(Not so) Near Miss of the Day 380: Driver deliberately clips cyclist (includes swearing)

This is very local to me, I always stayed left and looked to take primary as I appoached the roundabout and went straght on. Partly as it's a drag up from Bingley and it's on the way home so I use usually knackered. I have had to stop a couple of times when there wasn't a gap in a stream of traffic. There is always the risk of being overtaken and left hooked of a driver taking the hump about you using the wrong lane. There isn't an ideal solution to taking this roundabout, certainly not the cycling infrastructure.

The straight on road leads to Saltaire, if it's at all rush hour the imapatient driver will be getting stuck in traffic there.

Another example of cycle infrastructure causing more problems than it solves. To use the cycle lane to go ahead at the roundabout, you need to stop and wait for FOUR traffic light controlled crossings. That is utterly ridiculous.

So, I think the first pass was a 'punishment' for not using the cycle lane. The second pass was punishment for not moving over to lane 1 when the single ahead lane split into two on the roundabout. However, I can imagine there's a risk of vehicles using the left turn lane to go straight over, so can understand why the cyclist held position in the lane.

I can also imagine if using the left lane to go ahead on the bike, you could: get left-hooked by cars trying to overtake and assuming you are turning left; or side-swiped by a vehicle in the ahead lane moving into lane 1 on the roundabout. So that's not really an option either.

Okay, before everybody hangs the car driver or disrespects the police action lets take a look at the ACTUAL evidence on the submitted footage. In a criminal court case, which this would be deemed to be as it would be heard in a criminal court, a case has to be proved 'beyond all reasonable doubt'.

It's a four lane divided carriageway, with two lane in either direction, divided by a central island. No signs of it being a dual carriageway, which is confirmed by the 40 mph speed limit repeater sign. The cyclist is shown riding in the outside lane of two, almost from the time the footage clip starts. The cyclist, in the outside lane of two, passes a dedicated right turn lane about 100 metres before the roundabout. My assumption at that point was that the cyclist was going to turn right at that junction as he was in the outside lane of two. The cyclist continues past the junction and approaches the roundabout in the outside lane of two. The Highway Code states that if you are going straight across at a roundabout you can use both lanes of two lane carriageway, unless signage indicates differently, and not travelling more than 180 degrees around a roundabout. On the approach to the roundabout, there are directional arrows painted on the road. The nearside lane has a left turn arrow and the outside lane has a straight ahead arrow. There are no other road signs or indication that the nearside lane is a dedicated left turn ONLY lane. None of the white lines are solid white lines, therefore they can be crossed without committing an offence. A road user approaching this roundabout in the outside lane, wishing to travel more than 180 degrees around the roundabout, returning in the direction from which they came from, doesn't commit an offence because they haven't complied with the 'straight-on' arrow painted in the road.

The cyclist approaches the roundabout in the outside lane of two, there is clearly nothing preventing them from using the inside lane and is undertaken by two other road users; one who continues in the same direction as the cyclist and the other turns left, without indicating. The cyclist then enters the roundabout, still in the outside lane of two and is past, closely, by a Volkswagen Golf, to his offside. No actual contact between the vehicle and cyclist is seen on the footage submitted. Yes, there is a slight deviation in the cyclists path, but that could have been caused by several different things. A wet road surface, the cyclist crosses a metal 'manhole' cover or white line as they are negotiating a circular path and the front wheel momentarily loses traction. The cyclist recovers and expresses expletives, realising they very nearly went under the wheels of a vehicle right next to them. The cyclist is quoted as saying that contact was made with the their leg by the vehicles wing mirror. Define leg! What would the person on the top deck of a No.69 bus say was the cyclists leg? For a saloon vehicles wing mirror to make contact with a pedal cyclist leg, the cyclist would have to be exceptionally tall, the cyclist was performing acrobatics as they rode along or the vehicle was uncharacteristically close to the ground

Therefore, there is reasonable doubt, evidentially, that things didn't happened in the way that they have been reported and it would appear that the local constabulary  have taken the most appropriate action, they deemed necessary, in this particular incident. There 43 different Constabularies within England & Wales, so using the generic term 'police' or 'cops' ('cops' are in America!), is the same as being an 'ist' i.e. Sexist, Racist etc., etc., because 'police' is a collective term, each Constabulary is an individual entity with their own policies and objectives. The only common denominator being the criminal legislation in force at the time. 

In my personal opinion, on this particular occasion, going solely of the footage submitted in this article, the cyclist should have occupied a primary position in the nearside lane of two. Continued in that lane round the roundabout, safely exiting at the second exit...clearly signalling their intention to do so, as they past the exit prior to the one they wish to leave by, to other road users by way of appropriate hand signals. 

Those trying to categorise drivers by the vehicles they drive, because of the country the vehicles come from, well, a lot of people will be surprised to find the vehicle's they genuinely believe to be British are actually far from it - Daimler is German, Bentley is German, Jaguar is Indian, Rolls Royce is German, Lotus - Chinese, Mini is German, Vauxhall is German, Tesla - American...

Far too many of us, yes us, make assumptions about things that clearly we are wrong about. By true definition of the word, there is very rarely a true 'accident' as a party or parties can be apportioned blame. So when commenting on evidential matters you have to make sure you have the full facts before jumping to conclusions. There will always be two sides to an incident and the truth will be somewhere in the middle.

I am a cyclist, a motorcyclist, a car driver, a HGV driver and a PSV driver. I am not pro one type of road user nor anti another, it is the facts that are the truth. 

Cyclist takes the correct lane for his chosen direction, two drivers make inappropriately close passes.

Why is the cyclist's road craft being called into question?

Taking the wrong lane and hoping to make a change closer to the roundabout with potentially faster moving traffic coming from behind could leave you stuck in the wrong lane.

"I would have...." misses the point

I would've moved into the left hand lane on the roundabout, but I ride without a camera so try and make sensible non confrontational manoeuvres.

Not excusing the dangerous driving but I would never pull out that early.  In my experience a manoeuvre like that is asking to be undercut or worse.

I ride with a helmet mirror for a reason; you need to know what vehicles are behind you and what they're about to do. With so little traffic I would've stayed in the left turning lane longer and when the cars came close I would've put out my hand to signal to them to move over and I would've moved away from them. Their driving was dangerous but I would've done the safe things even if they didn't.

Don't let this one go. You must make a formal complaint. Nothing will change if you simply accept the decision.

Attempting an overtake on a roundabout, on the inside where no lane exists, having driven over a painted island to do it, then hitting another road user and then failing to stop. If police won’t act on that, then you may as well not have them. Police or the laws, they’re both useless without action.

That has to be a formal complaint about the Police. There is no chance I would let the cops get away with such a weak charge based on that video. Absolutely disgraceful.

Kudos on the swearing, just the right level of outrage

The actual incidents are stupid and definitely the second one should have had a lot more punishment, but, and I know I will be accused as victim blaming, I'm suprised at how far back you claimed the "go straight on" lane from the island. I like to watch these videos without reading the accompanying descriptions and thought you were going to turn right at the moment. 

I'm assuming your previous commutes along there as shown this is your best bet then waiting to before the lane is marked as left turn road only. However as I first mentioned, it is no excuse for the punishment hit by the driver and the Police should be judging on the results and not what might have led up to it previously as you didn't break any road laws.