steve50
Disenchanted Member
- Location
- West Yorkshire
Gotta disagree with you on that one @classic33 banging on the vehicle can easily aggravate the situation.
Van drivers!!!
- Thread starter steve50
- Start date
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slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I had a pass when I could touch the bodywork with an outstretched little finger without taking my thumb off the brake hood. How you deal with these episodes very much depends on your frame of mind at the time. Sometimes I can just shrug it off within five seconds, and sometimes (extremely rarely) I can go off the scale verbally when I catch up with the driver. Adrenaline is usually to blame.
classic33
Leg End Member
When you've the same driver "passing" you, within half a mile in free flowing traffic, you're wondering what their up to.
lutonloony
Über Member
- Location
- torbay
It's no excuse, but the Home delivery drivers are under very tight time constraints ( I used to be one). Although TBH most of them are twats anyway
markharry66
Guru
Dam right its no excuse. Poor driving endangers life. My life is worth more than a delivery target.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
I had a couple of jobs in engineering that involved van driving as part of the job. If the gaffer ever put me under pressure to get a job done quickly I'd just say yes boss and drive as normal. I don't think it matters, if they don't drive their cars well, or have an attitude problem, their not going to drive a van well either, and if they're put under pressure to rush a job and can't ignore that pressure then your just going to end up with bad driving.
classic33
Leg End Member
[QUOTE 4295992, member: 9609"]What law are they breaking ?
forget the bollox in the highway code, that just says you should leave as much room as you do when passing another car; which is utterly meaningless as you may normally only leave other cars 3 inches.
There is a petition to create a law
http://petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.com/?petition=128190
but in a weird bit of logic many cyclists won't sign it because it may not get enforced.
So if you have not signed the above petition and wrote to your MP and police commissioner demanding something done, then stop whinging about close passes.[/QUOTE]
Local MP's & Police Crime Commissioner are anti cycling.
forget the bollox in the highway code, that just says you should leave as much room as you do when passing another car; which is utterly meaningless as you may normally only leave other cars 3 inches.
There is a petition to create a law
http://petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.com/?petition=128190
but in a weird bit of logic many cyclists won't sign it because it may not get enforced.
So if you have not signed the above petition and wrote to your MP and police commissioner demanding something done, then stop whinging about close passes.[/QUOTE]
Local MP's & Police Crime Commissioner are anti cycling.
[QUOTE 4295992, member: 9609"]What law are they breaking ?
[/QUOTE]
Careless Driving:
Careless driving or driving without due care and attention is defined as;
[/QUOTE]
Careless Driving:
Careless driving or driving without due care and attention is defined as;
- Driving that falls below the standard expected of a competent driver; or
- Driving that does not show reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or pathways
Arjimlad
Tights of Cydonia
- Location
- South Glos
If I can, I will start politely, Good morning, could you leave a bit more space in future please ? etc.. often produces a reasonable response. If they are scofflaw foul mouthed morons then I don't take it any further other than to report to the employer or police & use footage if available & if I can be bothered.
[QUOTE 4296042, member: 9609"]and it goes on to say
"it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous".
So would 12 drivers picked at random conclude that leaving only 6" of space when passing some annoying cyclist who was slowing them down in their very expensive super safe high tech pride and joy; be dangerous or well within their capabilities?[/QUOTE]
Nope. That's only required for dangerous driving.
"
3ZAMeaning of careless, or inconsiderate, driving
(1)This section has effect for the purposes of sections 2B and 3 above and section 3A below.
(2)A person is to be regarded as driving without due care and attention if (and only if) the way he drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.
(3)In determining for the purposes of subsection (2) above what would be expected of a careful and competent driver in a particular case, regard shall be had not only to the circumstances of which he could be expected to be aware but also to any circumstances shown to have been within the knowledge of the accused.
(4)A person is to be regarded as driving without reasonable consideration for other persons only if those persons are inconvenienced by his driving"
"it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous".
So would 12 drivers picked at random conclude that leaving only 6" of space when passing some annoying cyclist who was slowing them down in their very expensive super safe high tech pride and joy; be dangerous or well within their capabilities?[/QUOTE]
Nope. That's only required for dangerous driving.
"
3ZAMeaning of careless, or inconsiderate, driving
(1)This section has effect for the purposes of sections 2B and 3 above and section 3A below.
(2)A person is to be regarded as driving without due care and attention if (and only if) the way he drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.
(3)In determining for the purposes of subsection (2) above what would be expected of a careful and competent driver in a particular case, regard shall be had not only to the circumstances of which he could be expected to be aware but also to any circumstances shown to have been within the knowledge of the accused.
(4)A person is to be regarded as driving without reasonable consideration for other persons only if those persons are inconvenienced by his driving"
^ ^ That ^ ^
If they are instantly abusive then it's a sure fire bet that they knew exactly what they were doing. And it's no point progressing it any further with them as they will forever be a tiresome person (original word switched). If the van has livery, then yes, contact their employer and complain not only about the driving but the driver's attitude as well.
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NorthernSky
Guru
do they have a minimum passing distance anywhere in the world? the netherlands maybe?
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
[QUOTE 4296167, member: 9609"]We need a definitive law, a minimum passing distance[/QUOTE]
How are you going to measure that? Bear in mind you have two vehicles moving whose positions (both forward and laterally) in relation to each other will not necessarily remain constant.
[QUOTE 4296167, member: 9609"]I asked Police Scotland and they can't show me one single conviction where a pass was too close but there was no collision, not one, ZERO.[/QUOTE]
I believe @magnatom has had success in this regard when overtaken too closely by a van & trailer. Driver was fined £175 and had 5 points added to his licence. He had another get to court but failed on driver identification.
I don't think an FOI request of your nature will ever establish how many convictions were for close passes as the way the offence is recorded doesn't make it clear what the primary failure was. It might be possible to weed through every s3 RTA case manually but that would take so long as to be justifiably declined on the grounds of cost and I suspect that's why your enquiry came back with a zero value.
GC
How are you going to measure that? Bear in mind you have two vehicles moving whose positions (both forward and laterally) in relation to each other will not necessarily remain constant.
[QUOTE 4296167, member: 9609"]I asked Police Scotland and they can't show me one single conviction where a pass was too close but there was no collision, not one, ZERO.[/QUOTE]
I believe @magnatom has had success in this regard when overtaken too closely by a van & trailer. Driver was fined £175 and had 5 points added to his licence. He had another get to court but failed on driver identification.
I don't think an FOI request of your nature will ever establish how many convictions were for close passes as the way the offence is recorded doesn't make it clear what the primary failure was. It might be possible to weed through every s3 RTA case manually but that would take so long as to be justifiably declined on the grounds of cost and I suspect that's why your enquiry came back with a zero value.
GC
PhilDawson8270
Veteran
[QUOTE 4296248, member: 9609"]With camera's, establishing a distance should not be too difficult. A definitive distance within law would be far more desirable than 'you should leave plenty of room' or 'leave as much distance as you would for another car' both of which are pretty meaningless.[/QUOTE]
It's not as easy as it would seem without a point of reference that has a known dimension in the same area of the frame. Camera lenses compress and expand images giving a sense of more or less distance between objects depending on the focal length.
Most "action" cameras use quite a wide angle, wide enough that the distortion won't be consistent throughout the frame. As the vehicle moves from the edge of the frame towards the middle, the apparent distance will change.
Proving passing distance by a camera, is only easy if it is say filmed from behind.
It's not as easy as it would seem without a point of reference that has a known dimension in the same area of the frame. Camera lenses compress and expand images giving a sense of more or less distance between objects depending on the focal length.
Most "action" cameras use quite a wide angle, wide enough that the distortion won't be consistent throughout the frame. As the vehicle moves from the edge of the frame towards the middle, the apparent distance will change.
Proving passing distance by a camera, is only easy if it is say filmed from behind.
