Was he being considerate or impatient?

[Accy cyclist]

The wagon driver completed the dodgy manoeuvre in about 5 seconds, and it was done on a good view ahead straight road. I also noticed that no vehicles passed on the the opposite side of the road for about 15 seconds after.
I'm going to have to get a head cam' to record these crazy incidents though if i did i'd probably dwell on them too much so best leave them to my memory maybe.

 

[boydj]

For me the problem is not the fact that the overtake was completed relatively safely, but the fact that he did it brings the drivers competence into question. Where was the thinking ahead - cyclist? pinch-point? What if a vehicle had appeared coming from the opposite direction as he prepared to do the overtake? Could he have slowed enough to take the pinch-point safely? If I was this driver's employer, I would be worried.

 

[sidevalve]

Those things are there because drivers cannot be trusted to drive safely. Assuming you didn't force them to break the law just by being on the road, then I'd like to know what gave the driver the impression that they were entitled to deliberately ignore traffic calming features. Features which were put there because drivers cannot be trusted to drive safely. And so on.

They probably get that impression from the same place some cyclists get the idea it's ok to ignore red lights and ride on footpaths.

 

[Dan B]

They probably get that impression from the same place some cyclists get the idea it's ok to ignore red lights and ride on footpaths.

I always ignore red lights when riding on the footpath: I think it makes more sense to cross with the green man, doesn't it?

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Those things are there because drivers cannot be trusted to drive safely. Assuming you didn't force them to break the law just by being on the road, then I'd like to know what gave the driver the impression that they were entitled to deliberately ignore traffic calming features. Features which were put there because drivers cannot be trusted to drive safely. And so on.

Most probably the same reason i see cyclists ignoring the law and comonsense day after day on the roads.

Well done the driver

People bang on about drivers whould be made to ride a bike to see it from their perspective ,. well cyclists should try driving heavy goods for a few days to feel what its like to try squeezing round our badly laid out roads.

 

[Stonepark]

Unless the road is double white lined, it isn't illegal to enter the hatched area or go round the 'wrong' side of the bollard as far as i am aware and you are still entitled to use the full width of the road to overtake as long it is done in a safe manner. I would have no concerns with this as the village near me has 400 yards of these bollards and hatched areas merely as traffic calming by narrowing the road down to 10 feet and overtaking round the bollard happens all the time.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=airth&hl=en&ll=56.068841,-3.771006&spn=0.000771,0.002411&sll=57.746995,-4.687341&sspn=6.041392,19.753418&hnear=Airth, Falkirk, United Kingdom&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=56.068789,-3.771004&panoid=OCXkenfJE5IDO3rzqkbeWQ&cbp=12,312.38,,1,8.71

 

[siadwell]

Unless the road is double white lined, it isn't illegal to enter the hatched area or go round the 'wrong' side of the bollard as far as i am aware and you are still entitled to use the full width of the road to overtake as long it is done in a safe manner. I would have no concerns with this as the village near me has 400 yards of these bollards and hatched areas merely as traffic calming by narrowing the road down to 10 feet and overtaking round the bollard happens all the time.

It is illegal to disobey a road sign that gives an order, such as a keep left arrow. It is also illegal to enter a hatched area if bounded by a solid line unless in an emergency (HC rule 130).

Therefore, in your example, entering the hatching would be legal (but only if necessary), going to the right of the bollard would be illegal.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

It is illegal to disobey a road sign that gives an order, such as a keep left arrow. It is also illegal to enter a hatched area if bounded by a solid line unless in an emergency (HC rule 130).

Therefore, in your example, entering the hatching would be legal (but only if necessary), going to the right of the bollard would be illegal.

Keep left signs -> Most regulatory signs are circular. A RED RING or RED CIRCLE
indicates a prohibition. A BLUE CIRCLE generally gives a positive
(mandatory) instruction or indicates a route for use only by
particular classes of vehicle (see sections on tram signs and
bus and cycle signs).

Note the word ''mandatory''

 

[oldroadman]

Keep left signs -> Most regulatory signs are circular. A RED RING or RED CIRCLE
indicates a prohibition. A BLUE CIRCLE generally gives a positive
(mandatory) instruction or indicates a route for use only by
particular classes of vehicle (see sections on tram signs and
bus and cycle signs).

Note the word ''mandatory''

The offence would be "failing to comply". I was overtaken (whilst driving) a couple of months ago in the same way. Straight road, in town, 30 limit, young man in "hot hatch" moving a bit quickly, straight past me and a set of bollards. The pedestrian about to step out having looked right was alerted by me using the horn. Luckily no harm done, but the potential for a serious incident was very, very, obvious. The other driver probably thought I was hooting at him!

 

[HLaB]

Unless the road is double white lined, it isn't illegal to enter the hatched area or go round the 'wrong' side of the bollard as far as i am aware and you are still entitled to use the full width of the road to overtake as long it is done in a safe manner. I would have no concerns with this as the village near me has 400 yards of these bollards and hatched areas merely as traffic calming by narrowing the road down to 10 feet and overtaking round the bollard happens all the time.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=airth&hl=en&ll=56.068841,-3.771006&spn=0.000771,0.002411&sll=57.746995,-4.687341&sspn=6.041392,19.753418&hnear=Airth, Falkirk, United Kingdom&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=56.068789,-3.771004&panoid=OCXkenfJE5IDO3rzqkbeWQ&cbp=12,312.38,,1,8.71

It was illegal the last time I went through Airth, the big arrow gives it away and the Traffic Regs haven't changed lately Not only that its dangerous the road as a slight bend, compounded by parking, a slight gradient and Graham Terrace on the right; 99.99999999% of the time the driver/ cyclist will get away with it as the traffic is fairly light but I'd hate to be there the 0.000000001% of the time. As I have been along there hundreds of times and hope to next week my odds are going up Ride Safe

 

[Steve Saunders]

I'd say the driver was being impatient, and the fact they overtook on the wrong side of the road would suggest that they didn't think they had enough room to get past on the correct side. I'd wager if you were hugging the gutter you'd have been buzzed.

Similarly, I've lost count of the number of cars that have gone the wrong way around a painted rounabout on my commute home, just so they don't have to slow down for like 3 seconds (I'm generally doing about 25mph at that point as it's downhill - and it's a 30 limit). One the other week did it into oncoming traffic and aborted at the last second going right over the middle of the roundabout and nearly wiping me out in the process. They were completely oblivious to the many tooting cars and myself shouting at them etc.

On the plus side, I beat my PB on a segment just down the road - probably due to the adrenalin rush