Petition for New Law – Minimum Passing Distance

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HarBUG has been asked to draw your attention to a petition which would require parliament to consider a new law requiring vehicles to leave a minimum safe distance when overtaking cyclists.

The petition is at:  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/128190

Former Team GB star Chris Boardman, now a policy advisor to British Cycling, said the new law should be brought in ‘without delay’:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/motorists-could-face-100-fines-8102754

More information is available at:  http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5080.html

Report with additional details:  Passing law research paper

Guy W

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    • June 13, 2016 at 12:26 pm #3123
      Guy W
      Member

      HarBUG has been asked to draw your attention to a petition which would require parliament to consider a new law requiring vehicles to leave a minimum
      [See the full post at: Petition for New Law – Minimum Passing Distance]

    • June 14, 2016 at 6:39 am #3125
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      As a cyclist to Harwell on a near daily basis (I’ll take the car if its horizontal rain or snowing!), I must admit I struggle with the viability of this proposed law. A law is only of value if its enforceable. Dy definition most commuting cyclists will be alone and thus will need to rely on a witness. Head-cam footage appears to be frequently dismissed by the police on the grounds of optically inaccurate and thus misleading evidence. Obviously in extreme cases one would hope that a head-cam would be admissible in court.

      With most car driving commuters in a rush to get to work or home, I question just how many will willingly take the initiative to pull over and give their details as a witness. Also “too close” even when defined as (say) at least one half of the passing vehicle’s width, relies on the subjective interpretation of multiple parties: vehicle driver, cyclist and witnesses. No one can physically measure “too close” in the real world, as its a transient event that will certainly be argued, post event.

      Still, if a law at least makes folks think twice about their road positions (cyclists and vehicle drivers) and it saves a few accidents then of course it makes sense. But I won’t hold my breath for an increase in successful prosecutions.

    • June 14, 2016 at 9:57 pm #3131
      Yaro
      Member

      I would like to share my view why I supported this petition. I am regularly cycling to work for half a year. I was surprised to read that in the UK Highway Code there is no fixed distance for overtaking the cyclists. I passed my driving licence in France where the Highway Code says 1 meter for speed below 50 km/h and 1.5 meter when overtaking with higher speed. It’s easy to remember (it stuck in my memory at least;) and though I do not believe that current experienced drivers are keeping updated and following all the Highway Code changes, I do believe that such law will help to make cycling in UK safer with the new generation of drivers who will need to pass their exams.

    • June 14, 2016 at 10:06 pm #3132
      dimitris
      Member

      Neither cyclist nor motorists have the means to abide by such strict limits.

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