Give cyclists a metre?

I heard it on the radio 891 this morning. Cadel Evans has signed a petition which seeks to make the Give Cyclists a meter reccomendation turned into law. Some discussion followed and the RAA had a rep on the show, unfortunately I was a bit busy at the time and couldn't hear too much of what was being said.

However, how would this be implemented under law. Is it really practical to suggest that motorists may not pass a cyclist unless they can give them a metre clearance or should it be that vehicles travelling over 25km must give a meter.. If you think it is what will happen at intersections or slow moving traffic where a cyclist will slip down the left side of the traffic, clearly the cyclist will not be a metre clear of the traffic but then again the onus is on the motorist to give the metre. Does this mean that when the lights turn green the motorists can't move because there's a cyclist, or several cyclists pulling away and it's not possible to pass the cyclist without giving them a meter.

Maybe every road should have a cycle lane on each side. Adelaides dissapearing bicycle lanes could be fixed up once we've widened the intersections or replaced all the traffic light poles etc so that a bicycle lane can be incorporated. Will all non arterial roads need to be widened to incorporate bicycle lanes or perhaps we can just ban parking I don't think that will work.

How would you make it work, so many people have campaigned for the meter rule for so many years so maybe they have it all worked out, obviously the answer won't be easy, if it was easy it would have been done already.

5 members like this

Comment by Doddsy on July 26, 2011 at 22:45: A metre is an ideal distance but there is no procedure or measurement involved in the process.
"Change lanes to overtake" is much more effective than a "metre matters."

Wider lanes without cycling infrastructure can cause serious problems. In many cases we are better off having narrow lanes with bike symbols in the middle of the lane.

Comment by Patrick O'Kane on July 26, 2011 at 23:09: "Change lanes to overtake"

I couldn't agree more, pity 99.9% of motorists don't do that.

I'm always amazed when riding down two laned roads like Military Rd on Thursday night that cars will overtake cyclists in the left hand lane (often moving across to give "some" room) when there is a perfectly good, vacant lane that they could use. It beggars belief.

Comment by Doddsy on July 27, 2011 at 8:02: A meter is hard to enforce. Whereas if there is an incident after lane changing legislation its much harder for a careless driver to explain what they were doing in a cyclists lane.

Comment by Matt Brennan on July 27, 2011 at 9:07: I only heard the intro earlier on with Ian H asking ' Are cyclists trying to wield power on a wave of Cadel popularity?'(paraphrased)

Strange question imho.

Comment by heather on July 27, 2011 at 17:41: There are several State Government guidelines that recommend leaving a minimum of one metre when overtaking a cyclist. This includes The Driver’s Handbook at www.sa.gov.au/upload/franchise/Transport,%20travel%20and%20motoring...

Unfortunately there are licensed drivers who do not recall their learner instructions. So cyclists lobby for improved safety (e.g. a petition) when driver education fails. Agree that it is a strange question.

Comment by Roger ... on July 27, 2011 at 21:41: I dont think the idea is all motorist alway need to give a metre even if it is actually unpracticable but more about a motorist will need to position their car a metre away before throwing hamburgers or eggs at cyclists.

Car skid marks within a metre of the bikelane will probably still be acceptable as long as the motorist claims they didn't see the cyclist so therefore didn't need to give the metre of clearance.

Give cyclists a metre?

You need to be a member of Adelaide Cyclists to add comments!

Support our Sponsors