Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Near Miss of the Day 112: Close passes on Brighton cyclist

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s Brighton (again)

Last week on Near Miss of the Day we featured two videos from a cyclist in Brighton – and that’s prompted another rider there to send us two clips of close passes he experienced in the south coast city.

> Near Miss of the Day 109: Double trouble for one Sussex cyclist

In the first, road.cc reader Simon, who filmed the footage, approaches a crossing towards the western end of Marine Parade where a Toyota Yaris is stopped.

He continues through the crossing once the lights start flashing amber, putting himself in front of the car, the driver then cutting across him as they exit the roundabout onto the seafront and Kings Road.

The other video shows two more drivers making close passes on the cyclist as he rides northwards through Waterloo Place and onto Richmond Terrace.

The second of those close passes after the rider has to pull a little further out into the lane due to a van parked in spaces marked ‘car club’ – and while it does bear the livery of Enterprise Car Club (and the same van, or at least a similar one, can also be seen on the Google Street View image below), it is too wide for the space set aside.

Enterprise Car Vlub van (Google Street View).JPG

> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 - Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?

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.

> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling

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.

Add new comment

16 comments

Avatar
alansmurphy | 6 years ago
0 likes

Surely you don't need a collision for this to be a charge, whether careless or dangerous. In this case it is the latter, given the option of hitting a solid kerb or squishy cyclist the driver aims straight for the cyclist!

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 6 years ago
0 likes

That roundabout is always an utter nightmare to negotiate - plenty of similar experiences myself when riding home via that way.  Always worse in the summer.

Avatar
HoarseMann | 6 years ago
0 likes

I don’t think either of those were close passes. Both looked like intentional acts to cause intimidation or harm.

This sort of aggressive driving needs to be taken more seriously by the police, not just brushed off because no one was injured.

Avatar
clayfit | 6 years ago
0 likes

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Avatar
DrG82 replied to clayfit | 6 years ago
1 like

clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Tell her that when she eventually has an accident you'll stand up in court to tell everyone about her personal vendeta with cyclists and how she passes them closely on purpose so hopefully the judge throws the book at her.

Avatar
EK Spinner replied to DrG82 | 6 years ago
0 likes

DrG82 wrote:

clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Tell her that when she eventually has an accident you'll stand up in court to tell everyone about her personal vendeta with cyclists and how she passes them closely on purpose so hopefully the judge throws the book at her.

 

Back that up with reporting her to the police, even if nothing is done there is previous evidence of her hatred and callousness when the inevitable happens

Avatar
brooksby replied to DrG82 | 6 years ago
0 likes

DrG82 wrote:

clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Tell her that when she eventually has an accident you'll stand up in court to tell everyone about her personal vendeta with cyclists and how she passes them closely on purpose so hopefully the judge throws the book at her.

Exactly.

Trigger warning: Godwins Law incoming.

If a White British bloke got in a fight or something with an Asian bloke, the police and prosecution would be *very* interested to know that Mr White British had a room full of Nazi memorabilia or had voted Britain First or something, wouldn't they? Why is your acquaintance any different?

Avatar
a1white replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
4 likes

brooksby wrote:

DrG82 wrote:

clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Tell her that when she eventually has an accident you'll stand up in court to tell everyone about her personal vendeta with cyclists and how she passes them closely on purpose so hopefully the judge throws the book at her.

Exactly.

Trigger warning: Godwins Law incoming.

If a White British bloke got in a fight or something with an Asian bloke, the police and prosecution would be *very* interested to know that Mr White British had a room full of Nazi memorabilia or had voted Britain First or something, wouldn't they? Why is your acquaintance any different?

 

Avatar
Bluebug replied to clayfit | 6 years ago
0 likes
clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

Need to have it on camera preferably front and rear facing, plus be in a friendly police force area.

Avatar
DrJDog replied to clayfit | 6 years ago
1 like

clayfit wrote:

Had a discussion yesterday about a person of my acquaintance.  This person close passes whenever she can out of principle- she "doesn't like cyclists".  The mutual acquaintance who told me this is equally upset, but we do not have the power to do anything about such idiocy.

Ask the plod to have a word?, but can't imagine that this would be a possibility.  She's an accident waiting to happen.

My blood boils.

 

Every time you see her take a swing at her face and miss by an inch or two.

Avatar
Bikebikebike | 6 years ago
1 like

Take the lane and get beeped at, followed by a punishment pass later. ‘Share the road’ and cycle at the side, and get close-passed multiple times. Those, ladies and gents, are your choices every time you go down a road like this. 

Three words:

Infra Struc Ture

Avatar
clayfit replied to Bikebikebike | 6 years ago
0 likes

Bikebikebike wrote:

Take the lane and get beeped at, followed by a punishment pass later. ‘Share the road’ and cycle at the side, and get close-passed multiple times. Those, ladies and gents, are your choices every time you go down a road like this. 

Three words:

Infra Struc Ture

Too right, but could be simplified to Respect.

Avatar
A V Lowe | 6 years ago
0 likes

Sorry mate but you clearly need to improve your awareness of what's coming up behind you and move out to take control of how those drivers overtake. With that awareness I've often 'persuaded' against overtaking by giving a hand signal where my hand clearly aligns, in a through the windscreen sense, with the face of any passenger in the vehicle coming up close, or it would clearly take off their nearside mirror if they continue to overtakewithout alteruing course.

Any argument that 'you broke off my mirror' will clearly be demolished when you point out that to do this their vehicle must have been far too close as they passed.

Avatar
antigee replied to A V Lowe | 6 years ago
4 likes

A V Lowe wrote:

Sorry mate but you clearly need to improve your awareness of what's coming up behind you and move out to take control of how those drivers overtake........

not sure if saw any genuine overtakes there - more like 3 x opportunistic, aggressive, thoughtless and pointless must get in  front irrespective lane changes - cyclist position looked ok - no enthusiasm here for smashing mirrors, to avoid escalation i try my best not to thump any vehicle that is too close - the pointy "finger of doom" might be used to politely ask a driver to maintain a safe position but I've no idea why it is 150%+ up to the cyclist to attempt to control bad drivers*

 

edit *other than the obvious need to stay alive

Avatar
kevvjj | 6 years ago
1 like

... and that cyclist that rides straight through a red light. If he paid road tax, rego and had a clearly visible number plate the video owner could report three crimes to the police.

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
4 likes

Yet another who shouldn't be on the road, too fucking lazy to hold their lane, too oblivious to what's around them, not able to judge speed nor distance, another day and this a serious injury, maybe even death simply because driving like this is brushed off by police as a totally acceptable way to drive and not doing anything wrong (until it happens to them) in which case the kitchen sink is chucked at the perp.

Latest Comments