Two abreast

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screenman

Legendary Member
Is this law or is it the highway code, are they both the same thing.

2 abreast here if the conditions allow and are safe to do so. Always single out for blind bends though.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
Put a selfish idiot in a car and everything becomes possible..although this does apply to cyclists.
its your safety that counts ..and you see suicidal cyclists often
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
Is this law or is it the highway code, are they both the same thing.

2 abreast here if the conditions allow and are safe to do so. Always single out for blind bends though.
Good point. Idk. If its a code then I guess we don't need to obey it, or maybe more lax about it? Shrugs, no idea.
 

The Jogger

Legendary Member
Location
Spain
If I'm out cycling with Mrs J and we are riding two abreast , if I hear a car coming I drop back. If it was a narrowish country road I wouldn't feel right delaying other traffic.
 

gavroche

Getting old but not past it
Location
North Wales
Common sense should prevail but, I forgot, health and safety put a stop to that so we need to be told when to go back to single file .
 

youngoldbloke

The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
Don't think I made it clear earlier but our default position on club runs is two abreast, on narrow lanes too, if visibility allows it.
 

siadwell

Guru
Location
Surrey
Good point. Idk. If its a code then I guess we don't need to obey it, or maybe more lax about it? Shrugs, no idea.
Here's an idea - look it up!

Highway Code
https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82

66
You should
  • never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends

The introduction to the Highway Code states:
Many of the rules in The Highway Code are legal requirements, and if you disobey these rules you are committing a criminal offence. You may be fined, given penalty points on your licence or be disqualified from driving. In the most serious cases you may be sent to prison. Such rules are identified by the use of the words ‘MUST/MUST NOT’. In addition, the rule includes an abbreviated reference to the legislation which creates the offence.
Although failure to comply with the other rules of The Highway Code will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted, The Highway Code may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under the Traffic Acts (see The road user and the law) to establish liability. This includes rules which use advisory wording such as ‘should/should not’ or ‘do/do not’.
So, it's not backed up by MUST or a reference to specific legislation, so is not law but advisory.
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Ac
I figure that some car drivers are not bright enough to realise that it's faster to overtake 2 cyclist riding 2 abreast than it is to overtake 2 cyclists in a line.
What some people's problems are I know not. Let's face it, we're faster than a milk float (thinner too) and faster than some tractor and trailers. It's just that they'd do damage to their precious cars if they tried to close pass a tractor, if they got it wrong.
Actually, I don't agree with this logic...I know, I know two riders are longer than one but overtaking a car sized object takes longer than overtaking a bike sized object, even if that bike is in a strong primary.

You need to provide another meter or so of clearance to overtake two abreast riders and sometimes, doing that safely takes time.

There is a time and a place for riding two abreast...in my opinion and I know this is an opinion that is not shared by many.

Riding two abreast is a great experience but one soon spoiled by angry drivers, why not just filter back and wave through drivers, get a toot of thanks and then ride back in formation.

Result, everyone has a great day, a great experience and no one takes to the Internet in fury.

As,for the milk float tractor analogy, on a good sunny day I see literally hundreds of cyclists enjoying the road...I think I've seen three tractors in my riding life and never...ever...encountered a milk float.

Horses, now I see tons of them, that would have been a better comparison. For some reason drivers give horses massive respect.

Cyclists are not as nice as horses, clearly.


Edit, overtaking a peloton is a different thing and I totally agree that bunching and riding two or even three abreast is often safer for all parties.

But just two riders?...chill and communicate.
 
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The moment I hear a vehicle approaching from the rear, its back to single file. Not worth the aggro.

i did notice that motorists are able to handle a group ride with 2 breast but not when when its just two.
 

jarlrmai

Veteran
Club rides pretty much have to be 2 a breast, get less trouble. Perhaps because there's 10/12 of us rather than just 1 or 2.

The worst is drivers not taking in account that it will take a bit of time to overtake a club ride going at 22 mph.

We always single out for narrow roads etc, parked cars etc.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
Was out with a ride buddy of mine today. If there;s only a few of us I generally choose to ride alongside if and when there's no traffic behind. He likes to chat alongside me. Perfectly fine of course.

Left the house at 9 and back at 12 ish today and the roads were quiet.

But, FFS today. Half a dozen cars beeping us. The last one decided to purposefully do a stupidly close pass when the road was clear in the opposite direction, only to turn left perhaps 400 yards further ahead into a side street. Thing was he was clearly watching in his mirror when he went past as I gestured for him to stop, which he duly did. We rode past him, therefore wasting the precious 5 or so seconds he/she had gained by passing us.:rolleyes:

Last time we were out we had some tool beep too. I had polite words.

I think some education is needed.

Are we just a nation of miserable meanies or what. Live and let live:rolleyes:
had this every day for the last 30 years - it is worse nowadays though than years back
 

ayceejay

Guru
Location
Rural Quebec
Talking about education - I was informed by a driving instructor who had just edged me off the road that as a cyclist I was only allowed in the area three feet from the edge of the road, the rest of the road he said, belonged to cars. His dangerous maneuver was to teach me this 'fact'.
 

andabby

Über Member
Location
Angus
When i took lessons, we were told to straddle the white line when passing bikes, often have German cars or Corsas trying to get close enough to knock the gutters of my shoes, and thats just me out on my own.
 
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