How much space to vehicles provide when passing cyclists? The impact of vehicle type and road infrastructure

To reduce cyclist crashes and related injury, and improve the infrastructure provided to cyclists, there is a need to greater understand the distance vehicles provide when passing cyclists. To address this, we conducted an on-road observational study using a purpose-built device mounted on participants’ bicycles. Sixty-three participants recorded 18,246 passing events, of which 6% were closer than one metre. Compared to roads with no marked bicycle lane and no parked cars, passing events in which the cyclist was riding in a marked bicycle lane next to parked cars resulted in passing distances that were 0.41m closer.