Commuting Help?

The only times I can think of when you might get pulled up for overtaking cars on the outside are:

1. If you cross a solid white line on your side of the middle of the road (if you see what I mean). This rule can be broken as stated here:

Double white lines where the line nearest you is solid. This means you MUST NOT cross or straddle it unless it is safe and you need to enter adjoining premises or a side road. You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less.

2. You pedal headlong into oncoming traffic.

Filtering down the outside is less risky on my commute in general as there aren't many places where cars would suddenly turn right on me. Going up the inside even with a marked cycle lane is definitely not safe except at low speeds. A lot of the time I end up sitting in the traffic with the cars!

Mark.

Johnsqual":i8qewunc said:

Hey,

Sorry to obsess on the filtering question, but I wonder what the legal situation is about it - is it actually against the law? Do cyclists have to
stay on the pavement side of cars?

I ask because my girlfriend was knocked off her bike by a careless person
opening their door in her face a couple of years ago (they were in a rush to catch a train, so it was their fault and they admitted it). She did quite well out of the insurance, £2000 I seem to remember. However, I wonder if it'd have been different if she had been on the other side of the car.

Click to expand...

Right - we clearly need to get this straight!

No - it is definitely NOT against the law to overtake on the right, except in certain circumstances, one of which has already been mentioned. In fact, you are on dodgy ground when undertaking (filtering on the left). The Highway Code is actually a bit inadequate here (as so often when it comes to cycling). However, the cycling section (Rule 67) refers cyclists to Rules 162-169, which in my view relate more usefully to drivers. However, Rule 163 says:

You should only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so.

Rule 165 gives the conditions under which it is illegal (MUST NOT, as opposed to the SHOULD NOT advice in 163) to overtake on the right; these include double white lines, as mentioned in an earlier post, but also various others.

Cyclecraft, which is the essentially the Bikeability manual (I'm a qualified instructor, working mainly with school children) gives more helpful, specific and complete advice:

It is unreasonable to expect cyclists to wait in long queues of traffic whe there is room for them to pass, but filtering through traffic requires great care....Normally, overtaking should only take place on the right, and this should be your preference. But on congested roads where there is insufficient clearance from oncoming vehicles, or where there is more than one lane in your direction, this may be impractical, and it is acceptable to pass to the left - a process sometimes referred to as "undertaking", and not without reason!

The obvious risks are that you will be squeezed if drivers move left, that a door will open in your path, or that you will hit pedestrians crossing when they expect no one to be moving. You are also vulnerable to vehicles that a driver in the queue ahead allows to turn right across your path.

(Page 162, Cyclecraft by John Franklin - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclecraft-comp ... 301&sr=8-1)

There's a lot more advice in Cyclecraft on this, and if you are unsure about the legality and sense in what's being said then in my view you'd be well advised to read it. If you don't mind my pointing it out, your girlfrield has rather proved the point that John Franklin and I are making!

Thanks for clearing up the legal points.

With respect, my girlfriend's accident doesn't prove much either way,
except maybe that you can't trust drivers to open their doors carefully, and
have to be aware of this whenever you overtake a car.

I understand some of the logic behind filtering on the right but have the impression it takes a skilled, trained cyclist to do it safely, and isn't something people should just go out and start doing without some lessons
or experience.

riding in stationary traffic

Hi,

If you want abit more confidence riding in traffic contact your local authority. most offer adult cycle training and many offer one on one training on your commute. In sheffield this has been free in York it's £19.


Terry