Yup, brought in earlier this year iirc
I cautiously welcome it as long it does not give HGV drivers the false sense of no longer having to check the inside for cyclists. There are times when being on the left of a vehicle is fine, and times when it is dangerous and every hint to those less experienced two-wheelers is welcome. Everyone should drive/cycle/cross the road defensively anyway.
I just think back to an incident I had in Coventry with a couple of motorists one of which had passed me way too close (in fact if it were not for my reactions and the fact I had left the correct amount of space between me and the kerb I would have been clipped and gone under the wheels on the car behind) When I caught up with said motorist I calmly asked her to give cyclists more room when passing in future. I don't know how I stayed calm but I did, and then fatty from 4 cars back got out of his motor and ran up to us.... Apparently he took umbrage with me 'hassling the motorist' at which point I explained what had happened further back up the road. 'You shouldn't pass on the inside of cars that are queuing' was his retort (note that he still hadn't quite understood why I was talking, calmly, to the first motorist in the first place or was he clutching at straws?) Now here I normally agree with him, I often pass on the right or filter at a safe speed. But here all the waiting traffic was on the right hand side, waiting to turn right at a junction, so I had no space to pass safely and thus I used the huge gap on the left. Even though I asked him to cite to me where in the highway code this rule was, he was unwavering. 'What if someone opened their passenger door?' (facepalm) I then referred him to the highway code which states that cyclists should not pass on the left of vehicles......
when the motor vehicles are indicating to turn left. None were as they were all biased to the right of the road. His blank look told me I may be getting somewhere. Before he could compute and retort I asked him if his car was parked, or if it had been left running where it was (I could hear the engine running). 'Ummm....' he hesitated. When I told him that he was himself in fact breaking the highway code to wrongly accuse me of being in contravention he got back in his car and we all went on our merry way.
The point of all the above? I think it is a side effect of this placing the blame on cyclists who get caught on the left hand side of marge vehicles. I know some don't understand the danger and unwittingly put themselves at risk but I have seen it happen to others and myself on many occasions where a large vehicle will start to overtake me and then turn left before having drawn clear, yet the driver will insist he is in the right because he has a yellow sticker on his tailgate which tells him so. So yes I welcome the audible warning, as long as drivers do not feel that it removes their obligation toward vulnerable road users on the two-way street that is road safety.
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Topic: Not heard that before (Read 2738 times)