Nuxx:41da03e9-5ba1-4187-8e97-923f76c9a617@l32g2000vbp.googlegroups.com

Path: num2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!num1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!number.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!postnews.google.com!l32g2000vbp.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Message-ID: <41da03e9-5ba1-4187-8e97-923f76c9a617@l32g2000vbp.googlegroups.com> From: Nuxx Bar  Newsgroups: uk.rec.cycling Subject: Re: Passing stationary / parked cars Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:44:26 -0700 (PDT) References:   Lines: 30 Organization: http://groups.google.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 86.163.209.43 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: posting.google.com 1247395466 1061 127.0.0.1 (12 Jul 2009 10:44:26 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:44:26 +0000 (UTC) Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: l32g2000vbp.googlegroups.com; posting-host=86.163.209.43; posting-account=7_6kYAkAAABD6HrjM0VxehwvZOKMxm4g User-Agent: G2/1.0 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.0.11) Gecko/2009060215 Firefox/3.0.11 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729),gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe) Bytes: 2663 Xref: perfectly-safe.chapmancentral.co.uk uk.rec.cycling:831147

On Jul 12, 9:45=A0am, John Dunlop  wrote: > Pip Ryder: > > > When cycling on small roads in residential areas, you often get a > > situation where one side of the road is blocked by parked cars and ther= e > > is only enough room for one vehicle to pass. > > Talking about tight squeezes, yesterday, one car overtook another as I wa= s > cycling towards them. Didn't have time to get off, just breathed in. The > day before, the same happened, except the cars came from behind. Question > is, do you want to see it coming?

Yikes. You have my sympathy (assuming it wasn't a very wide road). I don't know what the worst explanation is really: did the overtaking driver not see you at all (at least until he was already alongside you)? Did he see you but misjudge how far away from him you were? Or did he see you, and realise that overtaking would mean going alongside you, but decide to do it anyway?

To me, this is just one more way in which the authorities deliberately narrowing roads (with hatching, obstacles etc) is purely an anti- motorist measure, rather than "pro-safety". A wide road in such a situation would undoubtedly help. But of course ultimately the driver was clearly to blame here.

Strangely enough, when passing through an uncomfortably narrow gap in the car, I sometimes breathe in then. It's an urge which is quite difficult to override.