Scary near-misses aren't acceptable in a true cycling nation says Chris Boardman

Just take the lane when it's not safe to be passed, drivers may get pi$$ed off but the scary pass simply can't happen without them risking hitting you or oncoming traffic, visibly pull in and give an elbow flick once it is safe for them to pass. Yes you'll occasionally get an idiot who shouts, beeps or punishment passes at you but hold your nerve and take out their wing mirror, go down and call an ambulance. If it was close enough to hit you they were driving dangerously.

As to my Own experiences of " Near Misses " , i have only to refer back to Thursday last .

Riding east from Schwaz in Tirol , i was delighted to note that a local Tourist Company Pullman Coach not only passed me with more than 2M of space in a 90kph zone , but used the correct signalling sequence . Signal , move out , give sufficiant clearance , Signal return to return to lane , then return to correct road position . My reply was a salute , by touching the helmet and was answered by the blink of the hazard lights !

There was a Professional Driver that was driving as required by the Austria Road Code , who was an example that ALL the other local Bus Companies could emulate . Not only did this Driver see my action , the following vehicles saw his actions were appreciated and acknowledged .

Later on the same road as i approached Brixlegg i was passed in a 70kph zone by an Animal Carrying Truck that was towing the maximum sized trailer . This 40 tonnes of metal was millimetres from me as it commenced it's UNSAFE PASS ! The Wind force was such , that it was PUSH & PULL FORCE , causing my bike to move off the line i was travelling at in excess of 35kph . The scare of the front unit was magnified by the rear unit , if i had gone airborne through an uneven road surface , i would not be relating this episode !

Tirol Government has asked " UCI " to award the 2018 World Road Race Champs , to them , yet with drivers based in the local area , knowing and daily driving on this road , behaving with TOTAL Disregard to THEIR Neighbours , do they DESERVE anything other than censure ? With Austria KILLING 51 Cyclists in 2014 , of a Population of 8+ Million , as against 45 KILLED in Oz with nearly 3 times the population , it is apparent that the Local drivers have NO FEAR of the Consequences of Polizei intervention , that MAY include losing the Driver Permit issued for LIFE , when BULLYING other road users !

My own view of the local Policing , is that it lacks ANY interest in ensuring Cyclist Safety ! Most Polizei CHOOSE to ride off road and say they DRIVE to a location , to get out and use their Mountain Bike . Enough said ?

UCI has partly addressed " Cyclist safety " with the release of this item : http://www.uci.ch/pressreleases/the-uci-support-bike-friendly-cities-and...

A dedicated Team will AWARD Points on the following Criteria :

Ambition of strategy;
Dedicated funding;
Protected bike lanes;
Safety for cyclists;
Cycle training;
Participation;
Sustainability;
Measuring progress.
Each of these criteria will carry a weighting with strategy, ambition and bike lanes carrying the maximum weighting of 15 points each.

WRONG !

" Safety for Cyclists " is the MOST Important Item THERE ! Thus " Safety for Cyclists " , should be the Principal Item in the Weighting of ANY Points !

My Tweet on this subject , which will be once again ignored :

" skippy mc carthy ‏@skippydetour 5m5 minutes ago
skippy mc carthy retweeted UCI
CYCLIST SAFETY , PRIORITY! MAX Points Here! Other 3, VANITY Issues! Until Women & Children SAFE, UCI spinning wheels

WHOM of those reading this Road.cc article disagrees ? Want to ADD your weight to the PUSH for UCI to ensure the Likes of Lizzie Armitstead , Tiffany Cromwell , Eddie Dunbar and even Chris Boardman survive in the current Traffic Mayhem , then ADD your support by Tweeting @GaudryT & @BrianCooksonUCI whilst there is time to ensure that the UCI gets YOUR Concerns addressed ?

UCI National Cycling federations NEED to KNOW that they will be HELD ACCOUNTABLE for ALL " Cyclist Safety " , not JUST THEIR ATHLETES !

ADD your Language Translations to " Placards " on VisionZeroWorldWide that currently are available in English , French , Italian & German , OR design your OWN and let me have YOUR copies to ADD to that site .

Near hits (to be pedantic) are a serious issue.

We have asked the London Mayoral candidates to support our key "asks", including better enforcement which tries to back up the requirement in Highway Code (Rule 163) to give enough room when overtaking.

The Police traditionally resist this because no specific distance is required in the HC, and they claim that drivers would just say hat they give an inch when overtaking a car. But case law does refer to giving cyclists "wobble-room", so watch this space http://rdrf.org.uk/2015/09/20/rdrf-manifesto-for-london-mayoral-candidat...

What is a 'near miss'? Something a cyclist perceives as disturbing and too close? Isn't it the brain trying to tell the body 'this road cycling among heavy moving essential machinery, placing blind faith in the operators who are complete strangers is a bad idea and I don't want us to be here' and being completely ignored by its owner?

What seems to be too close by cyclists is so variable and subjective, but 'a miss' is absolute and vindicates the driver's judgement.

The answer is not to road cycle at all because it is so dangerous.

'Cycling nation'? But 99% don't do it and don't want to. Chris Boardman's fanciful thinking again.

I guess what 'feeling it' means, is if it doesn't injure you/kill you, there's not a lot can be done about it, legally speaking.

Scary near-misses aren't acceptable in a true cycling nation

No offence to Chris Boardman, I think he does a great job and I have nothing but admiration for him, but I think a more appropriate and perhaps more effective message would be "Scary near-misses aren't acceptable in a civilised society". Talk of a "cycling nation" appeals mostly to cyclists, and is decidedly unappealing to the people who most need to hear this message. Preaching to the converted will have only limited success.

To help get the message through I think we need to put bad behaviour into a context that aggressive and careless drivers can understand by comparing driving with other activities. For example, if you're walking down a footpath and somebody bumps into you or forces you to step out of their way what is the appropriate reaction for a normal, sane person? Most people simply say "sorry" (whether it's their fault or not) and get on with their day. No mentally stable person flies into a rage and starts screaming obscenities at the other person, threatening to kill them, physically assaulting them, etc. So why do some people behave like that behind the wheel of a car? De-normalising the undesirable behaviour is one of the strategies that made the anti-drink-driving campaigns so effective.

The consequences of a near miss could be anything from someone falling off due to losing their nerve or being pushed off line, or getting in a fight if they visibly take umbrage, or being put off cycling because it's too scary.

I'm not sure what you're asking, really.

Show a picture of the consequences of a near miss deliberate or not.

Hear hear!

This fellow deserves a knighthood for services to cycling and health/well-being.

Wiggo is an awesome athlete and my sporting hero, but Chris is a true ambassador.

Chris Boardman REALLY deserves more recognition.

ARISE, SIR CHRIS.

Totally agree with the goat, education for all road users should be first. I live in a village and work in a nearby town. There is no way on earth there will EVER be any cycling infrastructure on any part of my commute. I've almost given up shouting at the idiots in cars that almost hit me on a daily basis, some days I wonder if it's worth the risk it's gotten so bad. Nearly got flattened last week by a lorry because he went round me before a blind bend and then dived in when a car came the other way. Depressing thing was, I knew what was going to happen, so why didn't he? My guess is he did but like most people, couldn't or wouldn't wait 20 seconds because I'm just an obstacle in his way. Not a person with a wife and two young children. The thing that really cracks me up is that drivers always slow down for horses, not a problem. But a person? On a bike? No way. How is that acceptable? But then if you can't get these idiots to even stay close to the speed limit how are you going to get it through their thick heads the damage they could do to a person on a bike. The drink drive campaign is a great example of what should be done. A hard hitting tv advert would be a perfect place to start. Maybe if we could prick the conscience of people as to the damage that cars can do, we might get somewhere. Mind you, looking at most of them on my journey, I don't hold out much hope...

Despite commuting through a city full of typically angry, impatient, phone using, red light jumping don't-give-a-toss-about-anyone-else on a daily basis, I would say that incidents are fairly uncommon. I can easily see how people would be put off by some of the driving I've seen though which ranges from the incompetent to the downright dangerous (sometimes coupled with deliberate). It still blows my mind that some drivers seem to be genuinely willing to risk killing or seriously injuring another human being in order to shave a few seconds off arriving behind the next car. The sooner drivers accept that all they're doing is queueing at different speeds*, the better.

*Not my turn of phrase, but one I wholeheartedly agree with.

Although infrastructure is very important, there needs to be as much effort put into educating and improving behaviour of all road users, including cycists. We all get angry after a close pass, but that needs to be harnessed into political pressure. The tendency to promote a 'war' between road users is counter productive and just lets politicians off the hook. We need a cycling strategy that encompasses both infrastructure and behaviour. I do think by the way that Chris Boardman is doing a great job - his measured delivery is exactly what is needed.

An interesting statistic is that around 50% of all road deaths are on country roads (due to higher speeds). Realistically it would be many years before there was an infrastructure solution - the only progress can be made through a change in behaviour.

We have Roadsafe for reporting this kinda stuff in London and from my experience all they tended to do when I reported idiots was send them a letter and remind me that I *really* shouldn't have got so shouty or sweary at the idiot who has nearly just killed me with their car....I once had clear evidence of a HGV driver steering their vehicle towards me to pin force me towards a kerb as I'd held primary along CS7 and after they tooted me to move over I gestured as to why as I was quite easily keeping up with traffic given it was rush hour! It's got to the point that I now just cba with the camera as I feel I'm wasting my time.

As Chris points out cycling is statistically "safe" and I can back that up as I've been accident free for over a year now (last accident that put me in hospital was rider error!) however since then I've had several close passes that have caused the red mist to descend and that's what really puts people off cycling.

The Police don't really need Officer manpower to enforce this. If all forces had a near miss reporting web page like Avon & Somerset and acted upon the reports especially when helmet cam evidence exists, surely a civilian support person could send out a fixed penalty. I suspect a computer manages to send the speed camera ones out all by itself.

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/advice/vehicles-and-roads/cycling/...

Lots of activities have "become part of the culture of British driving" notwithstanding that they are illegal and/or downright dangerous. Unfortunately the powers-that-be don't have the will to deal with it and the police don't have the manpower any more.

So right. More severe enforcement when presented with irrefutable video evidence