Did you know?  

In several countries which have introduced Minimum Safe Passing Distance legislation regarding cyclists,  it is now lawful to cross double whitle lines into an oncoming lane to overtake cyclists?  

However  -  there is a caveat.  It’s only lawful to cross double white lines to overtake the cyclists if it’s safe to do so. But if anything goes wrong it’s deemed to have been unsafe. So it’s a weird law.

Indeed,  it's a weird law which was introduced as a quid pro quo during the passage of the Minimum Safe Passing Distance legislation.

During initial trials it became obvious if we allowed cyclists to keep riding two abreast PLUS if we mandated a minimum 1.5m of passing distance, it would require a complete lane change so this crazy exemption was introduced to reduce opposition to the legislation when motorists are stuck behind cyclists on roads with double white lines.

In practice it rarely works because (a) double white lines are there for a reason, it's almost always dangerous to go into the opposite lane and (b) once you're forced to slow down to the speed of cyclists, most vehicles don't have the acceleration required to ever 'make it safe to overtake' when double white lines are involved.

Hence, because the exemption rarely works the reality is more motorists are now stuck behind cyclists than ever before.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts on this very strange law.