passing you the perspective is different, as they aren't cutting you up with a couple of tonnes of metal. and as I said, move to close to the hatched area, leaving the space for them to undertake if they want or to overtake. The situation I describe is where the traffic is flowing and a cyclist approaches from behind. They have 3 choices; overtake on the nearside, overtake on the offside or maintain position.
My question relates to what should I do to avoid encouraging the cyclist to put us both in a position of conflict/danger?
If you're still travelling at a normal speed (I'd say anything 20mph or above) then take the dominant lane position.
janesmith1950 said:
I'm on two minds as to best practice here; do I leave as large a safe gap as I can to my nearside to enable the cyclist, close the gap before the cyclist approaches to deter or do nothing to influence?
Leave the gap. In the circs you describe the cyclist has a choice between staying on the near side and moving to the offside. By the time the cyclist works out the need to move to the offside it sounds like they will have to move across a line of cars which is slowing and concertina-ing. Moving into a shrinking gap is not something most sensible cyclists do, all the less so if they are carrying. A lot of speed.
HardtopManual said:
gottans said:
Are cyclists allowed to undertake?
Yes, if filtering past stationary or very slow-moving traffic. For example, you wouldn't expect a cyclist to sit in a queue of traffic for several phases of lights; they'd filter either to the ASL or to a position just behind the lead car.Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff