stop close passing for about a tenner

[trevor brooker]

After reading guerney post "Hoping to increase driver passing distance at night, I've glued front and rear reflectors to my wing mirrors." it got thinking.

I wanted a warning pole to make drivers give me more room, but when in traffic I wanted to retain the narrowness of a bicycle.

So onto the handlebars I fitted a clamp https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404076550188?hash=item5e14d6d82c:gUMAAOSw1kJjqskl&amdata=enc:AQAHAAABIJrE3tpAt+xsXcJx0rXIXf9IK7q7zbJLHm1ojUfLtdN5CRnIMmP9+3NVWO1ImFh+U1VkSnAah1gSW54/ACIeDpv8vrMWOSBIpzXgMRgzyOWT0RADmKtn4ndf6zDX7XhNOiyDKNIsgu/eWIFbXg6q6SGny1bQlwiifLIz7y2hF8wdeqSU/5ScQiHFf+Yz0GfbPCwUw/vg3/Epxw9vplOEWFPhrQoCEP47paSSCqvnOsK31/YnSlCpZxUE0esmH5jByxwZAXlla1e5BCHj0PgadCTjBGUAA+6MvsWlK5rhoe89I6wQPXneqJ5nagLXimDSAD71w0NUajKFM4E2womFmIh1u5afsMUVb0p/tmeA0lAzyHrhXvxSLSroRbo3ZgttVQ==|tkp:Bk9SR8S8h_TLYQ
then added a swivel joint https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393022202859?hash=item5b81f2e3eb:g:jTEAAOSwvi5ftWIS&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4It43NOLIpzFDULfrvhWpctiAERVFmr1Wc+y27nrC6nrMNqCDzJ+YvXxBzE5NQwWvbMciFjt+c7Y5Yt7dvvLTBus/4WMjKWNGyhJWudwvWT7SeUWzp2VBPj3fYGr8jC2BE7CcWcIfGsY570qQKLtdsp7nyxQ17kH7/V7WpUfyIBn335uxCZoCLwneyXzbc9IjrHhEKfbgDU+sES/NRoZuN6jkmSFCHDj719pBZdL7lzvlhtLBigzHs5tGBQcIEQVpJu2nhk7DI5IQpfXWAvxPvCwpNo+ScaHj6r7BjWaXdf7|tkp:Bk9SR5bqjfTLYQ

To this I added a plastic pole from I think B&Q (it's been in the loft for ages) with a flag at the end made from a warning tape.

It works, with the closest pass now being about 1 foot from the end, rather than 1 foot from my handlebars.

When approaching traffic I can simply flip it up & over so that its laying across the handlebars.

At journey's end I simply rotate it so it lies along the length of the bike.

I am thinking about the night version made from angle iron (plastic) with LED strips front & back.


View attachment 20230217_102217 copy.jpg

 

[flecc]

I wanted a warning pole to make drivers give me more room, but when in traffic I wanted to retain the narrowness of a bicycle.

When approaching traffic I can simply flip it up & over so that its laying across the handlebars.

I see. So when drivers pass you you need lots of room, but when you mix it with traffic you magically don't need that room.

Try explaining that to a roomful of drivers!
.

 

[trevor brooker]

I see. So when drivers pass you you need lots of room, but when you mix it with traffic you magically don't need that room.

Try explaining that to a roomful of drivers!
.

There is an electric city car that does the same!

 

[Bikes4two]

The length of that pole is definitely in the "cyclist are getting to pi55 me off" bracket which might be OK for you but not the majority of us.

If you need that much clearance to feel safe, maybe another mode of transport is better for you?

 

[trevor brooker]

The length of that pole is definitely in the "cyclist are getting to pi55 me off" bracket which might be OK for you but not the majority of us.

If you need that much clearance to feel safe, maybe another mode of transport is better for you?

the pole extends 70cm beyond my handlebars - minimum safe distance for overtaking at 30mph is 1.5m, I'm mainly cycling on roads with 40mph plus speed limits.

 

[jimriley]

So, if the pole doesn't reach 1.5m there's no problem for car drivers, who all drive outside that safety zone, don't they? If they can't cope with it, aw bless, they might just have to slow down and wait. Poor diddums!
Why are car drivers more entitled to the road than cyclists? BMW drivers excepted obvs.

 

[guerney]

"We will not go quietly into the night!

We will not vanish without a fight!

We're going to live on!

We're going to survive!"

Today, we celebrate our Extension Day!

 

[AndyBike]

TBH it looks like a dangerous addition. In fact I think its more likely going to attract the attention of the cops who will tell you to remove it.
Then you'll have to stand and look sheepish as they lecture you.

 

[WheezyRider]

I see. So when drivers pass you you need lots of room, but when you mix it with traffic you magically don't need that room.

Try explaining that to a roomful of drivers!
.

Absolutely. Think of it this way, slap your hand on a hammer, the hammer barely notices, then slap the hammer on your hand and see if you notice the difference.

It is a massive difference in terms of safety for a cyclist passing a stationary car at low speed with a small separation compared to a 1 to 3 tonne car passing at speed a riding cyclist with a small separation. The cyclist is extremely vulnerable, so the driver of the car has to bear this in mind when overtaking.

If it upsets car drivers that cyclists can filter through traffic, as if in some way "it's not fair" -
then they are the ones who need an attitude adjustment and perhaps "re-training". I am fully prepared to demonstrate the hammer analogy on any of these motorists in need of retraining

It's because too many car drivers close pass that cyclists feel they have to go to these lengths to use the road with some degree of safety.

 

[WheezyRider]

TBH it looks like a dangerous addition. In fact I think its more likely going to attract the attention of the cops who will tell you to remove it.
Then you'll have to stand and look sheepish as they lecture you.

It's probably a bit long, but this I'm sure is a first attempt and Trevor will optimise it to find a length that works best. It's easy for things to look ridiculously long, but are in actual fact much shorter than the distance car drivers are supposed to give when overtaking.

 

[trevor brooker]

TBH it looks like a dangerous addition. In fact I think its more likely going to attract the attention of the cops who will tell you to remove it.
Then you'll have to stand and look sheepish as they lecture you.

Its not dangerous as its made of flexible plastic on a swivel - so if hit it moves, but no driver should be anywhere near it as its only half the minimum passing distance.
I think of it more as a helpful guide for drivers - how else are they supposed to measure 1.5m when overtaking, nobody has side mounted radar.

 

[StuartsProjects]

Be interested to know how long the post lasts !

Point to note:
If you cut the posted image down to about 5% of the posted size (9Mb+) its still perfectly visible and wont load at a snails pace.

 

[guerney]

For those who brush by too close, an inked six inch wheel held horizontally at the end of the pole to serve as a print head, with "TOO CLOSE DICKHEAD" carved out of the tyre?

 

[WheezyRider]

For those who brush by too close, an inked six inch wheel held horizontally at the end of the pole to serve as a print head, with "TOO CLOSE DICKHEAD" carved out of the tyre?

Sometimes I wonder if you had a paintbrush on the end it would make drivers keep their distance...maybe with a can of paint dangling on the pole with a "WET PAINT" sign

 

[Sarge1892]

I see. So when drivers pass you you need lots of room, but when you mix it with traffic you magically don't need that room.

Try explaining that to a roomful of drivers!
.

well I've never had a parked car shove me into the kerb or run me off the road when I was filtering through traffic at 3mph

I have however had plenty cars overtake me and almost slap me with there wing mirrors as they pass me at 30 mph

 

[Sarge1892]

Absolutely. Think of it this way, slap your hand on a hammer, the hammer barely notices, then slap the hammer on your hand and see if you notice the difference.

It is a massive difference in terms of safety for a cyclist passing a stationary car at low speed with a small separation compared to a 1 to 3 tonne car passing at speed a riding cyclist with a small separation. The cyclist is extremely vulnerable, so the driver of the car has to bear this in mind when overtaking.

If it upsets car drivers that cyclists can filter through traffic, as if in some way "it's not fair" -
then they are the ones who need an attitude adjustment and perhaps "re-training". I am fully prepared to demonstrate the hammer analogy on any of these motorists in need of retraining

It's because too many car drivers close pass that cyclists feel they have to go to these lengths to use the road with some degree of safety.

tiptoe carefully through a childs room full of legos slowly then sprint through

you'll feel the difference

 

[Sarge1892]

you know they do make a device for military humvees that protect it against rpg's if a RPG is detected within a safe zone of about 3 meters around the humvee it deploys explosive counter measures to destroy the rpg

perhaps we can adapt this technology to work on cars if they come within half a meter of either handle bar it just blows the car up lol

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

I have however had plenty cars overtake me and almost slap me with there wing mirrors as they pass me at 30 mph

I experience this sort of thing often -

 

[guerney]

I am thinking about the night version made from angle iron (plastic) with LED strips front & back.

If superglue doesn't dissolve the plastic pipe, superglue + baking soda to weld the plastic angle to a short length of pipe? Could look like a Sith lightsaber...

REVENGE OF THE SITH CYCLIST (PG18)

Fear getting sliced with hot plasma

Coming soon to a highway near you...

 

[WheezyRider]

Be interested to know how long the post lasts !

Point to note:
If you cut the posted image down to about 5% of the posted size (9Mb+) its still perfectly visible and wont load at a snails pace.

Ah, but the high resolution does allow us to see if there is anything nesting in there!