A law stipulating a minimum passing distance could come into consideration in the UK in the future after the Minister of State at the Department for Transport said the Government was ‘interested’ in a similar law recently introduced in South Australia.
Robert Goodwill made the comment in answer to a Parliamentary Question from Alberto Costa, Conservative MP for South Leicestershire.
The question was: “To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s response on the e-petition entitled, ‘To introduce a permanent, minimum passing distance when overtaking cyclists’, what assessment his Department is planning of cycle passing spaces in South Australia and by when he plans to complete that assessment.”
Mr Goodwill answered: “The introduction of a legally enforceable minimum passing distance between cyclists and other vehicles in South Australia is relatively recent. As a result, there is limited information available regarding the impacts both positive and negative following this change in the law. As with other changes of this type introduced overseas, we remain interested in the change and are keeping it under review. The Highway Code already has a requirement for motorists to give cyclists plenty of room when overtaking.”
