Keeping cyclists safe – do minimum passing distance laws go far enough?

I never used to pay much attention to bicycle laws until I started commuting to work on my bike. In South Australia, cars must leave at least one metre of space when passing a bicycle (if the car is traveling at 60km/hr or less). It quickly became clear to me that this does not always happen. Some states in Australia do not even have minimum passing distance laws. About 17% of Australians ride a bike each week, with about 5.1% using their bike for commuting and 14.1% using their bike for recreation or exercise. The overlap in figures is caused by Australians who use cycling for both commuting and leisure/exercise. The average Australian household has 1.5 functioning bicycles. This is a significant amount of the population that our road laws should be keeping safe.

As road laws fall within the jurisdiction of states and territories, laws are not uniform, though the model Australian Road Rules attempt to unify road rules as much as possible. There are currently two different categories of overtaking laws in Australia, the “safe overtaking distance” (SOD) and the “minimum passing distance” (MPD). The SOD is a general law applying to all vehicles overtaking other vehicles and provides there needs to be a safe overtaking distance with the other vehicle such as to avoid collision and avoid obstructing the path of that vehicle. The SOD also applies to the overtaking of bicycles where there is no more specific law such as the MPD in that jurisdiction. Generally cars overtaking bicycles in jurisdictions with the SOD underestimate the SOD and pass dangerously close to the bicycle rider. I know this from personal experience. Campaigners and lobbyists (such as the Amy Gillett Foundation with the “A Metre Matters” campaign) have pushed for safer passing laws for a number of years and their hard work is starting to pay off as a number of jurisdictions have adopted or are trialing the MPD. The MPD gives an exact minimum distance that must be given when passing a bicycle. Giving an exact figure gives drivers more specific guidance than the vague “safe overtaking distance”.

Some jurisdictions have adopted the following MPD laws:

1.       Where the speed limit is 60km/h or less, vehicles must provide at least 1m of space when passing a bicycle.

2.       Where the speed limit is more than 60km/h, vehicles must provide at least 1.5m of space when passing a bicycle.

3.       The distance is measured from the rightmost part of the bicycle/rider (which could be a panier, arm or bicycle trailer) and the leftmost part of the car passing (which could be a rear vision mirror or trailer).

4.       Where two bicycle riders are riding two abreast (which they are legally able to do as long as they are riding in one lane within 1.5m of each other – see r.151 of the Australian Road Rules), the safe passing distance is measured from the right most part of the rider on the right.

5.       Cars/vehicles are exempt from certain other road rules to ensure they comply with the MPD when passing a bicycle. For example, in South Australia, cars can drive over center lines including center double lines, straddle or cross a lane line, or drive on a painted island to safely overtake a bicycle using the MPD. However drivers should remember they can only overtake or pass a bicycle if the MPD can be given and if it is otherwise safe to do so.

The MPD across Australia

Jurisdiction	MPD?	Source of law	Section	Maximum Penalty
South Australia	Yes, permanent MPD since October 2015	Road Traffic (Road Rules--Ancillary and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2014	11A and 11B	$2,500
Queensland	Yes, permanent MPD since April 2016 following 12 month trial	Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009	144A and 139A	40 penalty units ($4,876 as 1 penalty unit is currently $121.90)
New South Wales	Trial of MPD 03/2016 – 03/2018	Road Rules 2014	144-1 and 144-2	20 penalty units (1 penalty unit is $110)
Victoria	No, though attempts have been made in 2016 to introduce legislation into the upper house	-	-	-
Australian Capital territory	Trial of MPD 11/2015 – 11/2017	Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Regulation 2000	38A, 38B	20 penalty units (1 penalty unit is $150)
Tasmania	No. But 1m is recommended and laws allowing exceptions to road laws when overtaking have been enacted.	Road Rules 2009	139A	-
Northern Territory	No	-	-	-

While the maximum penalties appear relatively small, it should be kept in mind that this is only for the offence of failing to keep the minimum safe distance. There are other road traffic offences that have much larger penalties in the case of reckless driving, or causing harm or death to a person.

Passing versus overtaking

In the South Australian regulations, the MPD must be given when “passing” a bicycle. “Passing” is a different and broader concept than overtaking. “Passing” is not defined in the regulations, but the meaning can be discerned from the wording of reg 11A that a driver will “pass” a bicycle when passing to the right of the rider travelling in the same direction as the driver. This covers a broad range of situations including overtaking a bicycle, passing a bicycle riding in a bike lane, and passing a bicycle travelling in the same direction in an adjacent lane. Essentially, any time a vehicle travelling in the same direction goes past a bicycle, the MPD must be applied.

Although the concept of “passing” is preferable to “overtaking” there are still some issues with the definition in the South Australian laws and in other jurisdictions. Passing does not include situations where a vehicle is travelling in the opposite direction to the bicycle. This is a significant weakness in the legislation as head on collisions are possible where appropriate distance is not maintained, especially on narrow roads and unmarked roads. Other jurisdictions such as Queensland have also chosen to use the concept of “passing” in the MPD regulations.

Summary

Some jurisdictions have recently taken positive steps to increase the safety of bicycle riders by introducing MPD laws or trials of MPD laws. This is a great first step and other jurisdictions will hopefully follow. The use of the concept “passing” instead of “overtaking” in regulations is also a positive step but arguably does not go far enough, as the concept does not include passing in opposite directions. It is also positive that the MPD increases to 1.5m when speed of the overtaking vehicle increases, however there appears to be minimal knowledge of this law among the general public.