How often do cars drive by you within about a foot?

Lately I've been having this happen more frequently. I have not changed my route, or the time I travel, and I always claim the lane. I find it frustrating because many times the other lane is available for the car to simply change lanes.

I'm wondering if my situation is abnormal. On one road it has been happening on almost every commute (lately).

Thank you for your replies,

LB

No more than usual for me.

Actually, for a while, people were being far too gracious with their spacing, and moving into the oncoming lane 3-4 feet; which I find odd because from my bars to the closest bit of tire-depression on the road, it's about a foot and a half.

Within one foot? Twice in ten years of commuting, at a low speed differential.

Within two feet? Maybe a once a year.

Within three feet? Once or twice a month. I don't let these bother me if the speed differential isn't high (the usual case).

This is commuting 2-3 times a week, mixture of 2-lane and wider 35 mph roads, and some 4-lane 40-45 mph roads. I ride near the center of the lane on the narrow-lane 4-lane roads, and ride the right side of the lane on the 2 and 3 lane roads that are mostly wide lane, low traffic, or both.

I say I get buzzed about once a month. It is usually not normal. However there are times when i think a car passed me to close only because others have gone out of their way to give me a wide berth.

I get buzzed *very* close only once a month or so. I get passed too close for my liking about once a day, depending on the road.

I can only remember being "buzzed" maybe twice in three years of 4-5 days a week commuting.
Most of the time folks are real nice about giving plenty of room when passing.

I've never had anyone come closer than a couple of feet from me, which is what I'd consider too close. At least, not that I've noticed.

Lately I've been having a hell of a time getting people to pass me even if there's plenty of room. This evening I was on a hilly part of my commute and a car followed me for about 15 minutes at 10 to 15 MPH. They would NOT pass me even when I motioned. There were several times when there was plenty of room to do so. The couple of times that I thought about stopping to force them to pass me, they had dropped back several hundred feet. Weird.

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe this. I've ridden in this area for years and the vast majority of cars pass me within 3 feet. I"m fine with that, just saying... it happens 50+ times per day.

To the OP, once a month maybe? It was more frequent on a past commute. Now, the only time I can think of is when an 18-wheeler passed me and started moving right as soon as the cab got past. If I hadn't moved right I think he would have clipped me with the trailer.

It depends. Sometimes weeks will go by, and other times, blocks will go by.

It depends on the road. In area where I am in a bike lane, they buzz me within 2ft and that's because I'm favoring the left of the lane to avoid getting door by parked cars.

Out in the downtown area, most will go out of their ways and change or cross over to the next lane. Getting buzz within a foot only happen probably less than three times so far. Two times was from very young adult female driver and once by a cager who had a mission to kick my butt for no reason. In all fairness, gender role may have a lot to do with how much space driver are willing to yield. So my experience may not counts so much.

Just once that I can remember. I blame myself more than the driver because I wasn't assertive enough in taking the lane, so he attempted to squeeze by me.

All the time. Several times a day, and I now take low traffic routes. When I take higher traffic routes, sometimes I get brushed; people really want to lose that passenger-side mirror

brushed? no way!
this is hard to believe. ive never been hit but if they impact you from behind i dont see how you can stay upright everytime.
maybe you should be more assertive instead of hugging the gutter.
i get buzzed daily but i dont expect more from my area. ive never collided with a car and our area is not cycling friendly it is cycle hating.

The difference may be the routes and the way we ride. I ride in the center of the right hand lane on multi-lane roads with narrow lanes; drivers change lanes to pass and I rarely get passed at less than 5 feet doing this. I ride on the right edge of lanes that are 14' and wider and am rarely passed at less than 4' doing this. On back streets with 25 mph speed limits, I'm rarely passed at all, and drivers generally cross the center of the road to pass me at over 8 feet.

I try to avoid narrow two-lane roads with lots of oncoming traffic, where riding on the right edge to allow drivers to pass will result in lots of 3' passes. I also dislike riding the right edge of 12' lanes where drivers will pass at 3'; I take the lane or choose a different route.

I used to get lots of close passes before I started taking control of the lane depending on width and traffic behavior, and changing my routes to avoid roads that present marginal situations. These days, if I find that a car passes me uncomfortably close while I'm riding the right edge of the lane under a marginal situation, I take that as an indication that I should merge to the center of the lane, and the close passing stops. I'd rather not have to do that, which is why I avoid routes where it is more likely, but I am in control of the situation.

FYI my typical route includes Evans Road (14' lanes, where I ride near the gutter), Harrison Ave (11' lanes, where I ride the center of the lane), the northern part of Kildaire Farm Road (14' three lane section, where I ride over the sharrows near the right side of the lane), the middle section of Kildaire Farm Road (fluctuating between 11-13' lanes, where I ride the center of the lane to the left of the sharrows) and Regency Parkway (12' lanes where I ride the center of the lane).

I try to stay off main roads, I'm lucky in the fact I can take mostly side roads or ride on the sidewalk to work, so I don't see to many cars. HOWEVER, last Saturday in the morning I was doing something to the bike and was around the block from my house, coming up to the stop sign maybe 30 ft away. Some guy in a Nissan Altima comes from behind me to the stop sign no more than 2 ft away! He and I rolled up to a stop I turned and he kept going straight.
He and I where the only people on the road, why the hell was it necessary to be so close? I was off to the side, I just don't understand people sometimes.

It's not THAT hard. It's not like they come up and broadside my hip or whatnot. Drivers have the same problem as cyclists: they can't drive in a straight line. They pass close, real close, and I've had a mirror tap me now and then. I had a bus FORCE Me into the gutter though, wound up riding 3 inches from the curb coasting with my hand trailing along the side to help keep me straight.

That was riding down a main interstate route (not an expressway).

Not very often. I was buzzed this Saturday on a wide, empty road by a driver who then settled back into the far left lane on a 3 lane street. Either an ignorant a$$hat or the person dropped the cell phone. But it's unusual for it to happen eventhough the main part of my commute is on a pretty busy single lane in each direction road. I still don't get the drivers who will drive up the wrong side of the road to avoid me. The overkill just looks dangerous.

Man, if I got brushed on anything like a regular basis, I'd definitely have some nice jagged pieces of metal sticking out to the left on springs.

I have noticed once the weather gets nicer and a lot of cyclists start hitting the streets there is an increase in angst from the drivers. It seems to pass in a few weeks.

my commute takes me on a state bike route with a 55 mph speed limit. I get passed closer than I feel is appropriate nearly every day (less than 2'). For some reason, it's the daytime crowd that does it. After work I almost never get passed too closely.

Within a foot? not that often.

Closer than I'm comfortable with? more often than I'd like. don't know if it's too close or I just need to get more comfortable. Never been brushed, been honked at a lot by idiots who have a clear lane to pass me but would prefer to harass me from behind instead, but no contact ever.

Plus 100! I've seen some pretty hairy situations involving oncoming traffic. Worse is that once they pass, they don't get back over promptly half the time.

I have to agree with the folks who say that my odds of getting buzzed increases with my own lack of assertiveness in taking the lane, though I have had a couple of situations involving idiots passing me when I was in the center of the lane, doing my utmost to control it.

Most of the buzzes I experience involve large trucks when I'm going up a particularly steep hill on a two lane road. I don't climb at much more than 10 MPH when fully loaded, and there just isn't space. I learned long ago that drivers generally only have so much patience before they'll do stupid things to get around me, so I do my best to ride the shoulder, giving as much space as I can for them... Most of the drivers give me reasonable space, but some of them push it -- esp. the large SUVs, pickup trucks, and - surprise! -- school buses!

As I think about it, I don't know if it is within a foot. When I'm going 18 and I get passed by a car going 35-40 my perpective is not optimal to judge the distance. I do know it is way too close and it almost scares the poop out of me.

BTW Thank you for all the replies!

Oh buses (especially public transit ones) are the worst about squeezing me in. Maybe I'm just paranoid because I arrived at the scene shortly after a cyclist was killed by one, but buses scare the crap out of me especially with the way they take over the bike lane randomly.

IMO, buzzing would mean within 1 foot. I would say that happens very, very rarely for me. How many people give me the 3 feet required by law, I would say about 70%. Perception of distance is way different when you are moving on a bike and a larger object goes past you. You probably think it is closer than it actually is due to air it is moving around the vehicle and how you feel the breeze as it passes you.