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news
Near Miss of the Day 92: Police decline to act on close pass
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a motorist overtaking a cyclist at speed, leaving no more than 30 centimetres of space - but despite that, police declined to take any action against the driver.
It was filmed by road.cc reader Dave Dawes, who told us: "It was on Sunday 4 February on the A6 bypass between the A5028 and John Clark Way in Rushden Northamptonshire.
"I reported it to the Force Control Room and sent them the footage, they called me back on Monday morning saying that an officer had reviewed it and '[despite it wasn't ideal distance wasn't considered to be a close pass' so no action would be taken.
"This was a high speed pass around 60 mph and I was given less than 300mm.
"I found the incident very distressing and intimidating as a vulnerable road user, as the driver showed no consideration to me at all, and drove in an aggressive manner.
"The standard of driving fell well below what would be expected of a competent driver but was not supported by the police, who do not run any #OpClosePass enforcement campaigns," he added.
Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.
If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info [at] road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.
If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won't show up on searches).
Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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29 comments
Its on my home patch and I know exactly where this is on the A6. The hatch area is leading up to a RH turn across his lane with island coming up imminently.
The wide angled camera doesn't do justice to show that this is a close pass, though there have been much, much worse shown.
A forward facing camera shot may show the car cutting in sharply to avoid the island coming up.
Perhaps a "Vigilante" model of camera is needed with scaled distances marked on the picture (like car reversing cameras) to help lazy arsed coppers make their decisions correctly.
The situation is vulnerable road users are regularly treated with short shrift by impatient drivers, who think their 30 seconds is more important than the cyclist's well being and health.
Perhaps you think it's funny when people complain about their lives being regularly put in harms way by idiotic drivers, compounded by police forces who often do very little to stop it. If that's the case, you do you, but you're in the minority here.
Why do some people think giving a damn when someone else puts my safety at risk makes me a "militant cyclist"? Good grief.
Love reading the comments on these clips. Daily Mail for cyclists. Hysterical militant cyclist brigade who give no mind to the context of the situation.
Please go back to reading the daily mail
Plod yet again showing themselves to be a bunch of merchant bankers who'll only do something when it suits them and their agenda. No doubt if they were overtaken in such a manner whilst on a bike or on foot they'd be all over the driver in a flash.
God knows how they'd react to a 'terrorist' driving in the same manner, fucking armed unit and helicopters.
Have to take this further and everyone must make complaints otherwise nothing will ever change.
Northants Police just don’t undernstand road safety when it comes to cyclists. I just wish they’d think & act like West Mids and Surrey.
I’ve reported numerous close passes, only to be fobbed off time and time again. They’re not interested unless you get knocked off and are injured.
And when I have been hit by a car, they think I was to blame. Aparartently in this instance they judged that I drifted into centre of the road, and therefore the 2 ton vehicle clattering into me was my fault. Complaints get looked at by the same people who make the decision. Justice? Go figure...
https://youtu.be/CvVyJHY7KQ4
And in case anyone’s wondering why I’m in the centre of the lane, it’s because there are parked cars ahead, and so I’m in riding in the primary road position to avoid moving out when I’m alongside them. Just a shame that Northants Police don’t understand that, as recommended by Bikebility and the Highway Code.
49767EE1-1135-4B7F-96CA-59D96A4FF546.jpeg
I'd like to think you wouldn't need to explain your reasons for being in the middle of the lane on this forum.
Having said that, even if you were cycling like that for your own amusement or to annoy other road users, that wouldn't give the driver the right to collide with you.
As for your video, I can't see the 'drifting' the police seem to think you did and neither can I see a suitable gap in front of you for the driver to move into.
It's must get to the back of the queue before the cyclist.
Were the police watching a different video clip?
Re: cyclist moving away from the white line.
This is precisely the reason why the car needs to give more room and pass when it is safe to do so giving "vulnerable road users as much space as you would a car". If there is oncoming traffic it is clearly NOT safe to do so.
if our intrepid cyclist wasnt riding near the middle of the lane, the car would have loads of space to have go past without appearing to be so close.
check the cyclist swerve from being on the white line, to somewhere near the middle of the lane.
cant blame cars for everything, especailly if wobbly cyclists cant hold their line
Absolute tosh.
I think you need to hand your license in, you are clearly not fit to drive a vehicle.
Oh you are a tiresome individual.
watch the video again.
watch the cyclist move from riding on the white line, what do you suggest the car does?
hold its line, haul on the anchors, run the risk of hitting the cyclist? or follow the line forced on them by the cyclist moving outwards its path?
i understand some of you are really passionate about the rights of the cyclist, so am i, but never really thought to throw childish insults about on the internet, its a waste of time, and says more about the kind of person throwing them than the person on the end of them.
happy to discuss the wobbly cyclist in the video, and the not so close pass that we can see
At no point is the cyclist riding on the white line. Do you have a point?
First, brake and slow down, to give more time and importantly distance to assess when its safe to overtake. Once you train yourself to touch the brakes when seeing a cyclists then everything else is easy to impliment.
I tell my kids, who I taught to drive, Pass Slow, Pass Wide, Pass Safe. runs off to copyright slogan and make millions with a sticker for cars
This is the probably the sole reason why cyclists are injured or given a close pass. 'God given right to maintain speed irrespective of what hazards lay in front'
Oh you really really are a tiresome, tiresome individual.
The only "wobble" i saw came as he was pulled in by the slipstream of the speeding car. As to what the motorist should have done - slow the fuck down, and overtake when there was no traffic coming the other way. Just like he would have done if there were a tractor in front of him.
Classic trolling behaviour.
FYI the reason more room is required for bikes is precisely what happened here...bikes wobble for a multitude of reasons. Wind, potholes, inexperience. Would you pass a young boy/girl that closely at that speed...No to both.
Read that Highway Code
Speaking of which, isn't the hatched area in the middle of the road, which the car clearly drove into, a no go area?
Having said that, it doesn't look like an unusually close pass to me. Unacceptable, yes, but pretty much a daily experience from my memory of UK roads.
You must be watching a different video. At no point is the cyclist on the white line.
Look ahead further than the end of the bonnet, adjust speed on approach to the cyclist so that they can overtake at a safe distance when there is a gap in the oncoming traffic.
Any more stupid questions?
Stick to riding your Asda mountain bike at Centerparks mate, it's all you know.
It wasn't a close pass by the book, hence no police action :-o 'Give as much room as you would passing a small car', the numptie gives a small car 30cm too :-o :-o We need a clear consistent and enfored legal rule!
Dave, I hope that you are reading this. Re-contact Northamptonshire Constabulary ASAP and say that you are not happy with the initial decision. Point out the aggravating factors - the speed of the overtaking vehicle, the 'closeness' of the pass and that there were oncoming vehicles. Ask for a Notice of Intended Prosecution be sent to the registered keeper of the offending vehicle pending a review of the decision, otherwise the opportunity to actually prosecute may be lost.
Do you have a corresponding forward facing camera?
My issue with Northamptonshire is the sheer volume of ANPR and 'safety' cameras in the county. I've driven along the A428 many times and as soon as you enter Bedfordshire the cameras disappear, as tho' the road has suddenly become safer and crime free
Good luck and stick with it!
Don’t get too frustrated with the cameras, they’re all turned off!
Of course it isn't a close pass, if you're sat in a control room in a comfy chair sipping tea.
We need more police who ride bikes, as they clearly don't get it. I wonder what the outcome would have been if this had been reported by a policeman?
And thanks for keeping it mercifully short.
I ride bike every day and yes, this is far from close pass...
No you don’t ride a bike every day. (Your missus doesn’t count). Yawn.
Childish....
If you do challenge the decision, and I hope you do, copy in the local poice commissioner and also send them a copy of the photo from section 163 Highway Code, just to remind them how it should be done. We cyclists know what a good overtake is like, but those that don't cycle quickly forget the bits of the Highway Code that might delay them for perhaps two seconds