Cyclist seriously injured in La Orotava - and new Tráfico rules for overtaking cyclists

[Janet]

A cyclist was seriously injured yesterday after coming off his bike on the TF21 from La Orotava to Teide national park. The accident happened just after midday and although a car was initially thought to have run into him, it seems that it was a simple cycling accident with the bike then careering into a car. The 30-year-old rider was taken to HUC with serious head and facial injuries.

It's worth stressing that under the new road legislation recently passed - which has mainly generated interest for its new drink-drugs penalties and child seat clauses - there are new rules for cars in the vicinity of cyclists. A minimum of 1.5m leeway is now a legal requirement on all roads and in all circumstances before a car may overtake a cyclist, and if a car is coming from the opposite direction, a cyclist may not be overtaken even if a 1.5m leeway exists. This is not to imply that such an issue was at play in this accident, but it seemed a good opportunity to mention it. JA

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

A minimum of 1.5m leeway is now a legal requirement on all roads and in all circumstances before a car may overtake a cyclist, and if a car is coming from the opposite direction, a cyclist may not be overtaken even if a 1.5m leeway exists. This is not to imply that such an issue was at play in this accident, but it seemed a good opportunity to mention it. JA

Do you mean to say that on a road wide enough to have a good 1.5m to overtake the cyclist and stay well within your own lane you cannot overtake if a car is coming from the other direction?   There are not a lot of such roads but there are some places. 

BTW I hope they nail some of the bastards overtaking without 1.5m clearance when there is a solid white line who come into my lane from the opposite direction.  Those guys piss me off. 

[Janet]

apparently so ... we must wait until the oncoming car(s) have passed leaving nothing ahead of us but the cyclist.