Have you ever cycled on a road when a passing car gets a little too close for comfort?

Many riders enjoy blissful commutes, but sometimes the roads don’t always feel so welcoming. In fact, data collected by researchers as part of the Near Miss Project showed that most cyclists experienced scary situations on a daily basis.

With women being statistically slower, the data also showed that we suffered more ‘near miss’ moments – close passes being one of the key offenders.

What to do if you’re involved in a collision

In order to promote cycling, and help combat those ‘breathe in and hope’ moments, a new petition has been launch to make road cycling a safer by enforcing a minimum overtaking distance.

The petition is to eliminate the highway code definition of distance as “plenty of room”, to a 1 metre minimum on 30mph roads, and 1.5 metre on faster roads.

The petition has received enthusiastic support, collecting over 12,000 signatures at time of writing. However, some of those responding have commented that the rule would be hard to enforce and is therefore unlikely to be put into place.

It’s not the first attempt to reduce close passes – last year Chris Boardman appeared in a short film which aimed to show motorists how to overtake a cyclist. The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, but has also attracted negative comments from drivers clearly not keen to co-operate.