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news
Near Miss of the Day 361: "Why go in front of me?"
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a motorist passing a cyclist ahead of roadworks, then making an abrupt stop afterwards and doing a three-point turn to head back the way they came.
The incident left road.cc reader Gordon, who submitted the footage, wondering: "Why go in front of me?"
He added: "Not all bikes have disc brakes this bike was an old Dawes with rim brakes that were in good working order but at best with on/off use they were no match for a car stopping like that.
"In fact, I have snapped two cables for stopping quickly," he added.
> 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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23 comments
Because the driver is an ignorant cock and has contempt for the cyclist. Would they have overtaken a tractor with bale spikes and performed this stupid manoeuvre? I doubt it. All too frequent on a daily commute, drivers like this are inspired by that past used date Clarkson to hate cyclists.
Very much agree.
Though I fear the problem is far more deep routed than anti-cyclist mantra. The protection (or rather supposed protection) afforded a motorist means performing such a manouver on a cyclist holds little bodily risk if the cyclist fails to stop. Not so for a tractor, the fact that there is greater risk to the driver means they are more careful around a tractor.
We all need to become weapon wielding sycopaths, to redress this inbalance... perhaps.
Evolutionary game theory says that's exactly what we should do if drivers are unwilling to modify their behaviour to become more altruistic.
If you know the address you can report an untaxed vehicle here:
https://forms.dft.gov.uk/report-an-untaxed-vehicle/
Not great driving but also not terrible.
The driver was parking in the driveway not turning, even reversing in as you are supposed to do so you don't have to reverse onto a busy road.
The car is however declared sorn since 2017.
If they knew they were going to be parking, then it makes no sense at all to overtake there.
NotGreatNotTerrible.jpeg
Is that image a Chernobyl reference? The meters maxing out at 3.6 mRoentgens/hour!
Yes although that's 3.6 Roentgens/hour.
That's a test pass these days?
I'm doing a regular car journey of 30 miles at peak times (sorry, etc) at the moment, and I find the time it takes (70 - 75 minutes) is pretty consistent, whatever I do. In other words, driving like Mr Green Ford does here is pretty pointless.
I guess the point of the CPotD feature is to highlight the behaviour of some motorists that we encounter day after day, so although this example - as it turns out this time - is at the annoying/stupid/just random end of the spectrum, the next vulnerable road user who encounters Mr Green Ford might not be so fortunate. Even so, if that's the most outrageous thing you ever get, Simon I'd like to ask, so what are the house prices like around your way..?
I don't think Gordon was complaining that this was a particularly close pass, it just got published under that ongoing feature. I think it is more about pointing out the futile habit of many drivers who make a pass and then just get in the way because of a basic inability to look and plan ahead.
Hmm...it wasn't a close pass, you weren't forced to brake sharply (and I notice the driver turned on hazards to signal slowing) and if you've twice snapped cables under braking your own bike setup is probably a bigger danger to you than any other user. Other than that...
You snapped two cables? What are you doing.
Become the same pain in the arse road user and follow right up their arse, they can't do their 3 point turn and waste more time than 'saved' by the ridiculous pass!
When I was a lad I stopped behind someone but they reversed anyhow and I needed a new wheel !
The oncoming driver is no saint either.
I'm just looking forward to the day when mandatory training and licencing of cyclists eradicates poor riding technique and neglected maintenance, like it has for the cars in this video.
Annoying and stupid, but something like it happens on most journeys, with drivers overtaking to get to the back of the queue 50m away. MGIF should be a notifiable disease and checked during the driving test.
Just incompetent driving rather than anything dangerous.
as an aside, since getting an e-bike for my commute I have found close passes upset me less. Maybe something to do with my blood pressure being a bit lower? Or feeling a bit more stable (wide MTB handlebar vs. drop handlebars)?
Not trying to trivialize close passes by the way, just my experience. It's all a bit odd and unexpected.
A driver who is a bit lost is one of the more scary ones. They start to panic, are not concentrating on the road and generally go far too quickly.
The ones who speed past you far too close, heading down a blocked off road, only to be seen driving back moments later.
The usual must be in front attitude. In time it gains them absolutely nothing.
I have a 35 mile journey each morning,. I regularly see the odd driver tear arsing by me and others. Upon getting to said town, just a few cars in front is the in a hurry driver.
Its funny why ICE drivers need to overtake my Nissan Leaf. I could if I wanted out accelerate them
All to typical but fortunately you had time to react
Had to go to Youtube to watch the vid - looks like the uploader has disabled watching it from other websites.
Yes it was dumb of the driver to overtake, but it didn't look particularly dangerous to me.
I'm suspicious of snapping two cables by stopping quickly - sounds like the cables were already frayed and ultimately, being able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear is your own responsibility.
I too question the snapped cables. Sounds like the brakes were defective.
But as far as stopping though, the driver also has a responsibility to overtake safely. That doesn't mean stopping as soon as you do.
This kind of thing really pisses me off, waiting for you was beneath them but you should wait for them, and take a face full of fumes while your at it.