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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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Have added some clarification....
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43 comments
But as you can see there isn't always - in this case it was occupied.
In this case the driver of the HGV ought to have thought about that, and checked for it, before they went to overtake.
Why not ride in a 4 lane motorway then , extra 2 lanes . Stupid argument . Look at the speed limit for a dual carriageway. You want to deal with that , then I'm not stopping you go ahead . What should happen and what really happens I.e. like the incident in the video are 2 different things . Lorry's overtaking ,cars under taking at those speeds and your happy on your bike mixing with that situation. Go ahead.
Take responsibility for yourself ,you ride on a dual carriageway and get it by a car or lorry undertaking etc, you put yourself in that situation .
Frankly, I am amazed that anyone would willingly ride on that stretch of road, TT or not. Just because a cyclist has the right to cycle on some roads, it really doesn't make it right. It was a shit close pass though.
The road looks perfect for cycling along: smooth surface; multiple lanes to give motorised vehicles another lane for overtakes; slow curves that give excellent visibility of the road ahead so vehicles can easily see cyclists.
You missed out 'used by 'professional' drivers'...
I think Chris is giving the driver a bit of the benefit of the doubt on his motives. It looks to me like the driver had not one intention to move over at all. No indicators from what I can tell with the footage, definitely no sign of moving over a fraction and the lorry behind also was not in any position to overtake him (good 12 feet or so it seemed from one trailer till the next).
I treated myself to a Nando's around the corner from the office just there, and as I was walking across the entrance to a neighbouring building, a black cab driver swung in pretty fast, obviously not going to stop. Pedestrians jumped out of the way.
This is a daily occurrence when I walk around our capital. I had thought it was London, but my recent trips to Scotland, to Cornwall, the Cotswolds and into Kent persuaded me that it may be more prevalent in London, but that the arrogance and sense of entitlement of the British car driver, is very much national.
But this is hardly surprising. There really is no incentive to behave oneself at the wheel, because decades of political and - primarily - ideological choices at the levels of local and central government, mean drivers have got the message that they own the roads, and that no one is going to sanction their bullying.
I think the 'near miss of the day' is a total waste of time.
I think you are right with the sense of entitlement. I was beeped at and given the finger by driver and passenger for holding them up a couple of weeks ago.
When I checked the footage, there was loads of room before the mini roundabout to overtake, so they must have arrived close to my approach and I held them up for 5 seconds at most.
We're all familiar with impatient, shit motorists putting our lives in danger and that's why riding on a dual carriageway is just fucking stupid.
You realise you can use your exact same argument to say riding a bike period is stupid right.
Plenty of cyclists killed on roads that aren't dual carriageways.
You're spot on with 'sense of entitlement'
However, 'NMOTD' can be worth it, if it assists cyclists with their close pass complaints. Also, some discussion (see above) on general cycling safety.
I thought that this was exactly why TT riders love dual carriageways to give that super fast time?
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