[Drivingforfun]

If a car on the opposite side of the road overtakes a cyclist too closely (due to the oncoming traffic) my instinct is to move left and give them a bit more room - for the cyclist's benefit, really

I'm wondering if facilitating an illegal/dangerous manoeuvre is appreciated though; perhaps it's wiser to stay on course to discourage the overtake entirely... which obviously comes with the risk of them just overtaking the cyclist even more closely

I think the old "it's not your job to police the roads" comes into it here as well

Is there a consensus?

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

If a car on the opposite side of the road overtakes a cyclist too closely (due to the oncoming traffic) my instinct is to move left and give them a bit more room - for the cyclist's benefit, really

I'm wondering if facilitating an illegal/dangerous manoeuvre is appreciated though; perhaps it's wiser to stay on course to discourage the overtake entirely... which obviously comes with the risk of them just overtaking the cyclist even more closely

I think the old "it's not your job to police the roads" comes into it here as well

Is there a consensus?

I would not class moving over as policing the road, OK you moved over because someone was being stupid and deserved to be booked for careless or inconsiderate driving.

How would you have felt if the cyclist had fallen off, and you had not tried to make room?
You could dismiss it as nothing to do with me but at the back of your mind I am sure you would be thinking, what would have happened if I had made more room?

No, I would define policing, as chasing after the offender, and attempting to point out the error of their actions, definitely asking for trouble.

There are situations where I feel some 'interference' is justified, say driving along a country road and a car catches up, and they usually get too close behind, so I then change to long braking approaching corners, occupying more road when it is not safe to overtake, and making lots of space when it is safe to overtake. Should the follower insist on overtaking when it is unsafe all I can do is assist as much as is possible.

[Drivingforfun]

I agree with that @olduser but I think you read my post the wrong way around

What I do at the moment is moving over, I'm just worried that the cyclist thinks it's encouraging a bad overtake

I would argue that not moving over is trying to police the roads, because that would be an attempt to influence another's behaviour, rather than just responding to it

[olduser]

OK, shall we agree that the best option is not to make the situation worse? (more dangerous)
Now, moving over has given the other driver room to create space for the cyclist, of course you cannot make the other driver use the extra space, and the chances are they don't but you did try to reduce the risks.
Whereas not moving over, changes nothing.

I am not sure cyclists can or do think the car perspective.
I think, the cyclist would be thinking only about the car overtaking and the problems that was making for him.

There was a time when I used both, when changing to a bike it took about half an hour before I stopped driving the bike and started riding it. Going bike to car, I think due to it's width, the change was immediate.