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news
Near Miss of the Day 365: Lorry driver in close pass on time trial rider + video (includes swearing)
Today's entry in our Near Miss of the Day feature is a nasty one - a lorry driver who started overtaking a cyclist taking part in a time trial then, spotting another lorry about to pass him on the outside lane, cut back in towards the cyclist, resulting in a very close pass.
It was filmed on the A38 near Buckfastleigh by road.cc reader Chris, who told us that he sent the footage to Devon & Cornwall Police six months ago under their Operation Snap but never heard back, leading him to assume that police decided that no further action was required.
"The lorry attempts to overtake me but spots another lorry overtaking him so chooses the softer option (me)," he said.
"They must have seen the race signage and other riders out on the course, so no excuses really.
"It’s bad enough controlling a TT bike in windy conditions but getting sucked into the wheels of a close pass lorry and subsequent whiplash from the vortex afterwards makes it ten times worse, as you can hear I wasn’t very impressed with the driving!"
> 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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43 comments
So, back to the squirrel. Why didn't Devon & Cornwall police respond? When you upload, is there not an auto response email with a reference number? Anything that sophisticated?
Anyone any experience of this?
The only real option for the truck there, was to slow and let the truck in L2 pass, then pull out into L2. That's easier said than done in a truck. This is one very good reason I will avoid DCs at all costs. Discretion is sometimes the better part of valour.
If that had been a car in the outside lane the truck driver wouldnt have given it a second thought to pull out into the lane. It was unfortunate timing for the cyclist that two trucks were steaming up behind him. True, there might have been signposts indicating cyclists were on the road but a truck driver is on a time limit and target distance so is unlikely to proceed at anything less than the maximum speed they can acheive. Look at how they overtake each other, at 1mph faster. I think the time triallers must be crazy to cycle on busy dual carriageways, even if entitled to do so.
To me that looks like a very quiet dual carriageway, I'm guessing on a Sunday.
I suppose it's crazy to expect the highly trained, licenced, monitered and professional drivers to drive in a legal and responsible manner.
Of course these fine drivers don't always stick to the dual carriageways and motorways and sometimes end up on the other roads where cyclists may be present and riding, in your opinion, without any form of crazyness.
And of course, if you have a look at the last 2 news stories on this site relating to cyclists killed by lorry drivers, one on cocaine the other on a phone and "blinded by the sun" neither was on a dual carriageway.
Or thinking back, the young medic killed by a lorry driver in Birmingham who decided to block his view by piling crap onto a table just so he could be "one of the lads".
Perhaps they didnt expect to,come across a cyclist riding a bike on a duel carriageway where only a fucking idiot would ride a bike . Take a look at that road .and even if there was signs set up saying a TT in progress , I wouldn't assume that every driver had seen it , it's possible the driver could have had there view blocked by another vehicle. Never assume anything . Basically What a stupid place to ride a bike and have a TT ( the road should have been closed or no race )
I could mention the pedestrian who was hit and killed by the cyclist riding on the pavement . There are fucking idiots out there driving ,walking , serving you food in a restaurant, running our world .Things are going to happen and its unfortunate and sometimes people just make mistakes and usually get away with it . There is no fucking answer ,people will always fuck up . But we do now have technology , for instance I posted a link showing tech that automatically turns your phone off when you get in a vehicle so you can't use it in anyway. Why this has not been made compulsory is fucking stupid. Vehicles could have sensors that could have alerted the driver that a cyclist was ahead. All this is out there and available but we all to busy on our phones looking at shit that has no effect on our lives to really think about it and demand that these things are out in to use .
I often ride on dual carriageways - they can be the quickest and easiest routes to get from A to B, but yeah, I'm sure you know all the roads in the country and exactly which people should be riding or driving on them and exactly what class of idiot they all are.
I would note that if someone is serving you food in a restaurant, I would still expect them to be able to use their eyes and not just end up tipping soup over random people because they didn't bother looking where they were going. If a server was regularly bumping into people and dropping food everywhere, I'd expect them to be out of a job quite quickly - they can go and find a job where less hand-eye coordination is required.
Yes, there's always going to be mistakes and collisions, but most people would consider that actual policing of the roads and removing (or educating) the worst drivers is the answer. It's almost as if keeping people safe is part of the job of police.
As regards tech for turning off phones in vehicles - that's a dumb idea. Depending on how it's implemented, it'd either be easy to bypass or else would affect a larger area than just one vehicle (possibly infringing broadcasting laws). Also, there'd be the issue of passengers not being able to use their phones which is not going to be a popular feature when it comes to selling vehicles with it fitted. What would be your recommendation for when someone needs to make an emergency call? I can just imagine someone being involved in a collision and then being trapped in their vehicle, completely unable to summon help due to someone's hair-brained scheme to stop drivers from using their phones.
Enforcement, not technical half-arsed fixes are the solution, but then we already know this (not you, though, you're special).
What you expect and what could happen are not the same thing . Simple .
You obviously have not seen some of the tech that would stop phone use. Your basically talking out if your arse . Go do search . If your in a crash your not moving so your phone will work if needed . If you need to do a emergency call in a car chances are you are stationary. If not pull over and make the call. So fucking what passengers can't use there phones oh dear what a shame does that mean humans are going to have to have a conversation.
And when your zooming down your dual carriageway and some idiot swerves and hits you because they are on the phone you be ok that
so hers some stats enjoy enjoy your phone you idiot .
https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/27/number-of-people-killed-by-drivers-using-...
https://carsurance.net/blog/texting-and-driving-statistics/
Okay, you're really getting confused there.
I personally don't care what tech gets sold to drivers, but how are you going to convince drivers to pay good money so that they can't do what they want to do?
I'm not sure why you're so abusive - probably low self-esteem. Maybe you need to connect with people a bit more.
So if that's the case, how would this technology stop the zombies checking their Facebook whilst sat in traffic?
I agree with your comments about phone use. The only way, which would involve more police on the roads, and actually ensure they do their job. Then, when someone is caught using their phones behind the wheel, give them an instant 6 month driving ban, regardless if whether they are a 'professional driver', add to thata £2,000 fine and 8-10 points on their license. Publicise the results and the message should soon filter through. You have to be tough to have a deterrent.
Chalk me up as a fucking idiot too. I ride on the A10 all the time. It's less dangerous than dodging crazed pedestrians on Wood Green high street and I've had more near misses with cars on the backstreets near my home.
. You make your choice ,get hit by cars doing 50 mph ( they speed between the speed cameras ,so could be going even faster) or get hit by someone stepping out in the road at 15 mph or a car pulling out at zilch speed. I don't give a fuck . It's your life not mine . A10 is not the same as the carriageway in the video .
It doesn't matter whether they "expect" to see one - the idea is that they're looking where they're going and therefore should bl00dy well see one!
famous last words you can put on your tombstone.
I am so very, very sick of that argument, which pops up on here with depressing regularity on threads like this one (on anything to do with hi-viz and helmets, too).
I mean - how stupid of me to expect a professional driver to be able to drive their vehicle without killing anyone...
Only the deluded would not think so.
Smashing this thread brooksby! FTW!
And maybe the words "continued to cede ground to technologies that destroyed health and life support systems" will be a the great last words of our species.
I say that as someone who elects not to use dual carridgeways (however some well thought out diversions have dumped me on some). But that is my choice and I'm not going to make up excuses for a person who can't get into a multi-tonne vehicle without becoming a danger to others. Else we can go down the rabit hole until it is accepted that the only place for a bike is indoors - though I hear there is a company that could use the sales.
I have to say I agree. Drivers, especially HGVs, simply can't slow down quickly enough from 60-70mph to the speed of a bicycle that they aren't expecting to be there.
There's a reson mopeds aren't allowed on motorways and bicycles should also be banned from 70mph dual carriageways for both cyclists and everyone elses safety.
Of course I don't expect all to agree but if you ride a dual carriage way just to exercise your right to do so you may be on borrowed time.
What is your suggestion where a dual carriageway cuts off where there used to be 'normal' roads? Bypasses and similar are often put in to 'Make Traffic Flow Better' (TM) without any consideration of anyone who doesn't want to be in a car...
Yeah we all know road planning is shit but that's a facile argument. Take the shortcut and accept the risk.
But why is it that the motor vehicles (the drivers of which have to twitch their foot ever so slightly) get to use the shortcut and people on horses or riding a bicycle through their own effort have to take the long way round? Would make more sense if it was the other way around, IMO.
Why can't they slow down enough? Is it the that the vehicle is faulty and the brakes don't work? Is it that the driver is busy watching a video on their phone instead of watching the road? Maybe they're having a crafty snooze or have food trays blocking their view?
Still, let's ignore the whys and wherefores and just go to victim blaming.
Maybe the driver was inattentive, maybe he was using his phone, maybe whatever OR maybe his view was obstructed and you can't just slam the brakes on in a hgv at 70mph.
Doesn't matter though since whatever the reson the cyclist will come off worse.
I would rather not tempt fate.
So, how do HGVs slow down then? If they can't use their brakes at 70mph, then maybe we need to petition for them to be limited to 30mph?
Or alternatively, you're talking rubbish and HGVs can quite easily use their brakes.
I had no idea that a cyclist would come off worse in a collision with an HGV - lucky there's clever people like you to inform us.
Peter, HGVs shouldn't be travelling at 70mph. The limit, on dual carriageways and motorways is currently 60mph, and 50mph on other roads. All trucks should have speed limiters fitted, many drivers have their limiter adjusted.
And as I recently discovered elsewhere, it 56 for most hgv under legislation and 60 for older types of hgv.
In Scotland it's 50 for hgvs.
So do you ride anywhere else apart from Center Parcs?
Working for a main truck dealer, I agree that you cannot just slam the brakes on in a tractor unit and trailer. But what you can do, is that you can use your eyes, we have two by default. All professional drivers should be better drivers than daily drivers (although we should all be excellent, but that's another matter) and use their eyes and driver experience to read the road conditions ahead. In most cases brakes don't need to be applied. a simple letting off the gas for a matter of seconds, then accelerating up to speed again is fairly easy.
Both xena and bikeman with ludicrous arguments again.
I must be an idiot as lorries are dangerous on pavements too yet I choose to walk on pavements.
Surely even the biggest cretin should be aware that a dual carriageway should provide the highest level of safety - there's a whole other feckin lane to overtake in!!!
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