2 Abreast cycling is simply not safe.

[classic33]

Round here, some people hit the horn at blind bends but that assumes that the oncoming driver (if there is one) had heard the noise - if they can hear at all. Better, IMHO, to respect the road and the conditions.

Which is a better indication of another vehicle approaching at night, lights or horn?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

They needn't have been bothered. They may have just thought that the car behind them had been very patient and it was no bother to them to single out at a safe place!
Love 'n' happiness all round!

True. But only the slimmest of slim possibilities hereabouts.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Round here, some people hit the horn at blind bends but that assumes that the oncoming driver (if there is one) had heard the noise - if they can hear at all. Better, IMHO, to respect the road and the conditions.

My sister totalled her Juke (it improved the looks) in a head on collision on a single track blind corner which goes under a railway bridge/embankment not far from her home. In daylight.

She sounded her horn. As soon as her horn sounding ceased she heard the horn of another vehicle coming the other way.

Since each driver, like all locals there, habitually sound their horn at this point, almost unthinkingly, without slowing down sufficiently, nor expecting an oncoming vehicle to be there, and, frankly, were tooting in the standard Mr Toad "I'm coming through! Beware! Get out of my way!" fashion, an expensive shunt occurred. The village fallout of which has still not been resolved a few years later.

I've been forced to bail twice by oncoming in the same place whilst cycling. NO horn the driver can here to respond with, and they are, of course, comin' thru! But my all time fave was the nobber who tried to overtake me as I approached the bridge.

Better, imo, for drivers to just chillax and to slow the feck down. But that will never catch on.

 

[keithmac]

What's the general consensus then, if a car is fully over the opposing carriageway it's an acceptable pass for the car to make?.

 

[Profpointy]

What's the general consensus then, if a car is fully over the opposing carriageway it's an acceptable pass for the car to make?.

well yes - assuming of course that there is sufficient clear road ahead

 

[coffeejo]

What's the general consensus then, if a car is fully over the opposing carriageway it's an acceptable pass for the car to make?.

Yes. Or even, IMHO, most of the way over.

 

[Tin Pot]

As a cyclist and a motorist I hate riders riding two abreast

And we hate you.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

And we hate you.

hate is a very strong word.

but I get where you are coming from.

 

[Ajax Bay]

What's the general consensus then, if a car is fully over the opposing carriageway it's an acceptable pass for the car to make?.

I'm interpreting this as "Is it acceptable to overtake a slower moving vehicle (going slower than the road's speed limit), a single cyclist or a group of cyclists (or indeed a group of runners) by passing on the opposite side of a 'single carriageway' road (ie a lane each way)?"
Answer (for me): Yes, assuming that there is sufficient clear road ahead to complete the overtaking manoeuvre safely without cutting in, that the road user being overtaken is not so wide that they need more than their lane to progress, and that the vehicle or cyclist ahead is not indicating that they are about to turn.

 

[Tin Pot]

hate is a very strong word.

but I get where you are coming from.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

What's the general consensus then, if a car is fully over the opposing carriageway it's an acceptable pass for the car to make?.

If car A were overtaking car B it would do so entirely on the other side of the centre line of the carriageway.
Why should car A overtake a cyclist in any other way? Are the driver's wrists lacking the strength to turn the wheel? Is the steering column seized?
If car A fails to move completely to the other side of the road because of oncoming traffic then overtaking is not safe at that time and the driver should suck it up and continue behind the cyclist.

 

[jefmcg]

Looking at this diagram

I don't think I'd overtake a car on a road this narrow, unless they moved left and waved me through. I'd slow right down if there was a car coming towards me. Similarly I probably wouldn't overtake a cyclist either, until they pulled over and waved me through.

 

[coffeejo]

Looking at this diagram

I don't think I'd overtake a car on a road this narrow, unless they moved left and waved me through. I'd slow right down if there was a car coming towards me. Similarly I probably wouldn't overtake a cyclist either, until they pulled over and waved me through.

If I saw the car on the left, I'd pedal as fast as possible in the opposite direction. S/he has got cyclists' heads as hood ornaments.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Looking at this diagram

. . . . . I'd slow right down if there was a car coming towards me.

How does slowing down when a car approaches from the opposite direction help? There is clearly enough room to pass, just concentrate on keeping in to the left hand side. If there isn't surely you need to stop. When I drive behind people who do what you say you'd do, and the brake lights keep going on for bends, cars coming the other way etc, I call them 'brakers' and just drop back a bit; and breathe. Some drivers are not as confident on narrow country roads, especially if the roads are not familiar.