This video clip is from East Brisbane in Queensland. A law was introduced in the Australian state last year which says that “motorists must stay wider of cyclists by giving a minimum of 1m when passing a cyclist in a 60km/h or less speed zone or 1.5m where the speed limit is over 60km/h.”
It also goes on to say that ” the passing distance is measured from:
- The rightmost part of the bicycle, or the person on the bicycle to
- The leftmost part of the vehicle, or something sticking out from the vehicle (e.g. a side mirror).
However, as can be seen in the video, the motorist is nowhere near being 1m from both the cyclist filming and the cyclist behind. The driver even swerves towards the second cyclist as they pass.
The video has since been reported to the police.
The driver deviated from course. That looked intentional.
@ron611087 that looked very international
I don’t have enough hands and feet to count on a ride how many times this happens! Why I don’t commute on my bike anymore
The design of the road was a big factor in what happened, it narrows at the point where this incident happened, the motorist appears to have taken the option that was best for them at the expense of the cyclist which is not uncommon.
cyclist is at least a metre out, add that to the 1 metre gap, is the law workable?
So, what’s the charge? Is it a Mickey Mouse fine or is it some version of Reckless Endangerment?
The cyclists should have taken control of the lane once the bike lane ended by immediately moving to the center of the lane to prevent unsafe passage.
Best way for cyclists to stay safe on the roads is to give cars a visual cue of the safe and legal passing distance with an adjustable 3-ft flag from takeyourlane.com