What to do with head-on approaches?

[r80]

Over the christmas period no-one has been in a hurry, and passes have been largely respectful. But on these one and a bit width country lanes, cars coming at me don't seem to slow very often. Three times on thursday I had to take to the muddy verge in avoidance. Is there anything I can do, I'm not sure I fancy taking the primary and playing chicken in the hope they slow down.

This is one of the roads in question:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=51.266...=iZltRXvRUWQM_y6t7uWEdw&cbp=12,181.51,,0,6.62

Thanks in advance.

 

[compo]

If you don't fancy playing chicken then I'm afraid it is the muddy verge for you, which is where I end up fairly regularly. The only time I play chicken is if the approaching vehicle is overtaking a parked car on his side and even then you have to make an assessment of his speed and braking distances. A living coward is better than a dead hero.

 

[BentMikey]

It's a tough one, isn't it? You can either keep left and accept that you'll get very close very fast passes, and have to dive into the ditch regularly, or you can take the middle of the lane and force them to a near stop before going left to make a safe pass.

The second option is my choice, and although it seems like chicken, it doesn't quite have to be. Provided you have a little bit of pace, enough that you can manoeuvre very quickly (and you've practised this), you can then hold the lane and if they really don't look like they are going to stop, you can flick the bike over to the left to avoid any collision.

 

[BentMikey]

If you don't fancy playing chicken then I'm afraid it is the muddy verge for you, which is where I end up fairly regularly. The only time I play chicken is if the approaching vehicle is overtaking a parked car on his side and even then you have to make an assessment of his speed and braking distances. A living coward is better than a dead hero.

The problem is that you're many many times more likely to get wiped out by a close and fast pass, so whilst taking the lane is not without risks too, the overall risk to you is probably quite a lot lower than when you cower in the gutter on a road like this.

 

[campbellab]

I hope you dont have any unrealistic expectations of 4x4s mounting the verge? They wouldn't want to get their precious dirty!

 

[Guyincognito76]

**** me! I couldn't even imagine an oncoming car not slowing on that.

 

[snorri]

What BentMikey says
If the oncoming vehicle is approaching at speed I tend to hold the lane until the vehicle has slowed to a speed which I deem acceptable for a close pass before moving to the left, but if it's a tractor or large vehicle approaching then I pull in to the left fairly smartly.
Agreed the "one and a bit width" roads require more decision making than the single lane.
It's good to acknowledge drivers who slow down or wait at a passing place for you to come on, and many do.

 

[Matthew_T]

I always try to maintain my dominance on the roads, but if someone is not slowing down or moving over, I leave myself enough room to swerve out of the way.

People in the country around here are MOSTLY okay with country roads. I was heading back from a club ride last week and a nice woman in a 4x4 stopped to allow me to pass her in a layby. However, another guy in a 4x4 towing a trailer didnt bother to allow me to pass when I had proirity because of a parked car on his side. He also gave me the finger as he hurtled past. I wasnt best pleased with that driving.

 

[Spinney]

I always try to maintain my dominance on the roads, but if someone is not slowing down or moving over, I leave myself enough room to swerve out of the way.

People in the country around here are MOSTLY okay with country roads. I was heading back from a club ride last week and a nice woman in a 4x4 stopped to allow me to pass her in a layby. However, another guy in a 4x4 towing a trailer didnt bother to allow me to pass when I had proirity because of a parked car on his side. He also gave me the finger as he hurtled past. I wasnt best pleased with that driving.

But you stayed calm? Or, at least, only swore under your breath?

 

[BentMikey]

This guy did not want to stop, and if I hadn't taken the lane I'm certain he'd have bullied past me. What you can't see in the video is the very dirty look he gave me as I went past his window.

 

[Sittingduck]

I always try to maintain my dominance on the roads

What dominance? Nobody should dominate the roads, imho. All road users should just use a bit of common sense and give each other some slack.

 

[ComedyPilot]

That type of lane makes up 75-80% of my rides.

I do as others do, maintain primary till they slow down then move to the left to allow them to pass at a speed I feel happy with. I don't call it 'chicken' - I call it asserting my position to get a desired comfortable/safe pass. But I won't be a dead hero, and always leave an out.

What does it matter if I am on a bike, motorbike, car, van or truck - meeting on a narrow road where both vehicles can't pass safely at speed requires BOTH parties to slow down, and pass safely. Because I am on a bike and they're in a car makes it MORE important they slow down as I am vulnerable, not that it's ok to go past fast as I take up less room.

 

[MontyVeda]

on a road like that I tend to stop to let an oncoming car pass. If a car is behind me it stays behind me until there's a gate or passing place for me to pull into to let it pass.

as Compo says, it's better to be a coward than a dead hero.

 

[Nebulous]

I don't very often ride on roads that narrow, but when I do they tend to be very quiet.I'd hold my line, though a lot of our narrow roads have passing places and I will pull in to wait on a car coming the other way. I'll also pull in on a narrow road to let cars behind through. If we want to be treated as traffic we need to follow its rules. Most recently I was labouring up this climb. Why does google maps make everything look flat? Behind me was a lorry and I pulled over just after that red pole to let him and a following 4x4 past.

What really puts the frighteners up me though is a two lane road where someone coming the opposite direction decides to overtake! It's happened about 3 times now - always out Deeside. There are limited passing opportunities and I think people get one and decide there's room for 3 abreast with a cyclist. Hitting a car which is doing 80 head on certainly isn't my idea of fun.

 

[Matthew_T]

What dominance? Nobody should dominate the roads, imho. All road users should just use a bit of common sense and give each other some slack.

I mean dominance in terms of not allowing people to force their way past. However, if it unsafe for me to do so then I allow myself room to manouvre.