Lovacott
Über Member
He was angry about this because in his opinion this just portrayed cyclists as dangerous, unpredictable and a cause of accidents and was instilling this view in drivers right at the beginning of their driving career.
On the other hand, I waver around in the road quite a bit because I don't have four ten inch wide wheels with which to ride over potholes or dodgy manhole covers. There is a big downhill section on my home bound commute which would be suicidal if I were to attempt it less than two metres away from the side. A lot of local club riders use the hill and they all hang well out from the edge due to protruding brambles (nasty), pot holes and fissures.
The law says that if I am in front, it is my right of way and I can use the whole width of the lane. It is the responsibility of the driver behind me to make sure that if he overtakes me, he does it safely.
So in the DVLA video, maybe what they are trying to demonstrate, is the very point I have just been trying to make above. The only safe way to overtake any vehicle, is on the other side of the road without impinging on any oncoming traffic.
Car drivers do it with tractors and JCB's so why should a 15mph cyclist be treated any differently to a 15mph tractor or JCB?
I'm a car driver as well as a bike rider and if I see a bike ahead, I stay back until it is safe for me to overtake on the other side of the road.