Cyclist, crest and oncoming tractor on a wet national road
You drive a 7.5 t C1 lorry on a two-lane national road outside a built-up area, where the limit for your vehicle is 70 km/h. The road is 6 m wide, wet after rain, with no hard shoulder. You are at 68 km/h. A cyclist is 180 m ahead, riding at about 20 km/h and wobbling near the right edge. Beyond a slight left bend, a crest is 140 m ahead; a tractor with a wide implement is just visible coming the other way, partly over the centre line. The sun is low behind you. Your load is 3.5 t and the brakes are dry and recently tested. You must plan the next few seconds: whether to overtake the cyclist before the crest, what lateral clearance to leave, and what to do if the cyclist swerves.
1. Is it safe to overtake the cyclist before the crest? Support your answer with the closing speed and distance.
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No. At 68 km/h you cover about 18.9 m/s; the cyclist at 20 km/h covers about 5.6 m/s, so you close at roughly 13.3 m/s. The 180 m to the cyclist takes about 13.5 s, but you also need time to move out, pass, and return before the crest only 140 m ahead after the bend. At 68 km/h the crest is reached in about 7.4 s. That is not enough for a loaded lorry on a wet 6 m road, especially with an oncoming tractor already partly over the centre line. The correct decision is to hold back, reduce speed, and wait until the road is clear well beyond the crest.
2. What lateral clearance and speed should you use when you eventually pass the cyclist?
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Outside a built-up area, leave at least 1 m lateral clearance, and more at higher speed or if the cyclist is unstable. Because the road is only 6 m wide and wet, you will probably need to cross the centre line to achieve that clearance, so do it only when the oncoming lane is clear and you can see far enough. Reduce to about 30–40 km/h before passing so that a wobble does not become a collision. If you cannot leave the clearance safely, do not pass; follow at a safe distance until the road straightens and the oncoming tractor has gone.
3. The cyclist suddenly swerves left. What should you do?
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Brake hard in a straight line first; do not instantly swerve into the oncoming lane, where the tractor may be. Use the ABS and keep the steering input smooth. If there is clearly no oncoming traffic and braking alone cannot avoid the cyclist, a controlled avoidance move may be necessary, but it must not create a worse head-on risk. After stopping, check the cyclist and secure the scene. The earlier decision point matters: a lower approach speed and a larger gap would have given you more time and space to react.