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Near Miss of the Day 302: Super-close pass as driver swerves at last moment to avoid hitting cyclist

Our regular series featuring near misses from around the country - today it's Bristol...

Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a cyclist being subjected to a very close pass on the A38 in Bristol.

It was sent to us by Facebook user and road.cc reader Rock Almanac, who said: “Sent to the Dashcam Enforcement, but the video was corrupted on upload and didn't find out until it was too late to resubmit it again. So no action is being taken.

“When they overtook me, the pass felt really close, it wasn’t until viewing the backcam footage I realised just how close they came to hitting me, they appear to have veered slightly to the right at the last second.”

> What to do next if you’ve been involved in a road traffic collision

> 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.

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

Avatar
vonhelmet | 5 years ago
0 likes

Doesn't look like a punishment pass, looks like he was distracted as you see he swerves at the last moment.

Avatar
ktache | 5 years ago
0 likes

Further out, and if this idiot is looking at their phone, you're dead.  There was no steering.

Yes there would be some regret, especially before the police and court, but you know, phone.

Avatar
toxicchili replied to ktache | 5 years ago
1 like

ktache wrote:

Further out, and if this idiot is looking at their phone, you're dead.  There was no steering.

Yes there would be some regret, especially before the police and court, but you know, phone.

On this road, because of all the distracted drivers, you can't take the lane, because 'as you say', they aren't looking and will basically just kill you.

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
0 likes

You could help yourself by riding an extra 2ft to the right.  Control the lane. 

 

To me, it looked like a punishment pass.

Avatar
Podc replied to CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
2 likes

CXR94Di2 wrote:

To me, it looked like a punishment pass.

 

In this one, I'm inclined to think:

 

'Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.'

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Shades | 5 years ago
0 likes

End of school hols and the roads around Bristol have gone 'mental'.  My helmet cam and Fly 6 had been left off for the past few weeks; dug them out and recommissioned them this week.  Almost got T-boned on a crossing by someone running a red light; got it on camera but the number plate wasn't clear and the time-stamp was incorrect; police won't accept it.  Anyway I didn't get 'totalled'; so all good!

Avatar
Pedantic Pedaller | 5 years ago
3 likes

Every Cyclists Nightmare!

You had a "lucky" escape.

Almost definitely distracted by a phone or similar device.

You can see an item around the top of steering wheel for several seconds as the driver approached.

 

Avatar
brooksby replied to Pedantic Pedaller | 5 years ago
0 likes

Pedantic Pedaller wrote:

Every Cyclists Nightmare!

You had a "lucky" escape.

Almost definitely distracted by a phone or similar device.

You can see an item around the top of steering wheel for several seconds as the driver approached.

 

That was my first thought when I watched this video.

Avatar
Hirsute | 5 years ago
1 like

That was insanely close.

I think I need a rear camera now after that and grey van man trying earlier this evening to intimidate me into the gutter.

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
1 like

Ah, titanium grey van man. It's like a stealth mode WVM. I'm sure it's confirmation bias but there seems to have been a big increase in non-liveried vans of late - mostly doing deliveries for Amazon and the like.

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
3 likes

Almost certainly on their mobile phone.

I'll put music on my next vid, it so enhances the experience.

Avatar
toxicchili replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
1 like

burtthebike wrote:

Almost certainly on their mobile phone.

I'll put music on my next vid, it so enhances the experience.

It's insane the amount of people I see on the phones each day.  I saw 7 people today in a mile stretch.  Seen quite a few people on the A38 travelling at 40mph just looking at their crotch.  Oh and glad you liked the music, Microsoft photo app added it, so I just left it on.

Avatar
muhasib | 5 years ago
1 like

Why was the music added?

Avatar
toxicchili replied to muhasib | 5 years ago
2 likes

muhasib wrote:

Why was the music added?

Sorry about the music, Microsoft Photo app automatically added a theme, so I just went with it.

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