Overtaking Cyclists

Rule 163 of the Highway Code says that, when overtaking, you should

leave [cyclists] at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car.

I’ve never been clear on the meaning of this. Is that “leave at least as much space between me and the cyclist as I would leave between me and a car”, or “pretend the cyclist is a car and move as though overtaking that imaginary car”?

Today I read a couple of blog posts, Overtaking Cyclists and Cycling Two Abreast, where the author seems to take the “imaginary car” interpretation. I tend towards the “as much space as between me and a car” interpretation. (I say “tend towards” because, while I think that is the minimum standard demanded, I aim to satisfy the “imaginary car” case when I feel it’s helpful — which is almost always.)

hc_rule_163_give_vulnerable_road_users_at_least_as_much_space_as_you_would_a_car

Not only is the wording of the rule unclear, but even the accompanying photo doesn’t seem to settle it. The author of those posts understands the photo to show the car overtaking “just as if they were overtaking a car”. Yet to me, by straddling the lane markings, it’s too close for that. So I assume that it’s leaving the space it would put between itself and a car. But then, if it were to leave that much space, there’s not enough room for it to overtake a car on that road. Ah, but the rule says “at least”, and so I guess it’s leaving the space it would give a car, plus a bit… erm, was this photo supposed to be helping?

Do all vehicles have to move as if passing a car? Does a cyclist overtaking another cyclist should move over into the oncoming lane to do so? Hmm, it’s not entirely clear whether Rule 163 applies to cyclists, since it’s in a section just named ‘Using the Road’, where all the rules seem to be written from the point of view of a car driver…

Okay, enough pedantry. And just so you don’t think I routinely run cyclists off the road, in practice I can think of only two times I intentionally break the “imaginary car” rule: when riding a motorbike along a single carriageway with a solid central white line, and when driving a car or riding a motorbike in a 30mph limit. In the case of a solid central white line I think it’s okay to pass a cyclist on my motorbike by slowing down (that bit’s important) and hugging the line. And in a 30mph (or lower) limit, I think it’s okay to pass within about a metre (and the nearer I am the slower I go). In a car that means I’m partly in the oncoming lane, and so have to plan for a gap, but that’s not necessarily the case when I’m on a bike.

I’m not sure what the author of Rule 163 intended, but do find the ambiguity interesting.

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