Road rules and close passing: what the codes say, and what the data shows.

This page reports what official texts say and how they are worded. It is not advice on how to ride or drive. A fuller account of the Highway Code's 2022 changes, and of the rules on position, helmets and lights, is on the road rules for cyclists page.

Great Britain: how firm is each rule?

The Highway Code applies to England, Scotland and Wales. Its introduction (last updated 22 October 2025) explains that rules worded MUST or MUST NOT are legal requirements, each citing the law behind it, and breaking them is a criminal offence. Rules worded "should" are guidance: breaking one is not an offence in itself, but the Code can be used in court under the Traffic Acts to help establish liability.

The 2022 changes on passing and priority

The Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency published "The Highway Code: 8 changes you need to know from 29 January 2022" on 26 January 2022, and the changes took effect on 29 January. Those that bear on passing cyclists:

• The hierarchy of road users (Rules H1 to H3). Rule H1 names pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists as most at risk in a collision, and says those driving vehicles that can cause the greatest harm bear the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose, while every road user keeps a duty to behave responsibly. Rule H3 says drivers and motorcyclists should not turn across the path of cyclists going ahead, and should not turn if it would make them stop or swerve.
• Overtaking (Rule 163). As a guide, drivers should leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds up to 30 mph, more at higher speeds, and should wait behind if they cannot. The changes page also says drivers may cross a double white line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to overtake a cyclist or horse rider travelling at 10 mph or less (Rule 129).
• Junctions and roundabouts. Cyclists going straight ahead at a junction have priority over traffic waiting to turn into or out of a side road, unless signs or markings say otherwise. Drivers and motorcyclists should give priority to cyclists on roundabouts and should not overtake them within their lane.
• Opening car doors (Rule 239). The Code recommends the "Dutch reach", opening a car door with the hand furthest from it, and states that people MUST ensure they do not hit anyone when opening a door.

The DfT's summary page gives 2 metre figures only for passing horses and people walking in the road. It gives no separate figure for large vehicles passing cyclists, and we did not read the full Code text on that point.

How often close passing shows up in the data

• Great Britain (DfT, 30 July 2026). In fatal or serious collisions involving cyclists in 2024 and 2025, police recorded "passing too close to another road user" for 14 percent of the other vehicles involved and 8 percent of the cyclists. The DfT cautions that these road safety factors are subjective and recorded quickly.
• Scotland (Transport Scotland, January 2020 to November 2024). Another vehicle passing too close to the cyclist was a factor in 9 of the 32 fatal collisions, 47 serious and 63 slight collisions.

The wider casualty picture is on what the casualty figures show.

Enforcement: close-pass operations

West Midlands Police first trialled its close-pass operation in August 2016, with plain-clothes officers on bicycles identifying drivers who passed too closely. As reported by Road Safety GB on 26 September 2017, almost 200 drivers were stopped in the first year, most given roadside education; 13 were prosecuted, and about 350 others received fixed penalties after police reviewed camera footage sent in by the public. The force reported cyclist killed or seriously injured casualties of 92 from August 2016 to July 2017, against 115 in the previous 12 months, and its officer attributed much of the fall to the operation. That is the force's own attribution, not a controlled evaluation.

Other forces later ran similar operations, including Police Scotland in Edinburgh, according to Cycling Weekly; we could not confirm the date.

United States: passing laws are state law

There is no single US rule. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) chart, updated 5 September 2023, gives a count as of September 2021:

The counts differ by source and date. An NCSL Legisbrief of 2018, read from a search summary, counted 32 states with a three-foot law. The League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy group, is summarised on one of its pages as saying 38 states and DC set a defined passing distance, while another, undated League page says 24 states and DC set a defined distance and 32 states and DC mention bicyclists in a safe-passing law. We could not reconcile these; the difference may be one of date and definition.

California's Three Feet for Safety Act (AB 1371 of 2013, operative 16 September 2014) is one example: a driver passing a bicycle in the same direction must not pass at less than three feet, and where traffic or the road prevents that, must slow and pass only when it would not endanger the rider. NHTSA's 2024 fact sheet (July 2026) asks drivers to allow at least 3 feet when passing and notes that state and local laws may differ.