This seems to attract interest each time I show it on Twitter (sometimes called X), so I’ve added this article to explain it in a more concise way than my earlier post, which you can still read for the full story.
Here is a picture of it:
It extends 1 metre from the centre line of the bicycle, so 70cm beyond the end of the handlebar of the bicycle. This is less than half of the 1.5 metre gap that drivers are supposed to leave when passing at speeds up to 30mph, so if a driver hits it, they are definitely far too close. However, this Twitter post shows just one example of its effect on driver behaviour:
Apart from the safety improvement, this saved me about half an hour of time that I would have had to spend reporting the driver to GM Police.
The pole is a fibreglass rod that came from a dome tent that we got rid of. It is attached to the pannier rack on the bike by means of an elastic bungee cord (left in the picture below), making it easy to attach and detach and allowing it to fold back and forth if it hits, or is hit by, something (right).
This works very well, even if some idiot still does an extremely close pass and folds the paddle almost completely forward. (This case was taken forward for prosecution by GM Police, though I suspect the driver got away with a driver improvement course.):
This arrangement also enables the paddle to be slid inwards to shorten it for getting through some smaller gaps and when turning right.
The paddle itself was a commercial safety reflector from Decathlon, with the mounting bracket cut off:
Decathlon don’t seem to stock these any more, but someone in the comments has found a similar product on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004H1QYG2/.
The paddle is attached to the end of the pole with a couple of cable ties. I also used some pieces of old inner tube to stop it slipping and to enable a tighter fit with the cable ties,
I reckon that using this paddle reduces the number of police reports I have to make by around 80% to 90%, and it certainly makes for a more relaxed ride.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004H1QYG2/
Thanks. I’ll add that to the article.
We’ve been using a florescent yellow pool noodle in a similar fashion on our tandem. Automobiles do seem to veer a bit further away since most don’t want to hit something unknown. Of course, it won’t help if the driver is distracted and not even paying attention to what’s happening on the road.
My diabolical improvement idea is to equip the end with a carbide tip, perhaps electrified, so if a car makes contact, it will leave a nice scar along the side of the vehicle.
Actually bought one of the Decathalon reflectors a few years back on a trip to France and brought it all the way back to the USA. It still sits in the parts box, unused.