r/ukbike • u/Hypogean_Gaol • 4d ago
Law/Crime Close pass?
Same road as I posted last time. Police NFA’d it. Please note camera makes it appear further away than it actually is.
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u/IHeardOnAPodcast 4d ago
This is the issue with this type of "cycle lane", it basically encourages drivers to close pass, as they see you in your lane, they're in their lane and they think it's fine. Whereas if the line wasn't there they would almost certainly pass much wider.
So basically, this type of cycle lane is actively dangerous. The only one I regularly use is at rush hour when the traffic in the lane is at a standstill it does encourage cars to keep it clear.
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u/CastleMeadowJim 4d ago
The only bike lane worse than this is when you're sandwiched between a line of parked cars and traffic. So you have to either get close passes and stay in the door zone, or receive hate for riding in the lane.
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u/IHeardOnAPodcast 4d ago
Tbf at that point the parked cars make the decision for me as even if it's a low chance of getting doored, the non unlikely outcome of death means there's no point entertaining the idea of not taking the lane.
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u/CastleMeadowJim 4d ago
Good point. If someone opens their door you'll end up in the lane either way.
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u/TiDY42086 4d ago
"almost certainly pass wider" Are you a cyclist? I cycle daily and this is not my experience at all
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u/IHeardOnAPodcast 4d ago
Yes... I'm a daily cycle commuter** and have been since uni, which is far too long ago at this point. "Almost certainly" doesn't necessarily mean an actual decent pass, just a better one.
I also think these lanes encourage cyclists to ride too close to the edge, which is the worst thing to do as it also encourages* crappy passing. Another reason why they're bad.
*Not "victim blaming", just pointing out that sitting even slightly wider on the road makes things a lot better for everyone. 1m rather than 1ft makes a massive difference.
**Not that we need to be advertising our credentials here, we're on a UK biking forum... And we're all on the same team hopefully and I think I made my point fairly clearly.
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u/Patecatli 4d ago
It's a close pass, but it's one police will rarely if ever take action on due to the "cycle lane". As far as the police are concerned each road used was in their correct lane.
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u/turnipstealer 4d ago
Which is frustrating given there's no exemption to a cyclist being in a cycle lane in the Highway Code, with regard to leaving a 1.5m gap. Lazy policing. To any sane person a 10 tonne+ double decker bus passing this close is dangerous, the painted lines aren't a magic fucking forcefield.
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u/Every-Somewhere-6971 4d ago
It's not really the Police, they just know that the CPS would almost certainly reject it as it would almost certainly fail in court.
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u/rezonansmagnetyczny 4d ago
Not saying its right or wrong but I've had so many close passes at speed, far closer than this, NFAD by op snap they make this pass look generous.
I honestly dont get the criteria sometimes
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u/spursthatjingle 4d ago
My latest one said "Bike not visible in video" as an NFA reason, despite having successfully prosecuted other drivers with the same camera in the same position on my bike on the same stretch of road.
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u/ParrotofDoom 4d ago
I would join Walkride GM and post there for more advice, but you should contact your local councillors and alert them to the existence of this substandard cycle lane.
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u/Same_Art_6971 4d ago
Yes assuming the camera is in line with the wheels. However police usually asks for a part of the bicycle to be visible in the video to judge the distance. I once had a bus close pass me in a similar situation where it's wheels went inside the bike lane. At the next traffic lights the driver couldn't understand what I was complaining about. Too bad I didn't have a camera.
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u/UrbanManc 4d ago
100% close pass, no point in reporting to GMP , they are totally useless & couldn't give a **** , they were reasonable but not anymore
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u/Experienced_in_life 2d ago
Wow... I'd love to have vehicles passing me that far away when I cycle along the cycle lane on my way to my local city, (which is a 60mph and 50mph limit for most of it).
You're very lucky to be given that much space.
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u/CandidLiterature 4d ago
Your response from the police will say you can’t complain and it won’t be reviewed, but that is just not correct. Reply to them, tell them how dissatisfied you are with their response, explain how frightening this was and see what response you get. Obviously with the time taken for the initial response, they may well be out of time by the time they do look.
You can also make a complaint to the Bee Network and it’s likely to go on the driver’s disciplinary record even if you can’t get the police to prosecute.
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u/LateNightTalker98 4d ago
For a bus he/she should be passing much wider but perhaps it’s a bigger issue with small bike lanes like this!
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u/user888888889 4d ago
It's technically not in the bike lane, so difficult to argue otherwise tbh
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u/turnipstealer 4d ago
Can you point me to the part of the highway code where it says close passes are permitted if the cyclist is in a marked cycle lane? Don't believe there's an exemption to the 1.5m passing rule if the cyclist is in a cycle lane.
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u/user888888889 4d ago
I'm a cyclist. I agree people shouldn't pass close. Given the images provided it looks safe.
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u/Shot-Count-5639 2d ago
The rule is about overtaking and the Highway Code's description of overtaking includes to "move out" and "move back." The bus never moved out or moved back, so it never did the manoeuvre the rule describes. Same reason it doesn't apply to a vehicle going the opposite way.
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u/turnipstealer 2d ago edited 2d ago
Oh so it's not overtaking on a motorway then?
Also, the point is the bus SHOULD be overtaking the cyclist and giving the minimum required distance. I'm done arguing the toss with people here anyway.
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u/woahthatscrazy5 4d ago
Pretty much. OP in his lane and the car in their lane. This is the whole reason lanes were invented. I do sympathise that some are too small
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u/Same_Art_6971 4d ago
That's not how it works.
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u/user888888889 4d ago
I'm a cyclist. I agree people shouldn't pass close. Given the images provided it looks safe.
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u/kenslalom 4d ago
Could you touch the side with your arm ? Or kick the side of the bus ? If you could, it was a close pass...
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u/TouchThatDial 4d ago
Hard to tell from the photo I think. It’s quite a wide angle shot. At first glance it looks like a fairly close pass but similar to the kind of thing many of us will experience most days when passed by large vehicles. The test (for me) is how close did the bus wing mirror (which intrudes the most into bike space when passing) come to the part of my body that’s furthest out to the right from the kerb (almost always my right elbow). If I felt like I could have reached out and touched the wing mirror with my right hand then that was a dangerous close pass.
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u/Cholas71 4d ago
In Norfolk we pray for separation that is as good at that! Our separation concept appears to be based entirely on hopes and dreams!
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u/ThatGothGuyUK 2d ago
It's not classed as a close pass if their are separate lanes and the bus is in its own lane.
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u/Symphony_1986 4d ago
It’s good enough that it isn’t taking up the cycle lane; what’s more, loads of drivers are afraid to get too close to oncoming traffic on the right…
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u/lukei1 4d ago
I would recommend remounting your camera so that it captured your right handle bar, helps with relative comparison of distance