#TooCloseForComfort kickstarter

[martint235]

Pledged £10.
I always say - "if your not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem"

I don't suppose you want to buy a bridge??

I don't have a problem with the idea of showing motorists in a graphical way just how much room should be given (similar to the videos showing cyclists just how wide the door zone can be) but even if this was the best way to do this, I would still be extremely loathe to give £10 to Cycling UK for it. I'm loathe to pay them affiliated subs let alone give them more money to waste.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I don't think that's what it's there for - I think it's demonstrating the minimum distance from the kerb that the cyclist should be.

The problem is that its intention is unclear and open to different interpretations.

The 0.75m bit should be removed because it doesn't matter where the cyclist is positioned, it's the passing distance given by the driver that matters.

 

[Spinney]

The 0.75 m bit could be there as it is easier to think of the safe passing distance as twice the distance between the bike and the kerb. I don't think many drivers (probably including me) really know what 1.5 m beyond my vehicle looks like.

Of course, that idea means that a kerb-hugging cyclist could well get a very close pass...

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Absolutely - but without somewhere to measure that passing distance from, the mat as an infographic won't work...

I don't follow your reasoning, the passing distance is measured from cyclist to car, nothing else matters.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Quality management, innit. People have got off drink driving charges due to poor analyser quality control record keeping on the part of the police.

Anyway, my point is really that the aim of the exercise is driver education. I think a lot of drivers might be reluctant to have their driving ability scrutinised, so it might be necessary to employ a bit of theatre so they realise it's a big deal.

The thought of an office having to pull somebody over, take a mat out of the back of the patrol car, lay it on the ground, position his/her car in the right place, nab a passing cyclist or will they also have a bike in the boot? Sorry but the suggestion is totally laughable.

These ought to be set-up at the VOSA/DVLA depots around the country, using a piece of existing kerb, the lines could be painted on the tarmac correctly. When an officer sees somebody who they believe has passed too closely they can be pulled over & made to attend an awareness course/lecture within x weeks or face a fine for non-attendance. I'm sure that there are a few reasons why this is not feasible currently, but there is no reason why it couldn't be made to happen.

 

[martint235]

The thought of an office having to pull somebody over, take a mat out of the back of the patrol car, lay it on the ground, position his/her car in the right place, nab a passing cyclist or will they also have a bike in the boot? Sorry but the suggestion is totally laughable.

These ought to be set-up at the VOSA/DVLA depots around the country, using a piece of existing kerb, the lines could be painted on the tarmac correctly. When an officer sees somebody who they believe has passed too closely they can be pulled over & made to attend an awareness course/lecture within x weeks or face a fine for non-attendance. I'm sure that there are a few reasons why this is not feasible currently, but there is no reason why it couldn't be made to happen.

That's a bit close to common sense!!! You realise you're still on CycleChat don't you??

 

[Deleted member 26715]

That's a bit close to common sense!!! You realise you're still on CycleChat don't you??

Sorry I'll go stand in the corner

 

[winjim]

The thought of an office having to pull somebody over, take a mat out of the back of the patrol car, lay it on the ground, position his/her car in the right place, nab a passing cyclist or will they also have a bike in the boot? Sorry but the suggestion is totally laughable.

These ought to be set-up at the VOSA/DVLA depots around the country, using a piece of existing kerb, the lines could be painted on the tarmac correctly. When an officer sees somebody who they believe has passed too closely they can be pulled over & made to attend an awareness course/lecture within x weeks or face a fine for non-attendance. I'm sure that there are a few reasons why this is not feasible currently, but there is no reason why it couldn't be made to happen.

It was done in West Mids with plain clothed coppers on bikes recording close passes with a uniformed copper with mat, flagging offenders down a bit further up the road. So it was a semi-permanent setup. I think the plain clothed coppers on bikes are a necessary lure, if they just drove around town looking out for drivers close passing cyclists I can't see it working.

Why would they need a bike for the demo though? The mat / chalk / whatever shows the position of the bike, that's the point of it. Although I do agree it would be better with a real bike. Factor in the dynamic envelope, a set of panniers and the odd wobble, and a bike can get pretty wide, which I don't think you can really show all that well with a line on the road.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Advantage of having it as a permanent site is also you could force the perpetrator to ride the bike whilst Police cars go pass them at 30mph

 

[srw]

It's a witty, cheap bit of publicity material, not an attempt to change the world. The concept isn't the CTC's, it's West Midlands Police's - it's part of their highly successful campaign to make roads feel safer by reducing close passing. It's part of encouraging people to cycle on the roads.

Given all that, I think some people are allowing their knee-jerk negative response to anything involving the CTC to override their logical minds.

After a couple of hours, 73 people have contributed over £1,000. There are still bath mats, mouse mats and The Office Matt available, but the beer mats have gone.

 

[Milkfloat]

A police bike with a 1.5m sharp stick attached sideways off the rear should do it. That way he policeman can just ride around and 'key' any driver who is too close. No need to worry about a mat or the 75cm line.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

how does it do that without actually having marks on it to show where the cyclist is and where the car should be? And how does it convey all the different scenarios? And not inadvertently reinforce negative messages?

Maybe something like this?

 

[jefmcg]

I can just see the average Plod HQ receiving these mats and lobbing them in the back of a cupboard somewhere to be forgotten about .

Yes.

"We've already been speaking with police forces across the UK to gauge the attraction of having a close pass mat, and have the support of the officers behind West Midlands Police original initiative."

Shouldn't they get buy-in from the forces they plan to give these mats to, before asking for money? What happens if they are funded, but no other police force wants the mats?

 

[jefmcg]

Maybe something like this?

Seeing the accompanying photo suggests the cyclist is on the line rather than inside it as the mat and this image seem to indicate, I'd suggest this:

 

[mjr]

I've mixed feelings about this. Cyclists shouldn't have to fund this sort of stuff - it seems too close to paying twice (aka keeping a dog and barking oneself), as cycling isn't getting its fair share of transport and policing budgets.

Also, I felt that it was mostly-urban constabularies that were most likely to imitate Operation Close Pass, while rural ones seemed keener on North Wales's Operation Snap (bike and dash cam evidence), so this seems like CTC/CUK urban bias again.

I guess city cyclists may feel it's worth funding but it seems like a distraction to me.