- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Near Miss of the Day 212: Lorry driver makes punishment pass on cyclist for “riding in the middle of the “f***ing road” (includes swearing)
The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series is a nasty one – a cyclist coming downhill at speed who is subjected to a punishment pass from the driver of a lorry.
It was submitted by road.cc reader Phil, who told us: “Apologies for the colourful language but this was close and at around 35mph .
“I was out on a training ride in East Grinstead West Sussex in late September this year when for no reason this lorry pushed me off the road?
“The response from the driver was: ’That's what you get for riding in the middle of the f***ing road!’.”
Phil added: “I have not reported this to the 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.
Latest Comments
- Jitensha Oni 5 hours 9 min ago
If it’s the same FOI response I saw ( FOI-0538-2425 ), in Richmond Park (local to me so the one I had a good look at in the FOI tables), from 2019...
- Gbjbanjs 5 hours 18 min ago
As an Irish person, I am embarrassed for this guy and the judge. He is clearly a thug, so do not get where he takes pride in wearing the country...
- ktache 5 hours 24 min ago
I don't think the fine toilet roll holder is made of an old chainset, looks more like the two biggest rings on a carrier from a cassette, my 9...
- Rendel Harris 7 hours 29 min ago
Far be it from me to tell you your business, but if you want to promote your product sneakily on a website without paying for advertising then...
- JMcL_Ireland 9 hours 33 min ago
I absolutely stand by my criticism of Elite (note: I'm not criticising the volunteer marshals). They charge an arm and a leg for these events but...
- Destroyer666 9 hours 46 min ago
There's a lot of good stuff here, but shoe reviews are still lagging on average when comparing to for example bike or tire reviews. Specs relating...
- galibiervelo 10 hours 19 min ago
Loved the Bastion in the flesh but Lemond's bike has the soul. Nice event and met some friends and contacts but like the magazine, it does promote...
- Hirsute 12 hours 29 min ago
All in the article - road tax.
- chrisonabike 13 hours 43 min ago
Ah, but: in UK, if a motorist drives into you (or simply parks in a cycle lane, forcing you out into the path of another motorist) then the council...
Add new comment
66 comments
Tricky one this.
Does Phil report it and simultaneously dob himself in for dangerous cycling? It would be a travesty to see the truck driver get away with this though.
But I can see why he hasn't reported it.
It would be worth the charge, if that is the case.
But really, how do you think you would have reacted in the same situation? It would be a struggle to remain calm.
I can guarantee I would be in the exact same mood after that sort of pass.
Me too. The comments berating the cyclist's behaviour are a sad indictment of the state of our roads. Drivers behave terribly in fucking massive vehicles and the expected response is a stoic shrug from the cyclist.
But, Phil, if you're reading these comments, do report it. That heart-attack-in-waiting might actually clip someone before he does the decent thing and shuffles off the planet prematurely.
If you don't report it to Police then he will simply continue to harass other cyclists.
100% in agreement. If you have a camera, and don't use it in cases like this, what's the point?
In addition, I would be emailing and calling his employers and asking them what they think of his driving. It isn't his place to be handing out punishment, and the cyclist wasn't "in the middle " of the road anyway.
And you all calling him out for his being on the wrong side of the road, what is wrong with you? Do you like being treated like dirt?
Because
a) he risked a headon due to being unable to see
b) some Police disregard evidence if you also demonstrate wrong doing
There’s nothing stopping you having a word with the company. Here's their contact details...
http://www.k2transport.co.uk/
There may be reasons why the cyclist involved doesn’t want to take it further.
Perhaps in cases where a commercial vehicle is involved, road.cc might consider contacting the company for a statement?
His employers ARE aware of it and are investigating it... Not overly impressed that their 40 ton advert was used that way.
Lucky the cyclist didn't have a head on, at least that would have solved the problem of killing him for the driver.
Not surprising the cyclist went apeshit after that attempt to kill him.
Not sure how he would get on with submitting footage as in Essex it would likely be disregarded for cycling on the wrong side of the road.
Submission to the firm though is needed.
Oh, I'd say this needs to be reported to the police.
I'd agree that the cyclist is going to get dragged over the coals, but what you have video evidence of is a dangerous overtake and a later admission that it was a deliberate action.
In theory, the driver should be dragged over the coals a lot longer and harder than the cyclist.
Agreed.
Please submit this to the police.
This needs to be reported to Sussex Police and can be done via Operation Crackdown, preferably giving them an opportunity to get a Notice of Intended Prosecution to the company within two weeks of it happening.
https://webcontact.sussex.police.uk/ASDPRS/
Nobody deserves to share the road with drivers this bad.
Clearly the driver was in a foul mood about something and the cyclist just happened to be the nearest non-threatening thing he could intimidate without risk to himself. Apart from the dangerous, unnecessary pass, he then stops at the traffic calming feature, blocking the road, and if I'd have been on that bike, I'd have gone around the outside of it too. And I'd have reported it.
Surprised it took 13 posts before someone mentioned the deliberate stop at the traffic calming feature. I'd have ridden around it, too, scared that the driver was now going to climb out of his cab.
Fair point, but I probably* wouldn't have called the 800lb gorilla bad names first, just escalated the situation.
*I've had a similar confrontation where I got passed at 50mph plus by a container lorry and the slipstream sucked me towards the rear wheels. Fucking terrifying and I was fully prepared to go full postal on the driver - fortunately for both of us he ran a red light.
Oh, I know and agree. But it's so, so easy for me to say that from the comfort of my office where the biggest threat is obnoxious emails from colleagues or customers. Totally different on the road when someone's thirty seconds is seemingly more important than my (or your) life.
Well, the company the driver works for is K2 Transport @K2Transport. A good place to start asking questions if this driver is still employed? Are they aware of this dangerous pass?
Very dangerous overtake. Not sure if many would have taken the lane here on this fast 'clear' road, and the secondary position looks a much smoother road surface. As difficult as it may be, there is no real advantage to a driver confrontation; keep calm and send video to police.
that white line is not a cycle lane, it's the fog line which indicates the edge of the normal highway...
At that speed I would of been bang in the middle of the lane, roundabout approaching, take the road. Trucker could of easily killed him either by hitting him or draft suction pulling him under the wheels. I would of reported it because the trucker was driving recklessly and with dangerous intent
@road.cc "punishment pass AKA cowards pass" please...[/wanders off]
Not sure what point you're trying to make? [/hangs around]
would like road.cc and cycling press to drive the rest of the media (social or old style) towards using "cowards pass" to describe a driver deliberately choosing to close pass a cyclist or group of cylists AKA is a good half way house .... not hanging around for the blaming the cyclist stuff ..truck driver had plenty of room and time to spare to slow after the pass and the road layout encourages
"Murder pass" would be better.
And you've not reported this to the police because...?
Because of the shit riding afterwards on the wrong side of the road and traffic island?
Because he'd get done for wanton and furious cycling?
Completely fucking idiotic response going up the outside of the wagon to yell at the driver but I guess that's adrenaline for you.
Agreed that the 'going up the outside of the truck' (or, getting into the other lane on the approach) wasn't the best.
I'm not entirely convinced that "hanging out of a cab window shouting down at a cyclist while driving my HGV onto a roundabout at speed" was particularly safe driving, either....
Yep, that would have induced a shot of adrenaline, resulting in a fight or flight response.
What this shows is going after the lorry driver hasn’t helped. The driver clearly wanted to cause the cyclist distress and showing him just how much distress he caused has probably made him think job well done.
The bad riding afterwards doesn’t help, as it appears the cyclist is acting as dangerously as the driver (even though any risk is mainly to the cyclist and I don’t want to be too critical as it’s an action taken in the heat of the moment).
But armed with cameras and knowledge gleaned from these close pass videos, if caught up in something like this, it’s clear that trying to remain calm, gathering evidence (such as face video and calling out number plate to record on audio) without confrontation, offers the best chance of changing behaviours. Firstly through police action and failing that by shaming of companies/individuals via social media.
Did you really just compare an HGV driver driving criminally putting another persons life at risk to the cyclists actions which doesn't?
REALLY?
That's the problem, you are a cyclist and even youi can't see the difference between a criminal action that causes death and one that does not, or are you going to produce stats/instances of cyclists getting killed doing this kind of thing, certainly if you find one or two from over the years, it is clearly outnumbered by the deaths/SI of cyclists being struck by motorists from being close passed/run right over the top of. So the reaction does not equal the initial reckless, dangerous, criminal act, not even close!
That you do compare them is offensive.
Pages