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news
Near Miss of the Day 180: A close pass compilation
When a cyclist who regularly rides in Surrey and Hampshire discovered our Near Miss of the Day feature recently, he put together a video showing some of the closest passes he has been subjected to.
The video was submitted by Richard, who told us that after watching some of the videos we had posted as part of the series, the motorists in them “are giving a lot more space than some of the nutcase drivers I have come across in the last few months on the roads around Surrey and Hampshire.”
Richard, who told us that he had muted the sound due to the fact there is a lot of swearing on his part – we don’t think anyone can blame him for that given the circumstances – includes three close passes in the video involving drivers from the local Stagecoach bus company.
“I contacted them on all occasions, they claim to have been unable to identify the driver so apparently no action taken,” he said.
As for the other drivers featured, Richard gave a quick summary of what had happened … in summary, not much, with the relevant police forces not taking any action in the ones he flagged to them.
“The grey van and the black BMW I didn’t bother to pursue as it wasn’t really so bad.
“The Seconique truck – I wrote to the company and got no response.
“The double close pass of the red Golf and the transit van I reported to the police (the Golf wasn’t even taxed) – and have heard nothing.
“The flat-bed truck forcing me off the road on a bend was reported to the police – I have heard nothing.
“The Fiat 500 on the bridge has been reported, as has the black Volvo at the roadworks – still waiting to hear from Surrey Police.”
> 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.
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14 comments
I'm the cyclist in those clips. I accept I could potentially have taken the lane on the bridge and the roadworks ... The other situations I don't really think there was the option to do that. My experience with riding in primary position has been generally quite negative around here - in fact the only time a car has hit me was at low speed where I was in primary to turn right at a junction 15 yards ahead and the driver behind didn't like the idea of being behind me so they beeped and then rammed me - getting themselves a visit from the police as it was all on film.
I think about moving wider on one of the stretches of road when there is oncoming traffic to try to discourage close overtakes but I fear it would actually be more dangerous for me.
I got a nice beep from a driver the other day when i was cycling approx 28mph in a 30 zone and over-taking another cyclist.
What is it that made her thought that I had no right to over-take or that she must exceed the speed limit and get in front of me?
The rider needs to take more control of his road space - ride further out, and take the lane at pinch points. Leave drivers room to squeeze past, even if it's unsafe, and they'll go for it. Don't give them that opportunity.
In my experience, all you end up doing is swapping a close pass at a pinch point for a punishment pass/abuse further up the road. As happened to me last week when I moved out to stop a car passing me at a pedestrian island - both occupants gave me a load of mouth for not riding 6" from the kerb.
Only if the drivers are muppets. When I go out there will be a few crap drivers but the rest are fine.
Don't do something dangerous for fear of there being a muppet behind you. Odds are it's a driver that doesn't want to kill you.
in those terms no they dont want to kill you, but how many even process that level of understanding thats the real outcome possibility of these kinds situations they are putting you in all the time, because they cant abide slowing down for a moment. ?
I was riding near enough the middle of the road through a pinch point pedestrian refuge last week, and I still had a car overtake me through it, I cant for the life of me work out how we both fitted through that gap without there being a collision between us, they can only have actually driven over the pedestrian refuge part to get through, thats how desperate they were not to ease up for a few seconds, I wasnt even going that slowly, but they were actually willing to drive across road furniture in their desperation to get by.
how can you mitigate for that on a bike ? Im not willing to put my body on the line to stop these muppets, I cant ride the whole route down the centre of the road.
so I dont think its acceptable to say ah yeah your own fault for not riding far enough out there, no its the fault of every single one of those drivers who placed getting to their destination as a bigger priority than your safety, and thats wrong and it needs to change.
My experience is that when I ride central to the road, drivers are alot more careful about overtaking. I find Im given more width and obviously the speed is reduced because they have had to slow down for me. You will always get the knob head doing a punishment pass, these drivers need to be reported to the police, eventually they will be caught and punished. But riding in the gutter, so to speak, allows the ignorant/oblivious drivers to glide by too close. These are by far the most common close pass issues.
Also by forcing drivers to go round and slow down for you, sets an example for the vehicles behind. This should, given time, be an accepted way to pass you. Dont fall into the trap that you must give a clear space for the car. Both are equal on the road.
All of these events could of been mitigated away by riding 1.5-1.8metres from Kerb. Everyone of the driver's took the chance to squeeze by. Rolling block saves you.
I think you need to ride further out.
Though the bridge and road works were ridiculous; what goes through the minds of these drivers?
I thought Surrey Police have a helpful twitter presence, perhaps you could nudge them with that?
my apologies for the double post.
I always find it quite strange how they can actually manage to use their brakes, after you comment, both physically and verbally, on the low standard of their driving ability.
Sadly, we have all had multiple similar experiences. On several occasions, the volume of my swearing got the drivers to stop, and to a man, they all said "I gave you plenty of room." and declined my offer to swap vehicles and I'd pass them that close and see how they liked it.
Yep, pretty much standard I'll get at least one like that on every ride. It’s ignorance mainly, they are just not aware of what constitutes a safe pass (well, apart from the BMW at the roundabout, that was arrogance and impatience).
As regards the driving of the two buses, I wonder if that’s just how they teach them to drive bused nowadays. Burt, you can probably second this, but First In Bristol don’t pass you any further than the examples in this video ever. I’ve been passed while riding and also been on a bus doing the passing and they never ever ever get close to 1.5 metres and seem to barely cross into the other lane if they can at all help it.