Originally Posted by
deaninkl
By law, sure the van driver was to blame. The cyclist had the right to be where he was.. but does that give us the right to hold up traffic. I say NO it does not!!! As a road user we also have to respect other users, that means taking up the space we need, as a cyclist and motorcyclist I believe we don't need a whole lane, we should keep well to our side and give space for other users. By hogging the lane we become part of the problem.
It was neither legal nor moral. You seem to miss some very big points: it was completely unsafe to pass at the point the van driver was blasting his horn with all that oncoming traffic (even if the cyclist had been hugging the grass); it only took a few seconds to reach a point the van driver was legally allowed to pass with a dashed line; even though the oncoming lane had room for the van driver to use that entire lane for a safe pass, the van driver decided he was going to pass close and then side swipe the cyclist.
Being a professional
driver who would have traveled that route often, the van driver had to know he only had a few seconds being slowed while blasting his horn.
Cyclist should never sacrifice their safety for the convenience of motorist.