New overtaking video

[robing]

When I was a kid they used to have public information bulletins like this on TV. (Charley says, anyone?).
Also this link is doing the rounds:

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do-they-ride-in-the-middle-of-the-road-_62617

[AlanJ]

Call me a cynic ("Lance, you're a cynic!") but shouldn't car drivers know how to do this already? Any driver dense or ignorant enough not to know now to overtake safely is unlikely to invest time improving their knowledge by watching a video.

You could say the same about drink driving

[Bonefishblues]

........ who is going to see it? is it being shown on prime time TV, in cinemas? Not much point if it doesn't get seen.

This ^^^
It ain't much good if it isn't seen by most of the driving public

Thread currently running on the largest motoring forum re this with some "robust" but encouraging discussion!

[reohn2]

[quote="Bonefishblues"
Thread currently running on the largest motoring forum re this with some "robust" but encouraging discussion![/quote]

A link would be nice

[Bonefishblues]

OK, remember "robust"!

You'll see a couple of obvious trolls in action, too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... ists+video

[Jughead]

I remember those information videos from the 70's about strangers, brushing teeth, crossing the road and swimming at sea even to this day. I cant believe its taken this long to do the same for cycling. Other road users are ignorant of the facts and its about time they were educated by videos like this. We need to make endagering cyclists as unacceptable as drink driving.

[Jon Lucas]

It is a good video to promote, taking on board the reservations some have expressed. What it does do, though it could have made more of this, is show car drivers what it feels like for a cyclist to be overtaken closely.

IMV, in the end, the most effective way to get this message out about how to overtake safely will be for the driving test to include having experience of being a more vulnerable road user, i.e. using a bike on a road and being a pedestrian crossing a road, and for car drivers to have to top up their skills by having to retake the test at set intervals throughout their lives. Obviously not everyone can ride a bike, but if they are to be allowed to drive on the road, they need to demonstrate an understanding of the experiences of their fellow road users.

[ChrisButch]

OK, remember "robust"!

You'll see a couple of obvious trolls in action, too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... ists+video

Just had a browse through that forum thread. Surprisingly encouraging, as had been said. Interesting that a thread on this topic on a motoring forum should be much more intelligent and positive, on the whole, than the comments posted at the foot of a similar article in a general newspaper would be. Not quite sure what that tells us.

[mjr]

That our problem isn't the people who are interested in motoring enough to join a forum about it? That the worst problems are often with people who don't particularly enjoy motoring but see it as a necessity and a right?

[Bonefish Blues]

That our problem isn't the people who are interested in motoring enough to join a forum about it? That the worst problems are often with people who don't particularly enjoy motoring but see it as a necessity and a right?

Agree, that sounds correct, intuitively.

We should also be careful not to conflate the two very different populations (speaking as a lapsed "petrolhead"!).

[jezer]

Many years ago I was an avid reader and poster on pistonheads.com, although I hadn't seen it for ages until this link. I was a member of the TVR group, driving a Griffith 500 and later a Chimeara. I was also a cyclist of course. I found that most posters were enthusiasts who did their driving responsibly, so I'm not surprised by many of the comments on there now. The real problem is motorists who actually take no interest in their driving, and there are plenty of those.

[honesty]

Have to agree. Most pistonheads I know are actually very good, responsible drivers (though probably faster than acceptable). The problem is the majority who arent interested, who see a car as a comfy seat to get from A to B and see this as an inalienable right to do so. These are the people who dont understand "road tax" and so on. That being said it trickles down - just very slowly.

[ChrisButch]

Most of the argument on that thread concerns the interpretation of the 'half a car's width' or 'as much space as you would give a car' injunctions, and their variants. Correctly, in my view, they're criticised as ambiguous: and several posters point out that one driver's comfortable clearance space when overtaking another car is another driver's dangerous near miss. It would be much better, as is the norm in France and elsewhere, to specify a distance.
Heartening that most of the contributors clearly want to get it right.

[reohn2]

OK, remember "robust"!

You'll see a couple of obvious trolls in action, too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?
h=0&f=23&t=1534249&mid=52319&nmt=How+to+overtake+cyclists+video

I got to page 4(honest),and I really can't believe the pettiness on there by some of those people,I don't know how you put up with it .

[Psamathe]

Most of the argument on that thread concerns the interpretation of the 'half a car's width' or 'as much space as you would give a car' injunctions, and their variants. Correctly, in my view, they're criticised as ambiguous: and several posters point out that one driver's comfortable clearance space when overtaking another car is another driver's dangerous near miss. It would be much better, as is the norm in France and elsewhere, to specify a distance.
Heartening that most of the contributors clearly want to get it right.

What often strikes me as unnecessary on a lot of two way roads is that the car has to pull out to block the oncoming direction even to have a close pass. So if the driver is having to ensure no oncoming traffic and using the oncoming lane, why not pull across decently - oncoming vehicles are a problem pulling out inadequate distance or giving a decent clearance.

Does not help with regard to clearance guidance but you get these close passes and the driver has moved half way across the oncoming lane - so why not go decently across !!

Ian