Near Miss of the Day 120: Traffic island doesn’t deter driver from overtaking

jeffrejo wrote:

I want to stand up and be outraged at this close pass too, but I can't.

I have seen and experienced way worse than this incident, (even just to weekend ago), and the many so called 'close passes' that have been posted on this blog. The London suburbs are awful for this kind of bad driver behaviour, but yet we still get on with our lives and our riding.

If we let this stop us we would never go out and ride, so we have to endure and enjoy as best we can. Lobby yes, but not waste our time posting videos, (of which there would be way to many), of outraged of Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire, Surrey or wherever else!

I think Road CC need to do better than this; it feels an awful lot like pandering to the crowd to me.

Yes we need to do something, but we need to do something about a whole heap of other things to change people's behaviour on whole a lot of issues. Obesity number 1.

Stake your claim on that road and get out and enjoy the ride!

OK, too many holes to deal with so let's just pick up a couple of the supermassive ones...

Nobody is saying it's stopping them going out, or even recommending that.

It is entirely possible that the people 'wasting their time posting videos' manage to do other things too. Like eat, sleep, go to work, AND campaign. About this issue, and probably other cycling issues. It's a hell of an assumption to think that the tip of the iceberg you see on YouTube or here is the entire extent of them drawing attention to issues that need sorting... And it's just plain wrong.

Your post is a call to apathy. You can shove that, if you can be arsed.

burtthebike wrote:

As any regular cyclist will know, this is a frequent occurence, but since there is no threat to the driver, they ignore the danger to anyone else.  We need a serious re-evaluation of the danger caused by drivers to vulnerable road users, cyclists and pedestrians, and for punishment commensurate with the risk that they impose on them.  At the moment, there is little prospect of such behaviour being reported, or considered dangerous by the authorities, or even when it is, of any proportional punishment.

If the outcome of a driver's actions is possibly death or serious injury, then treat it as a serious crime, not just driving without due care.  It should be seen from the victim's point of view, not the perpetrator's.

THIS btb, THIS! a great summary, you've written the close pass mantra 

We should send this to all police forces, CPS offices, JPs and judges!

Drivers with more than 6 points on their licence (however they got them) should have it laser etched onto their foreheads  onto the bonnet of their cars.....

zero_trooper wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

As any regular cyclist will know, this is a frequent occurence, but since there is no threat to the driver, they ignore the danger to anyone else.  We need a serious re-evaluation of the danger caused by drivers to vulnerable road users, cyclists and pedestrians, and for punishment commensurate with the risk that they impose on them.  At the moment, there is little prospect of such behaviour being reported, or considered dangerous by the authorities, or even when it is, of any proportional punishment.

If the outcome of a driver's actions is possibly death or serious injury, then treat it as a serious crime, not just driving without due care.  It should be seen from the victim's point of view, not the perpetrator's.

THIS btb, THIS! a great summary, you've written the close pass mantra 

We should send this to all police forces, CPS offices, JPs and judges!

Drivers with more than 6 points on their licence (however they got them) should have it laser etched onto their foreheads  onto the bonnet of their cars.....

I'm blushing.

burtthebike wrote:

As any regular cyclist will know, this is a frequent occurence, but since there is no threat to the driver, they ignore the danger to anyone else. 

I agree with your whole comment but the lack of threat to the driver is an important point.

Over the last 100 years, we have improved the safety of cars, with seatbelts, crumple zones, airbags, collapsible steering columns, headrests, safety glass etc. not to mention, disc brakes, power steering, crossply tyres.

All of these things make drivers feel invulnerable and therefore their perceived risk is lowered, so they are willing to drive faster and risk more. There is a video somewhere of people being put on a seat without a seatbelt that “crashes” at 5mph, and they go flying. By making people safer, they are willing to risk more.

Arguably, by making cars less safe for the occupants, especially the driver, we might make them drive more carefully.

WillRod wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

As any regular cyclist will know, this is a frequent occurence, but since there is no threat to the driver, they ignore the danger to anyone else. 

 

I agree with your whole comment but the lack of threat to the driver is an important point.

 

Over the last 100 years, we have improved the safety of cars, with seatbelts, crumple zones, airbags, collapsible steering columns, headrests, safety glass etc. not to mention, disc brakes, power steering, crossply tyres.

All of these things make drivers feel invulnerable and therefore their perceived risk is lowered, so they are willing to drive faster and risk more. There is a video somewhere of people being put on a seat without a seatbelt that “crashes” at 5mph, and they go flying. By making people safer, they are willing to risk more.

 

Arguably, by making cars less safe for the occupants, especially the driver, we might make them drive more carefully.

Risk compensation, a well documented phenomenon.  You might like to read "Risk" by John Adams, it's still extremely relevant.

zero_trooper wrote:

Either the driver didn't see the cyclist, or didn't see the traffic island, or is an idiot.

 

Or (I suspect) all three.