Close passes - advice and a rant!

[a.twiddler]

Rant away! Sometimes it just helps to let off steam. Some cyclists make a career of filming and reporting other road users' transgressions and if you are that way disposed, perhaps that is the way to go. If you have an incident, if you were to believe some cycling forums, the immediate thing to do is to rush out and get yourself a camera. For me, such incidents happen so rarely that it would sour the whole cycling experience if I went out in that combative frame of mind.

As others have already suggested, cultivating road awareness and using road positioning can help. A good mirror, being assertive, but also being prepared to get out of the way if the situation demands it are all useful. As a motorcyclist of many years I well remember being told as a new rider to always keep a lookout for an escape route if the worst were to happen, and this holds true for cycling. This isn't to say that you should ride around in a permanent state of impending doom, but just to consider what if..?

The vast majority of other road users are decent enough but even they can be careless, thoughtless and unobservant. Then there is the tiny minority who must have their own way at all costs and the the effect of them on such as cyclists is well documented here. The thing is to ride in such a way that if something unexpected happened, it wouldn't be so unexpected, and your stress levels would be correspondingly less because of your anticipation and ability to avoid most incidents. I hope I'm putting it in such a way that it makes sense.

 

[Arjimlad]

Be very cautious about doing that and definitely make sure you have third-party insurance. The "overtake me" hand signal was removed from the highway code in the 1950s or 60s.

Other than that:
1. Ride central in narrow lanes,
2. Maybe a level 3 Bikeability training would help spot these nobbers earlier,
3. Some drivers are just awful and will not be dissuaded whatever you do,
4. Try not to worry about it and it's rare anything bad happens.

Thanks - I usually get in secondary, slow down, indicate left & will pull in/stop if a queue has built up.

 

[Enlightenedwaistcoat]

Rant away! Sometimes it just helps to let off steam. Some cyclists make a career of filming and reporting other road users' transgressions and if you are that way disposed, perhaps that is the way to go. If you have an incident, if you were to believe some cycling forums, the immediate thing to do is to rush out and get yourself a camera. For me, such incidents happen so rarely that it would sour the whole cycling experience if I went out in that combative frame of mind.

As others have already suggested, cultivating road awareness and using road positioning can help. A good mirror, being assertive, but also being prepared to get out of the way if the situation demands it are all useful. As a motorcyclist of many years I well remember being told as a new rider to always keep a lookout for an escape route if the worst were to happen, and this holds true for cycling. This isn't to say that you should ride around in a permanent state of impending doom, but just to consider what if..?

The vast majority of other road users are decent enough but even they can be careless, thoughtless and unobservant. Then there is the tiny minority who must have their own way at all costs and the the effect of them on such as cyclists is well documented here. The thing is to ride in such a way that if something unexpected happened, it wouldn't be so unexpected, and your stress levels would be correspondingly less because of your anticipation and ability to avoid most incidents. I hope I'm putting it in such a way that it makes sense.

It does make sense yes. I get what you mean about the camera thing - cyclist twitter can be a bit like that. There's genuine close passes that are terrifying but there's some that seem to deliberately antagonise for clicks 🤷‍♂️ not saying that these drivers are right, I'm just saying I think there's a better way to go about things rather than cyclist shouting 'you're going on youtube' 🙄

As for state of impending doom, I work myself up so much sometimes that I just don't go out unless it's 7am on a Saturday or with the club on a Sunday. This obviously isn't sustainable so I'm going to have to work on that!

Edited to also say - I think the idea of having to take out a camera with me on a pootle and have to trawl thru footage after if something happened might just make me feel even less inclined to get out. I'll think about the cam, but in the meantime I've ordered a passpixi so will take that out with me 😊

 

[KnittyNorah]

I did think about the pass pixi but I feel like a fraud with no camera!

Who cares? The more that careless or malicious drivers *think* they might come to the attention of the cops, the less-badly they're likely to treat you. Look at the sales of dummy household security cameras, recordings of dogs barking, things to plug in at home to switch the lights, radio and TV on and off ... they're all 'frauds', if you like.

I imagine that many people who do have cameras will have a passpixi sticker or something similar - and many won't; it doesn't matter. I don't have a camera (yet) and I hardly ever ride on roads (yet) but I bought two stickers (well, actually, non-stickers as I can cable-tie them to my front or rear basket). Even just riding along the Guild Wheel to Lidl, a couple of passing cyclists noticed and admired them and asked me where I got them from. One of them told me he always uses a camera on his commute to work.

If they cause even one careless or malicious driver to give a wearer/user a safe overtake when they wouldn't otherwise have done so, they are well worth their very modest cost IMO.

 

[Arjimlad]

I only check the footage if something happened - and with my camera set to "dashcam" mode it records in 2-minute chunks, so I can easily locate and process the relevant bit of my ride.

Last week, I rode 7 times & reported one incident of a driver jumping a red light which took me less than 5 minutes filling out the webpages and then having a cuppa whilst the video uploaded.

If bad driving is affecting your confidence as you say, it may be that having the means to address it will help you enjoy your riding again.

I certainly still enjoy my rides and love grabbing images of those "wow" moments from the camera too.

If it's been memorably beautiful I sometimes create a video memory of it for myself - my sister rides an exercise bike watching them too, and my niece who has a learning disability likes watching the videos as well. It's not all bad !

 

[steveindenmark]

You get crap drivers and crap cyclists. Its what it is. 🙂

 

[HobbesOnTour]

If you haven't already, consider a mirror.
It won't stop people passing close but it may give you extra warning to be able to slow down/stop/avoid. At least it puts a bit of control back in your hands and can remove the "shock" effect.

You could also investigate alternative routes, if possible.

There is/was a product "distanciador" that was adjustable and extended perpendicular from the bike to discourage close passes. A light piece of foam may do similar.

@roubaixtuesday advice is excellent - even if not advice. 😊

Keep focusing on the positives!

Good luck

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Based on our last trip to see the grandkids - only a 30 min trip - these morons are out there on all roads and at all times
and a 'seeing the grandkids' trip is in the car on a motorway
we had several 'not signalling because I'm in a $enternameofgermancarhere - a couple of passes in the left lane etc

The problem is that if I have a small coming togther in a car I get damage to sheet metal - on a bike the damage is a bit more personal!!

but they are driving with a bad attitude and poor skills and observation - sometimes it feels personal but often I feel it is just attitude to any other road user that they see as inferior (i.e. anyone) and poor skills
neither of which they would admit

but maybe if more people had dashcams and cycle cams so that the Cops could at least 'offer words of advise' then the tide will maybe start to turn

 

[roubaixtuesday]

we had several 'not signalling because I'm in a $enternameofgermancarhere

 

[Ming the Merciless]

My advice would be to try and ride with a sense of Zen. Try not to get angry or shout or swear. A few drivers who close pass look in mirrors for a reaction. Bit like the bully they are. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Don’t let bad drivers affect the pleasure of your ride.

Hold your line, control the lane at pinch points, junctions, traffic lights etc. Learn about primary and secondary riding if you don’t know these terms already. Don’t rise to bait.

I don’t know whether a camera will help you or not. But primarily consider your mental health. I don’t have a camera but I can imagine going down a rabbit hole with that. The passpixi looks like a good compromise to see if that helps.

 

[Enlightenedwaistcoat]

My advice would be to try and ride with a sense of Zen. Try not to get angry or shout or swear. A few drivers who close pass look in mirrors for a reaction. Bit like the bully they are. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Don’t let bad drivers affect the pleasure of your ride.

Hold your line, control the lane at pinch points, junctions, traffic lights etc. Learn about primary and secondary riding if you don’t know these terms already. Don’t rise to bait.

I don’t know whether a camera will help you or not. But primarily consider your mental health. I don’t have a camera but I can imagine going down a rabbit hole with that. The passpixi looks like a good compromise to see if that helps.

Absolutely. There's a guy I see on twitter (I need to get off cyclist twitter tbh) and he's primarily a utility cyclist - records his ride every single day and gets angry that people are idiots. If I have to watch back footage of someone passing way too close I feel I'd just be more aware of it and be too frightened to ride. Will see how the passpixi goes anyway. Will also try to aim for a state of zen 🙃

 

[a.twiddler]

There's no point being angry that people are idiots. People will be idiots whether you are so laid back that you float about on a cloud or so wound up that your head explodes every time you see one. How you view them doesn't influence who they are.

Mostly, they just don't care because they are so oblivious to everything anyway. Apart from those mentioned up thread who might like to watch the results of their actions in their mirrors. Then, being angry is the result that they want. So, why give them the pleasure? it's just a matter of outlook.

If I were to say that a miss is as good as a mile you might say that you've been bitten by a duck billed platitude but for most of us a near miss is just that, and gone before you realise it. Unless you're lucky enough to catch up with the perpetrator soon afterwards, letting it go is a lot less self destructive than pursuing it.

If it's not a miss, that's a whole other world of pain, and a whole other course of action. Worrying about this rare occurrence, without taking all the reasonable precautions to avoid it, can spoil the enjoyment of all the occasions when it doesn't happen.

 

[slowmotion]

I'm sorry about your bad experience. I'm in London with lots of traffic and, by and large, drivers are pretty good. Every once in a blue moon I get a really bad adrenaline blast "Oh sh#t! I'm going to die" moment. The last two were from a Welsh coach and a concrete truck. You eventually get used to not dwelling on them, and try and work out how you might have ridden in a way that avoided the circumstances. The incidents might have been bad driving on their part but I'm mainly only interested in my survival. I really don't want to wear a camera. Putting one on at the start of a trip would only remind me of what might go wrong. That would spoil my enjoyment of riding a bike.

 

[mjr]

My advice would be to try and ride with a sense of Zen. Try not to get angry or shout or swear. A few drivers who close pass look in mirrors for a reaction. Bit like the bully they are. Don’t give them the satisfaction.

I have started blessing close-passers by waving a sign of a cross with my right hand. If the driver sees it in their mirror, I hope it puzzles them. If blessing them works, then good, because everyone is going to need divine protection if they keep driving that badly.

Also, it doesn't hurt if it looks like a "pass wider, dumbass" signal to drivers behind me. The next few overtakes tend to be better and wider but that may just be because idiots are not that common anyway.

I agree with some above that attaching/detaching cameras is a faff. I do it more to record interesting routes or get pics to report potholes and other shoot without having to stop so often. If I record a dangerous driver, I report them. I don't use the camera every ride or even primarily when I think I may encounter crap drivers.

 

[Enlightenedwaistcoat]

This thread has made me feel slightly better and the memory of tosspot BMW man is fading. My passpixi arrived today anyway so will pop that on for my next outing and hope it makes people think