Living just up the road from you and rarely feel that im being passed too close, but im from the UK where roads are small and dangerous. In fact I’d say i feel safer riding here than anywhere elseive ridden. This are is one of the best palces to ride anywhere in Europe

How fast are they driving?

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

It depends where you ride and at what time of the day. I would avoid riding 5-7 pm on weekdays, on roads going out of town, as there's more trafic and careless drivers. Saturday afternoon can busy as well. Taking the Lavaux route, and going uphill away from the lake to the Oron direction should get you on less crowded and safer roads. The corniche road is very nice as well.

HA!
What Americans think as a narrow road or a tight pass is a lot different than what Europeans think.

A big difference in Europe is that people know how to drive properly and have vehicles that meet minimum safety standards.

And that's exactly why I ask! Having grown up in France but having lived the last 20 years in America, I'm trying to calibrate if less than 50 lateral cm (or less than 20cm in urban settings) when they pass you is unsafe or actually me having been americanized.

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http://powerful-problem-solving.com

Agreed on the Corniche: very nice when you're there. Getting there, though, is less nice. :-)

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http://powerful-problem-solving.com

I've never felt unsafe riding in France, Denmark, Germany. Haven't done Switzerland... so I duno.

After having driven in Italy I wonder how it is there... drivers are nuts.

I used to work in Lausanne, and I haven't been riding there lately, but to me 50cm is a tight pass, and 20cm is unsafe anywhere. If I recall correctly, drivers were ok but not especially friendly to cyclist...

I'd second this-- spent 5 weeks over the summer riding in Germany and Switzerland (Nyon). Roads were much narrower than the US and drivers more often than not passed pretty close, but it never felt like it was out of anger/inattentiveness, more of just a "that's how we do things". Also, unlike close passes in the states they didn't accelerate or pass at high speeds. Everyone seemed a much more skilled driver than California.