Petition to introduce minimum passing distance when overtaking cyclists nears 10,000 signatures

back again - rather than just moan on a cycling forum have emailed the petitions committee:

(if asked to explain the "48.5 fewer serious bicycle crashes"  everyone shout "unicycle")

_________________________________________________________________________

Petition To introduce a permanent, minimum passing distance when overtaking cyclists.

Ref: Recent Government response

Request for a timetabled review of potential benefits of a minimum passing distance law

I am a UK citizen currently living in Australia. I was interested to see that the recently commenced trial of a minimum safe distance passing law in South Australia was mentioned as part of the response to this petition. Obviously this has been a much discussed topic here.

The Queensland Government commenced a similar trial in April 2014 and confirmed in April 2016 that the trial was considered successful and the law has now become permanent.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-07/cyclist-one-metre-rule-to-stay-in-...

Possibly this trial was unique in that there was an evaluation of the law’s impact by The Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety - Queensland University of Technology, available in full here:

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/94655/1/Final_Report_TMR_170316.pdf

The conclusion section of the Executive Summary is lengthy. This section suggests a generally positive outcome:

“....Despite the problems of practical implementation, drivers reported being more aware of bicycle riders when driving on the road than 12 months ago. Most riders and drivers surveyed had observed motorists giving bicycle riders more room when overtaking than they used to. However, there was no reported change in empathy for bicycle riders or in incidents of harassment between motorists and bicyclists. Thus it appears that drivers have become more aware of cyclists and leave them more room, but their attitudes towards cyclists have not necessarily changed. The level of observed compliance with the new rule was relatively good....”

Of course the big question is does a minimum passing distance (MPD) law make the roads safer?

From page 69 of the report:

“Analyses of uncleansed preliminary police data showed that during the two years prior to the commencement of the MPD trial, the number of serious (fatal and hospitalisation) bicycle-related crashes per month showed no statistically significant trend but that from the commencement of the trial until October 2015 there has been a statistically significant decreasing trend. This has resulted in an estimated 48.5 fewer serious bicycle crashes in the post-commencement period than would have been expected based on extrapolation from the pre-trial trend.”

The report goes on to suggest that other sources of data need to be looked at to get a clearer picture of the impact of minimum passing distance road rule on serious bicycle crashes and car on car crashes but that the data is not yet available.

The population of Queensland is less than 5million.  

Obviously there are a lot of differences in terms of road layout, population densities, travel mode, weather etc to the UK but if this level of reduction in serious injurious/deaths  is near correct then for the UK this could  translate to a very significant number of  reductions in deaths and serious injuries .

 This would indicate that urgent action is required to speed up any review and make it a definitive rather than an ongoing learning process.

Can the committee ask the relevant department(s) to establish a fixed time table for a review and confirm what the elements of the review would be?

Yours Truly

"....interested in learning from the experience of places where legislation of this type has been introduced. One example is South Australia...."

pushing the ball into the long grass?

if really interested in learning from Australia why not look at Queensland?  Queensland trialled minimum passing legislation in 2014 and made it permanent in 2015. This article also refers to research by Queensland University of Technology that found that most drivers were complying with the rule. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-07/cyclist-one-metre-rule-to-stay-in-...

Following the introduction of the rule cyclist deaths on Queenland's roads reduced:

2013: 13deaths, 2014: 9deaths, 2015: 5deaths

sadly looks like this year to date may suggest that this could just be a random effect  - would be interesting to find out if cycling related road serious injuries (a bigger sample) reduced at all, but not been able to find this data.* 

The full (189page) QUT report

 http://eprints.qut.edu.au/94655/1/Final_Report_TMR_170316.pdf

*edit the QUT report confirms, P69, that serious injury data not yet available but did look at raw police data which suggested a positive trend:

"7.3.1 Bicycle crash trends The delays in data availability prevented any direct assessment of the benefits of the road rule in terms of reductions in crash occurrence and severity from the official road crash data, or in terms of injury occurrence and severity from the hospital emergency presentations and admissions data. Realistically, it may not be until the end of 2016 that any robust assessment of changes in crashes and injuries can be made. Analyses of uncleansed preliminary police data showed that during the two years prior to the commencement of the MPD trial, the number of serious (fatal and hospitalisation) bicycle-related crashes per month showed no statistically significant trend but that from the commencement of the trial until October 2015 there has been a statistically significant decreasing trend. This has resulted in an estimated 48.5 fewer serious bicycle crashes in the post-commencement period than would have been expected based on extrapolation from the pre-trial trend. "

Response from the government - same answer as for the previous petitions on subject:

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “To introduce a permanent, minimum passing distance when overtaking cyclists.”.

Government responded:

This Government currently does not have plans to legislate on a set minimum space e.g. 1 metre on roads with a speed limit of up to 30mph when overtaking a cyclist.

This type of legislation would be extremely difficult to enforce and the Government does not believe that it would add to the existing rules and guidance, including those set out in the Highway Code, which advises drivers to give cyclists “at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car”.

We are keeping this position under review, and are interested in learning from the experience of places where legislation of this type has been introduced. One example is South Australia, where since 25th October 2015, drivers are required to give a minimum of one metre when passing a cyclist where the speed limit is 60km/h (37.3mph) or less or 1.5 metres where the speed limit is over 60km/h (40mph). The penalty for drivers caught disobeying this rule is a $287 (£148) fine, plus a $60 (£31) victim of crime levy and 2 demerit (penalty) points. However, it will take time to understand the benefits and impacts of this legislation on cyclists and other road users.

Department for Transport

Click this link to view the response online:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/128190?reveal_response=yes

The Petitions Committee will take a look at this petition and its response. They can press the government for action and gather evidence. If this petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the Committee will consider it for a debate.

The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government. Find out more about the Committee: https://petition.parliament.uk/help#petitions-committee

i'm just going to buy a wide arse that looks like a roundabout and adorn it with flashing lights, the idiots fellow road users imaginary car width amounts to, can i brush their arm wih my wing mirror and then shave a bit off for good measure. I'm off to majorca for a bit of sun........

If it's law, then it'll be at least taught (or could be) to learner drivers. Enforcement is neither here nor there except in a small number of cases that may arise. This is about the incremental promotion of cycling and cycling safety.

Got hit again last night, car passing me over a blind bridge about 10m from a concrete island and roundabout. After refusing to acknowledge he'd hit me, trying to mount the island and hitting me again I set about his car with my d-lock. He seemed to notice me then!

Rather than bring in unenforceable laws that risk infuriating people on "both sides", it would be better to have a funded program of education through media outlets. Something that gently reminded everyone of the rules and managed to balance the perspective of someone riding a bike and someone driving a vehicle (eg blind spots for trucks / close pass = scary / some stats about how little time you get delayed sitting at 15-20mph for 100meters as opposed to 30mph).

Something like this was tried, but then the helmet brigade / bike-taking-too-much-of-the-road-grr-pay-road-tax-etc eejits completely trashed it.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2014/jan/29/bike-blog-c...

A study of the effects of the minimum passing distance law in Queensland concluded that despite limited enforcement and inconclusive effects on casualties:

"Overall, 56.3% of riders and 43.1% of drivers agreed or strongly agreed that “compared to 12 months ago I am more aware of bicycle riders when driving on the road”.  In response to the question regarding their opinion of the MPD rule, 26.8% of drivers said that it has made them more aware of cyclists"

Quiff, at the start of your comment, you say that the wording in the Highway Code is ambiguous, which it is. Then at the end of the comment, you say, 'So the rules are pretty clear already', which is not the case, as you have stated.

Too many drivers do not allow enough space when overtaking. The rules are unclear. Clarifying the rules won't be a magic bullet, but it is a vital first step. Once the rules are clear, they can be publicised, and, we hope, enforced. 

Sign the petition.

The police won't issue a FPN for speeding unless the speed has been measured by an approved calibrated device. That can be done with speed, but how do you enforce a law specifying distance where you can't measure the infingement?

Unless you can find a practical solution to this problem the law will be unenforceable, and it won't take drivers long to twig.

The 'cycling silk', Martin Porter, recently attempted a private prosecution against a driver who allegedly executed a dangerously close overtake.  Despite pretty conclusive film evidence and witness testimony the jury found the defendant not guilty.

If you don't know of him, try that nice Mr Google. 

My local constabulary announced that it would no longer investigate counts of careless driving (unless an injury has occurred). I can only imagine the response I would get, if I rang up complaining about a bad pass.

What a load of bow lacks.... more fuel to the them / us fire.

Dickheads will be dickheads. You think an inconsiderate person in a vehicle will suddenly start giving more space? How do you measure it? How would that stand up in court? Exactly.... no chance.

Have a think about the reaction on here to the suggestion of numberplates for bikes, or insurance, or compulsary helmets - yep, that's the reaction you'll get from other road users for this sort of crap imo.

Love, not regs! 

To be fair, Rule 212 doesn't only state "plenty of space" - it also cross-refers to Rule 163, which advises that you should "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car".   

That wording is ambiguous though - does it mean:

(a) you should give a cyclist the same actual passing distance as you would a car (which may not actually be that much, and may not be comfortable or appropriate for overtaking a cyclist); or 

(b) you should adopt the same road position as you would when overtaking a car (which, by definition, is likely to be substantially in the opposite lane)? 

However Rule 163 is also accompanied by a helpful diagram which shows a car moving almost entirely into the opposite lane to overtake a cyclist, which suggests the latter is intended.

So the rules are pretty clear already. If even a cycling website can't read the existing rules properly then I can't see what purpose it would serve to bury another more rigid one in there.   

Great choice of pic. Under the proposed legislation, that pass would be perfectly legal.

So why were 95% of road.cc complaining demanding police action not that long ago ... probably going to sign up to a law that would make legal action impossible?

Not a lot of logic, below the line ....

Adding the suggestion to Rule 163 would be a good start.

Mind you, you'll never stop some cocks.  I had someone come within 6" of me, whilst I was riding about a foot from the kerb.  Only they were coming the other direction and very clearly swerved AT me.  No matter what the law says, some motorists are absolute dicks and will remain dicks until the day that they die.  Hopefully not taking some innocent bystander with them.

Quite a number of reasons why this is a bad idea.

As usual Bez has the low-down on this:

http://singletrackworld.com/columns/2016/04/passing-laws/

I'd encourage people not to sign the petition.