Martin Underwood wrote:
I do it because if I'm turning left, I can't afford to take my eyes off the
road ahead to check my left mirror or look over my left shoulder to look for
cyclists who are ILLEGALLY overtaking me. That would apply no matter whether
I was driving a car or an HGV. I get shouted at a lot by cyclists, but I
know I'm only doing it for their
(and my car's!) protection.

I think you're talking about illegally overtaking on the inside
(sometimes known as 'undertaking' for the obvious danger element), which
is indeed illegal whatever form of transport you are controlling (even a
horse).. Unless of course, there's filter lanes.

I'm sure that all road users will have scare stories about people not
looking to see if there's something there before pulling out to
overtake. (Highway code section 112) It happened to me the other day - a
Volkswagen driver late on a school run pulled out into the adjacent lane
without noticing that I was there. Thankfully, we were both moving
relatively slowly, and no lasting damage was caused.

--
Simon Hewison