This morning's commute and other commuting stories

I reviewed last night's two and didn't think they 'looked' risky enough. This morning's bus wanker definitely looks close enough though.

Got caught out this morning by this chump in the blue jacket who left hooked my front wheel on Trafalgar Square. Really didnt expect this bullshit manoeuvre as when I passed him he was well over to the left then as my rear cam shows (couldnt be arsed adding that) suddenly swings over -I can only assume trying to take the shortest line across the junction rather than holding a line for the exit he wanted -and hits me from the right as he aims left for Whitehall through my front wheel. Fucking genius, this guy.

https://vimeo.com/310663503

One of mine came back with "not close enough"

Likely story. Don't they realise that one doesn't work in your case?

What was his reaction?

“Bellenden Road”

Can we just take a moment to celebrate this glorious street name?

finally, been giggling about this for nigh on 15 years in shame waiting for someone else to notice

Me too!

What is a "reasonable distance" to pass? It didn't feel reasonable to me but I guess the law is the law innit.

Well that's the problem - the law isn't the law because there's no legal minimum distance like in Spain.

But Rule 163 of the Highway Code says drivers must: “Give vulnerable road users at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car,”. That would seem to be the best definition for practical purposes, but if a pass you felt was close was rejected it would suggest they're using something else.

Can you ask what their criteria is?

"Can you please define what are reasonable and unreasonable distances to be passed?
I found it unreasonable but there's not much point reporting poor driving if you are working off some other passing distance measurement.

If the Highway Code states drivers must give vulnerable road users as much room as they would when passing a car then I also think this pass was unreasonable.
As a driver as well, if someone pass this close to me I'd be concerned about their ability to safely operate their vehicle."

yesterdays commute felt like normal service was resumed, nose to tail traffic in parts that had been empty days previously.
Today felt like an odd mix of the two. Confusing.

Watched a motorbicycklist use up at least two of their nine lives this morning. Approaching a t junction to a fast road, about 10m ahead of me they brake and then just go for it. Poor Focus driver (full marks for being awake) barely had time to hit the anchors and rider makes it by nanometres. Can attest driver was then wide awake as I looked at him with his mouth wide open in a silent scream.
But he didn’t let me out from the junction. Probably needed a coffee and a change of trousers.

there's a pub called the prince albert on bellenden road - you couldn't even make it up haha! At some point the road was called Victoria road/st and I have no idea when/why is was changed.

did he apologise?

Quick response:

In regards to close passes they can be hard to judge and explain as each one will be a unique situation.

At this moment there is no specific law regarding the definition of a close pass and as such these scenarios are processed as an offence of “driving without due care and attention” or “inconsiderate driving“ and therefore the evidence must meet a specific criteria as if it is to be presented to the Court. Generally this means that the victim must be inconvenienced by the other driver by having to slow, stop or swerve or the manner of driving witnessed has fallen far below the standard expected of a safe and competent driver.

Therefore for “Close Passes” we have to judge each case on its own merits such as road conditions, speed, location, is the cyclist affected in any way and is the cyclist put in danger.

With this in mind we believe that if a car passes you doing road speeds (20/30mph etc.) and that your outstretched arm can touch the vehicle this may be considered a close pass.

With all this in respect the evidence is also affected greatly by the footage supplied to us as well such as the position of the camera/s as each angle can be misleading.

In regards to your footage it shows yourself cycling at a moderate pace, the Vauxhall is seen to approach from behind and overtakes at a reasonable speed. From your footage you are not affected by having to slow, stop or swerve. The camera from underneath your pannier makes it difficult to judge how close the vehicle is. In this case we have decided that we would not be successful in a prosecution.

Please continue to report cases of poor driving. All information is kept by a Road Safe Team who use the information for intelligence purposes.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

.

Interesting - I'd take from that response that it might be a good idea, if you capture a close pass on camera, to then do a little wobble as that would demonstrate how you'd been inconvenienced...

The Hippy does not wobble!

Oh wait, yeah I do, mostly around my midrift. ;)

It's nice to know they do document this kind of stuff though. They do seem to take it seriously especially given I can only barely muster the energy to report the fucks in the first place. If I had my front camera going for this one it might've been more obvious how little room was left given the parked car and the oncoming car but whatever I'll keep reporting.
Oh, you need to say you're willing to attend court for them to do anything too.

But Rule 163 of the Highway Code says drivers must: “Give vulnerable road users at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car,”. That would seem to be the best definition for practical purposes, but if a pass you felt was close was rejected it would suggest they're using something else.

There are two problems with that rule. One is the phrasing and the other is a general spatial problem.

Many drivers will take "as much room as you would when overtaking a car" to mean just 30-45cm because that's how close most drive to other cars is urban situations, i.e. (random photo):

(Barely wide enough to filter down the middle of.)

This is compounded by the fact that many drivers will mentally judge distance from the wheels of the bicycle, rather than the bit of body/bike/pannier that sticks out furthest.

Many Police forces are running a Operation ClosePass type thing, with mats to demonstrate a safe distance. That may be a starting point: http://www.cyclesprog.co.uk/blog/operation-close-pass/

(I'd much prefer a proper legal minimum distance although that'd be interesting to try and enforce that in inner cities.)

Get a small diameter pvc pipe about a metre long, at the end attach a key, bolt said pipe to pannier rack.
Anyone who passes dangerously close gets a nice score down the side of their car with nobody but themself to blame.
Also ride away quickly when this happens

That would add 20 minutes to my 35 minute commute as I'd hardly be able to do any filtering without damaging the cars I'm passing.

Had some fuckhead in a Jeep crossing Putney High Street from Disraeli to Norroy on a red. Meaning, traffic on my road was at a standstill, I'm cycling down through, it's green for me, and this absolute shithead decides that as "nothing" is moving on Putney High Street anyway (and it's a boxed junction so sometimes cars actually keep that intersection free), he might as well nip across on a red. Nearly took me out, good thing my front brake grips properly.

I'm usually the last one to complain about jumping red lights, but this is exactly the type of situation when you should definitely not do it - minimal visibility, everything full of stuff, there could be a pedestrian or a cyclist or a scooter anywhere.

The pass in question was closer than that gap in the pic and there's also the problem with the speed - I was already doing 20mph so they were probably speeding.

The problem with judging distance is likely down to viewing/install angles on a rear camera, combined with the fact that when a driver dive bombs you to pass, the gap is tighter at the front of the bike compared to the rear as they were still moving across my path, concentrating on not having a head-on with the oncoming car rather than where the fuck I was.

Also, since I'm used to this shit, I don't panic and wobble even when trying to punch a hole in their rear window, so again probably doesn't look so bad on camera.

Remember that bicycle that painted stuff on the road as it went?

I've always thought about having a sensor that detects close passes and vehicle speeds and sprays a legible warning message onto the car as it passes.

Saw an ultra-chill-looking dude on an omafiets wearing an olive green poncho sailing along in the other lane near Finsbury Park today. Felt an immediate pang of poncho envy.

In a similar vein, I always wanted to have some window stickers made up, the sort that are sticky on the front rather than the back so you stick it on a window and it can be read from the other side of the glass.
Reading something along the lines of “get off your phone you selfish shit head”.