Poor overtake from Taxi?

[Armegatron]

Yay, power is out at work so a day off . On my commute back home I had a tight overtake from a taxi and wondered if you could review it for me and give me some positive criticism please?


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXSc5xS8gE


Going down the hill, I hit about 20mph and see the parked car. I move out slowly because of wet & speed with plenty of shoulder checks and indication of what I was doing. The taxi then starts to over take me whilst I am still moving out. BUT as he overtakes me he starts moving back in, forcing me a) to stray left for a moment to keep a distance, and to brake otherwise Id be in the back of the parked car.

In my opinion I took a good primary position on the road with the intention of avoiding overtakes on this stretch of road due to parked cars and on coming traffic. But, for my piece of mind could you take a look and check if there was anything I could have done differently - ie secondary at the top of the hill to let him pass then primary (bear in mind there are junctions on either side after the top of the hill)?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[BentMikey]

I must admit that in London I regularly see this sort of thing, and just consider it part of the normal give and take of commuting. All within acceptable space limits for me in busy traffic. Slightly irritating and poor driving, certainly.

 

[Origamist]

Mike, firstly it was a poor overtake. Secondly, I don't have a problem with the way you handled the situation.

Here's my take - the lane is wide at the start of the hill and tapers as you pick up speed. You have parked cars to contend with as the lane narrows (some fully on the carriageway, others partially). This usually means that some drivers will want to get ahead of you (even though your speed as you descend will approx match theirs) before the obstructions to the left - this is what happened in this case and you need to be aware of this in primary, particularly when the other lane is clear. The fact that you were taking the lane earlier will often not be understood as good forward planning by a cyclist (better sightlines through the junctions, out of the door zone etc), but will be interpreted as delaying a driver on a wider section of road with a bus bay to your left. Could you have let the driver pass at the top of the hill, yes, but would this always be the right thing to do, no - it depends on the traffic and conditions at the time.

PS - only one working brake light too.

 

[Armegatron]

I agree, it wasnt a hugely bad overtake but vexed me at the time as it was utterly pointless. Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

 

[JamesAC]

The taxi's left-hand brake light didn't seem to be working!

 

[Armegatron]

The taxi's left-hand brake light didn't seem to be working!

I think it was working, but much dimmer than the other brake light.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Sorry, I couldn't see much wrong with the overtake (other than it being a bit pointless). Seemed to be enough room (even if he/she *could* have moved further over). Also can't see anything wrong with your riding... wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[lit]

The braking seemed a bit odd as he didn't look that close to the minibus

 

[Norm]

I think the worst part of the taxi driver's overtake, and one that hasn't yet been commented upon, is that he did it past a junction on your right.

He was past before you got to the parked car, which might suggest you took primary too early, but that's your judgement based on the road and conditions, I wouldn't say your positioning was wrong.

 

[Origamist]

I think the worst part of the taxi driver's overtake, and one that hasn't yet been commented upon, is that he did it past a junction on your right.

Very true - I see this so often that it barely registers anymore.

 

[gaz]

I wouldn't say it was that bad, could have been a lot worse but still could have been a lot better.

This one i had yesterday was toooooo close

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSougAF2mjU

 

[Origamist]

I wouldn't say it was that bad, could have been a lot worse but still could have been a lot better.

This one i had yesterday was toooooo close

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSougAF2mjU

Far too close - he probably thought you should be riding in the hatching to make his overtake easier!

 

[jay clock]

From my experience of London driving that looked entirely normal and to be expected (not great though). The cyclist was a prat though

 

[jig-sore]

i would say a bit of give and take was needed. he had plenty of room to overtake so why not let him?
i would have stayed closer to the kerb and given him more chance to pass, that way he would have been gone by the time you got to the parked car.

it's possible that your position delayed his overtake slightly but over all I'd say that kinda passing is to be expected, i've even had people pass me by going around the wrong side of one of those crappy traffic calming islands that they like to stick in the middle of roads these days, no one else about and no harm done so let them get on with it.

 

[BentMikey]

From my experience of London driving that looked entirely normal and to be expected (not great though). The cyclist was a prat though

Jay, which video and which cyclist are you referring to?