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news
Near Miss of the Day 251: White van man makes close pass on cyclists then goes ballistic (includes swearing)
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a white van driver making a close pass on a group of cyclists whom he believed - erroneously - were breaking the law in riding side by side, and who then stopped a little further up the road to get out of his van and give them a torrent of abuse.
The clip was submitted by road.cc reader David, who told us: "This happened on a Boldmere Bullets club ride on Saturday February 9th on Spencer’s Lane near Tile Hill, Coventry.
"A very unsafe overtake by an angry man fortunately well calmed down by one of our riders Andrew."
Many motorists believe that cyclists who do not ride in single file. However, Rule 66 of the Highway Code says, among other things, that they "should not ride more than two abreast" and that they " should ride single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends."
It's worth noting the language used, too. "Should" in the Highway Code means the rule is advisory; where not to comply would be breaking the law, the word "must" is used instead.
Rule 163 of the Highway Code, meanwhile, tells motorists to "Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so" and, among other things, that they "should give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car."
In the video here, the driver of an oncoming car has to slow down to avoid a head-on collision with the van, the driver of which certainly hasn't given the cyclists anything like the minimum 1.5 metres police forces - led by officers in the West Midlands, whose patch he is on - now stipulate cyclists must be given.
> 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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63 comments
I am wondering if the bloke in red is a Bobby, or Police trained. I have seen that before, keeping close and holding onto the side of the neck. If the would be assailant makes a move, the other person is ready for it. I was shown a similar move by an ex traffic officer for a situation where someone is very close to you and acting in a threatening manner. Place your foot behind theirs and if they make a move, lift your foot up to their heel as you gently push them away. They go down like a sack of shit, and have no idea how you put them there. Btw I have not tried it for real yet!
The Guardian has some left-wing comment in it, but it isn't 'left wing', it's centrist/liberal. Liberals, almost by definition, tend to feel obliged to give space to other voices, hence it has leftists along with Tories on the staff.
It's distinctly pro-cycling compared to the rest of the media, though that's not saying much (the BBC is mostly anti-).
Jeremy Clarkson is 'distinctly pro-cycling' compared to much of the UK media.
That doesn't make him 'pro-cycling'.
Here in Wiltshire we have no police, car drive at well over 30 and cross small roundabouts at speed, most defective lights front & rear they also park any where/how they like, close that was far wider than what I get and I'm on my ownsome.
I have to say I am impressed with the rider in red. I want you on my rides.
Watching the video again, with the sound on, it sort of illustrates a certain mindset that the van driver appears to think its so completely unreasonable to expect him to have to completely cross the white line in order to overtake them...
The first thing you should do in a situation like that is get off your bike. You're far less likely to be attacked if you show you're ready and able to cope with it.
The second thing you should do is to remove your D-lock from your belt.
By getting out of the vehicle, the driver has indicated his willingness to use force. The offence of common assault is complete at that point. You do not have to wait for him to hit you, before invoking your right to self defence.
I'd assumed you carried around a paving slab on your rack...?
*snort*
You dull cunt.
Depends on the aggressor I suppose. I some times think if you stay onboard you are seen as more vulnerable and less of a fair fight, reckon the police would see it this way too, you jumping off suggests you're ready for a bit of queensberry rules.
I did once have an altercation with a driver who folded himself out of a drug dealers Merc, he was about 8 feet... wide and probably a bit taller. Actually started rutting the ground with his foot. In full knowledge he'd kill me i didn't dismount. He also told me to take my shades off as (kind of him) he doesn't hit a blok in glasses, I asked him why I'd take them off then
I believe that any driver who doesn't see a problem with pitting 1.5 tonnes of steel, glass and plastic against 100 kg of skin and bone, really doesn't give a flying fuck about any notions of 'fairness'.
This was my first thought too, but I guess staying on the bike subtly showed the villain that Andrew wasn't looking for a fight, one of many clever things he did to keep the situation from escalating. Also, the fact that it was a group ride may have made the villain realise he was even more of a twat for stopping in the middle of the road. He may have got the better of one cyclist, but the rest of them would have made sure any violence he resorted to would come back on him.
I often ride solo, but I won't let a close pass go without shouting at the car, and waving at the other side of the road. I haven't recently had any car stop and have a go at me, but I would still do it. I have noticed that other cars passing me after a close pass when I have shouted and gesticulated have given me an exaggerated amount more room. Well, except one instance, when scumbag #2 got silly close.
Some of my ride buddies think I am mad, I should just let it go and stay calm. But that's giving in to the lazy drivers and the psycho drivers. I don't understand those that can just shrug their shoulders and say this is what happens.
If you were out for a walk down a coutry road and a car passed you at 30 mph within 1 metre, you would go mental.
You think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WKCDsBeGH4
I confess to being utterly bewildered that so many cyclists just stand there and let drivers hit them.
I thought it would be that one.
Although I did get a Brucie Bonus with the next video that popped up after
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BWw1M6x6O0&feature=youtu.be&t=113
Hi all
I have submitted it via the Nextbase dashcam portal so will see what WM Police decide to do. Andrew was brilliant in the way he handled the driver & managed a potentially dangerous situation.
Classic entitlement complex. Whenever I remonstrate with a driver, the response is almost always 'you were in my way' or 'you were holding me up'.
The right-wing media's witch hunt against cyclists and cycling has resulted in a significant percentage of the population believing in their hearts that when in a motor vehicle (or to a lesser extent, when on a motorcycle), they have 'priority' or 'precedence' over cyclists.
Most drivers see cyclists not only as 'an obstacle' to their 'right' to drive as fast as they want, but also in many ways as recalcitrant children whom they not only have a right to punish, but a duty to do so.
When that sense of entitlement results in injuury to or death of a cyclist, the same mentality carries over to the magistrate's court or to the Crown Court, and the driver or motorcyclist can be almost certain of walking away without a single day spent in a cell.
This is both an indictment of the principle of 'a free press', as well as prima facie proof that the justice system (whether it be at the hands of an unqualified magistrate or a jury of prejudiced thickos) is not fit for purpose.
Thank you. The situation summed up in a few pithy sentences, but what can be done? It would appear that the entire msm is happy to attack cyclists to pander to their readers/viewers, and are happy to present cycling as incredibly dangerous and lacking in any virtues, a complete misrepresentation of the situation. As you point out, the institutional bias against cycling is widespread throughout society, at every level e.g. the recent conference about alternatives to the private car I recently attended in Bristol which totally ignored cycling and walking. And they got quite upset when I pointed out their error.
Far too much of it does, not the entirety.
I'm intrigued, what msm currently presents cycling in a fair, balanced manner? There are plenty of niche media which do, but msm?
In the UK, off top of my head would be The Guardian - hey, even the Beeb has it's moments but I know how you feel about them
Edit : don't get me wrong, there isn't a red top that i've wipe my arse with, can't think of a single one with balance on any subject.
I'm always intrigued by the number of people who think that the Guardian is left-wing, progressive or - as here - pro-cycling. It's corporate media, just the same as the Daily Mail. The only thing that separates them is that the Gaurdian hates white, heterosexual Jewish men, and the Daily Mail loves Israel because its destruction is supposed to usher in the 'end of days'.
Anyway, this might clear up your confusion…
https://medium.com/@lastwheel/why-does-the-guardian-hate-cycling-6125b13...
I didn't say it was pro-cycling.
Okay dokey. Since your comment seemed (please do correct me if I'm wrong) to be in response to:
'I'm intrigued, what msm currently presents cycling in a fair, balanced manner?'
.. then my comment stands. No, it doesn't 'present cycling in a fair, balanced manner'.
It's like every other part of the corporate media. Any 'positive' look at cycling always has to be countered with the seemingly mandatory caveat along the lines of 'Now .. don't get me wrong. Many cyclists seem to have scant regard for the rules of the road...'
Maybe not those exact words. But something similar will be there in most cases. It's the 'I'm not racist, BUT………' phenomenon.
And the reason for this is that just like the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Telegraph, the Standard… they depend on advertising to keep themselves in a job. And a lot of that advertising comes from the car industry and the Road Haulage Association.
Your comment was 'as here - pro-cycling', that is not the same as 'what msm currently presents cycling in a fair, balanced manner?'
In the UK, off top of my head would be The Guardian - hey, even the Beeb has it's moments but I know how you feel about them
[/quote]
I'm always intrigued by the number of people who think that the Guardian is left-wing, progressive or - as here - pro-cycling. It's corporate media, just the same as the Daily Mail. The only thing that separates them is that the Gaurdian hates white, heterosexual Jewish men, and the Daily Mail loves Israel because its destruction is supposed to usher in the 'end of days'.
Anyway, this might clear up your confusion…
https://medium.com/@lastwheel/why-does-the-guardian-hate-cycling-6125b13...
[/quote]
Well, the Guardian is conclusively proved not to represent cycling fairly, in a balanced manner, so that leaves the BBC, which is in my experience, so totally biased that it could well be up there with the DM. Not so overtly biased perhaps, but it has had thousands of articles about obesity, pollution, health, global warming, congestion, pollution, but it never mentions that cycling is the most effective way of treating all those problems. There are two ways to lie; commission and omission. The BBC lies by omission. And don't start me on their 30 year helmet campaign.
The BBC is the British state broadcaster.
Did you really expect it to peddle any line but that of the neoliberal British establishment?
Legally? Nothing. We have now passed the stage where peaceful protest, or 'asking nicely' will work. Unfortunately, violence is now the only answer.
I'm willing to go to prison, but I'm fucked if I'm doing it alone.
What a disappointing ending. I was convinced that, having subdued the driver using Vulcan mind tricks, Andrew was going to silently garrote him with a cheesewire. Oh well, maybe next time.
Err.....Send to the police maybe
Has this been done?
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