Right of Way?

[Amanda P]

I don't mind giving way, but I do mind when a driver thinks he can pass me with inches to spare while still doing 40 or 50 mph. That's nasty and careless.

To try to counteract this, I will sometimes claim my space in the road and hold it until the oncoming car has slowed to a speed at which I'll feel comfortable to have it pass by, bearing in mind the space available. If there are inches, it'll be a crawl; if there's a metre to spare, 20 mph might be OK.

Some drivers don't like this, but tough!

 

[summerdays]

I struck up a conversation with a cyclist once in the past discussion "rights of way" (his words) and passing parked cars. His opinion on it was that on parked up city roads with cars on both sides, he could still cycle along without crossing onto the other side so that the on-coming car should always be the one to wait. I've always wondered if he had a point but as I would be more likely to be in the middle of the road then some negotiation with drivers will always be necessary and it is easier for a bike to maneuver into a small space.

 

[Siegfried]

I'm not sure if anyone has right of way on a single track road, and common sense and courtesy must therefore be employed. I don't know how well this system works in other parts of the country as these qualities may not be evenly geographically distributed but it usually works around here, perhaps with a hiccup in the summer time which may be due to the effect of the heat on otherwise perfectly reasonable dales drivers or it may be a function of the influx of folks from places where they are used to being able to rely on a sign or road marking to decide who has precedence, and where it assumed somebody always has precedence.

Traditionally the general etiquette is that the party with the passing place/gateway/turn-off/slighly wider section of road nearest to them or on their side of the road uses it to let the other party pass and it also makes sense that the road user who can most easily facilitate the passage of both parties does so. Usually a little bit of give and take on both sides is required.

In the case of two cars meeting head on this entails stopping, scratching heads, and then some general shuffling and reversing by one or both vehicles. In the case of a bike meeting a car , even in my local area with many miles of single track lanes and no purpose made passing places that I can think off, pretty much the only time I am unable to negotiate my way past an oncoming vehicle by ducking into a gateway or slowing down at a wider bit or road or just squeezing past, or allow a following vehicle to overtake, without both feet still on the pedals is when I meet something agricultural or military which is brushing the verges on both sides and I need to vacate the road entirely.

I don't keep count but I would guess I receive as many courtesies; people waiting at a road widening for me to pass or waiting the other side of a cattle grid or bridge for me to cross, as I extend to others so in answer to the original question therefore, I suppose statistically you would expect to be pulling in only 50% of the time, and rarely having to come to a stop, but if you are doing so more than this I wouldn't worry too much as you are just adapting to the local conditions.

 

[Tanis8472]

I understand your point about a single, bi-directional lane. Perhaps I shouldn't think of a narrow road as being two-way even if it can be for cyclists and other narrow vehicles. Had a look at some recent OS maps and there's no mention of 'single lane/track' roads, merely 'narrow' roads. Does 'narrow' infer single track or perhaps it's up to users to decide wether a road is single track or not?

There are roads near me - no centre line - where two on-coming cars easily pass yet not two on-coming large vehicles or a car and a very large on-coming vehicle so the road is two-way for some road users but not for others. In this instance, the larger vehicle would normaly be expected to give way because it doesn't fit on it's half of the road. So if the wider vehicle gives way to the smaller, shouldn't that apply in all such situations? Especially as I'm not aware of roads being officially classified as single track. Or maybe it only applies in cases where the council have got round to marking the road centre line?



I have to say that the vast majority of motorists I encounter are at least adequately good drivers but there is an appaling lack of understanding from a few. Clearly, some are unable or unwilling to comprehend a situation from any other road user's viewpoint. I call this the Mother-in-Law syndrome.

I've ranted on a bit, haven't I? And I thought abuse from motorists didn't affect me much!

I'd better call a halt now and get back to work - those aeroplanes don't land themselves (kidding).

But its MUCH easier for the smaller vehicle to manoeuvre* allowing the bigger one through. Both win

(Damn, that's an awkward word to spell )

 

[Frood42]

TL;DR

Highway Code:
This section should be read by all drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders. The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident.

https://www.gov.uk/general-rules-all-drivers-riders-103-to-158/overview

 

[snorri]

(Damn, that's an awkward word to spell )

Thank you for taking the trouble to get it right and save us from some pedant taking the thread off topic.

 

[Tanis8472]

You're welcome

 

[morrisman]

One reason to introduce a presumption of liability...

In my view, the most vulnerable should have priority at all times.

So pedestrians can launch themselves in front of traffic and it will always be the traffics fault, I think not!

 

[morrisman]

Our European cousins in Belgium, the Netherlands, etc don't seem to have a problem with people launching themselves in front of cars.

You clearly don't understand the concept of the presumption of liability. I suggest you find out a bit more about it before making a tit of yourself again...

Fully understand 'presumption of liability' but you said 'he most vulnerable should have priority at all times' which I read as a different thing?

 

[morrisman]

Fully understand 'presumption of liability' but you said 'he most vulnerable should have priority at all times' which I read as a different thing?

Oh! and I'm not a tit

 

[ufkacbln]

Yesterday we went up to Watendlath which is a narrow road with passing places at one point we had negotiated a couple of blind bends and came face to face with an elderly couple in a BMW, who were "shooing" us back

Now common sense would think that their reversing 10 feet into a passing place would be simpler than us reversing round the blind corners, but they were having none of it

So I politely got out and asked if they wished to be guided back, to which he replied he didn't like reversing which was why we would have to g back the 100 yards round the corners

Fortunately a another couple of vehicles came up behind us and persuaded the elderly driver to let one of us reverse their car.

Otherwise it would have quickly become impossible

 

[Spinney]

If he didn't like reversing, he should not have been on a single track road.

Simples.

 

[Cush]

From past experience on that road it should only be used by those that need to use it (or cyclists and walkers) I see no point in taking a car up it, it is a dead end.

 

[Sham69]

I don't mind giving way, but I do mind when a driver thinks he can pass me with inches to spare while still doing 40 or 50 mph. That's nasty and careless.

To try to counteract this, I will sometimes claim my space in the road and hold it until the oncoming car has slowed to a speed at which I'll feel comfortable to have it pass by, bearing in mind the space available. If there are inches, it'll be a crawl; if there's a metre to spare, 20 mph might be OK.

Some drivers don't like this, but tough!

That's exactly my approach in those rare instances when I don't/can't pull into a passing place beforehand and it was the approach I took in this particular instance. I see it as trying to manage the situation for a safe outcome. The driver sees it as me being obstructive. These folk who can't visualise things from others perspectives must find life very confusing/frustrating.

I don't keep count but I would guess I receive as many courtesies; people waiting at a road widening for me to pass or waiting the other side of a cattle grid or bridge for me to cross, as I extend to others so in answer to the original question therefore, I suppose statistically you would expect to be pulling in only 50% of the time, and rarely having to come to a stop, but if you are doing so more than this I wouldn't worry too much as you are just adapting to the local conditions.

In South East England, when we're talking about a cyclist (me) and an on-coming motorist, I give way over 80% of the time (I'm anal enough to keep a mental note). My main concern on narrow roads is to avoid holding up faster moving vehicles behind me so I keep an eye over my shoulder and will always pull in as necessary.

 

[marknotgeorge]

If he didn't like reversing, he should not have been on a single track road.

Simples.

Fixed it for you...