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news
Near Miss of the Day 538: Close pass driver hangs back when they realise they are being filmed
Have you heard of PassPixi? It’s a magnetic plate or adhesive sticker that you can put on your pannier, the back of your jacket, or basically anywhere a driver may see it, and with a logo similar to that found on speed camera signs, it alerts drivers to the fact that the cyclist ahead is equipped with a camera – and, by association, that any bad driving may be caught on video.
One rider who has invested in one – and it’s not a large outlay, coming in at £8.99 for the magnetic version, or £5.50 for the adhesive one (plus postage, in both cases) is road.cc reader Joel, who filmed the video here in our Near Miss of the Day series.
With footage shot front and rear, you can see that the motorist is about to perform a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre before, presumably spotting the PassPixi logo, thinking better of it and holding back until it was safer to pass the cyclist.
“I got a camera partly in the hope that some drivers would see it and opt not to make dangerous passes,” Joel says in the description to his video on YouTube.
“The problem is, most don't see the camera – at least until they've already put me in danger. So when I saw the PassPixi patches, I knew I wanted one. I don't want footage of dangerous drivers – I only take footage of dangerous drivers because I don't know how else to stop them putting my life at risk – until now.
“This guy sees me coming round the roundabout – but starts pulling out anyway. He realises he can't quite get in front of me, so he pulls out right on my back wheel instead.
“Watch how quickly he drops back as my back comes into his line of sight and he sees that big neon camera sign though! Worth every penny!
“No I didn't get a discount or anything for posting this,” added Joel [and for the sake of transparency we should make it clear that road.cc doesn’t, either – “just genuinely so happy that my rides are safer every day for this small outlay.”
> 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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18 comments
Found a website* that prints custom logos on hi-viz, so had this made up. Went cycling in it last night for the first time. Too early to say if it's going to make a difference, although my initial impression is that it did not - 4 close passes in an hour, when I'd normally expect to get 2 or 3.
*Website is https://www.hivis.co.uk/hi-visibility/custom-printed-hi-vis/personalised...
Pay close attention to the sizing, the jackets are bigger than you might expect.
PassPixi good idea, but only allows One, to be ordered and no more, as 'buy', takes you straight to PayPal payment! No contact details on company website, and that does not inspire confidence. If there's a delivery problem, how do you contact company.
Been contacted by PassPixi, which is, great! Will follow up with ordering by email, Thanks to company for quick response!
Hello. Sorry about that -- it's all down to my inability to set up a website. If you want to order multiple units or a combination, please email me directly at pixi [at] passpixi.com and I'll sort it out. Permanent fix on the way.
Thanks so much to Road.cc and it's readers for their fantastic support. Stay safe out there!
I prefer to have a discreet rear camera (Fly6) so that motorists don't know to give me special attention. It's not that I want to be close-passed or have to muck around with submitting video evidence, but I just want to have motorists be wary of driving badly around any cyclists. This is also why I'm a fan of police close-pass operations where they use an undercover cyclist.
Although when WMP used to do them, the cyclist was fully kitted out in Police HiViz yet was still close passed. (que coments on Hi Viz being undercover, invisibility cloak, etc ),
I wonder how much was the sign and how much was them being a shit judge of speed and pulling away faster then they should of not realising you were slower then they thought. Ive seen similar manouvres with two cars involved for example where the car pulling in behind then has to brake again as they started off too fast.
I'd be interested in a vest or gilet with one of these on the back. Preferably in retro-reflective. didnt know this existed though. Good product idea.
I've seen a few, mostly aimed at horse riders, e.g. - https://www.printmywords.co.uk/collections/mens-reflective-vests/product...
I think I'd prefer a simple logo rather than an essay though, so looking around for alternatives.
I keep meaning to make my own. A plain hi-viz gilet is cheap as chips and you could paint a 'speed camera' on.
OK, so it would look crap up close, but viewed from a moving car 30 metres away?
Ok,ok, I'm being very optimistic … 10 metres away!
Threatening signs to warn off bad drivers are already in widespread use.
Many horse riders and some cyclists already use Hi-Viz Gilets with a Blue reflective "POLITE" (police) sign on the back.The feedback is not positive.
I believe Ian Walker (Bath University) in his close pass investigation found that he got less roadspace when weraing such a jacket. Some cyclists have said that motorists tend to cut in when they realise that they have been misled. One journalist (Guardian from memory) said that it seemed to help but when he was riding through a rough coucil estate someone threw a milk bottle at him!
"The influence of a bicycle commuter's appearance on drivers’ overtaking proximities: An on-road test of bicyclist stereotypes, high-visibility clothing and safety aids in the United Kingdom" - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457513004636
Edit: road.cc article on the paper - https://road.cc/content/news/99660-high-vis-clothing-doesnt-make-cars-pa...
I get your point, but like the cyclist in this video I have sometimes experienced the driver behaviour appearing to change when they spot the camera. I think the 'Polite' things can be seen as offensive to mr and mrs motorist and retribution sought, but knowing they're on camera may make them behave differently...
I think that getting the message over to drivers that cyclists have cameras is one of the best ways of ensuring good driving practise, but they must believe that bad driving will be acted upon by the police.
You are correct in saying some motorists may find the "polite" vest offensive. We are geting into the deep and murky water of Driving Psychology here. Afterall we must not antagonise the bastards, because then it will be our own fault if they act aggressively.
It's possible given the two lanes on the roundabout and the position of the cyclist taking the inner lane, that the driver assumed the rider was turning right and not going straight on. Whatever it was, it was poor driving for sure.
I've toyed with the idea of a sign like this, but couldn't decide whether it would result it better passes or more abuse! I'd be interested to hear what Joel's experience is.
I've also thought that it might be a good police initiative, like the neighbourhood watch scheme, to have a sign that's endorsed by police, backed up by a self-funding police dept. run by civilian staff dishing out fines based upon submitted video evidence. If only.
It's possible he might ... but only if he was unaware of the meaning of my having my left neon-clad arm extended out full length.
And even if so it wouldn't explain his need to pull right up to an inch of my back wheel ...
Anyhow, my experience of using the patch is extremely positive overall. The average passing distance has substantially increased, and more drivers wait behind rather than squeezing through at first chance.
Doesn't stop everyone of course, but the difference is so noticeable that my wife came out for one ride with me after getting these and immediately requested some for herself too.
Well that removes all doubt - I hope you also extended out full length your neon-clad middle finger!
Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like it's worth giving this sign a go. It also appeals as a more direct way to raise awareness amongst motorists of the prevalance of cyclists using cameras.
I'm now also wondering if you can buy cycling gloves with high viz and reflectives applied tactically to certain digits
yes, Id love to think drivers were being that observant to notice such signs, half of them cant seem to see an adult on a bike sometimes so a 12cm square sign might still not be enough.
But it does stand out on their website pictures,so for a tenner, might be worth a try when the commute to the office returns at least.
as for this instance,Id file it in the maybe it had an effect column
'If only' +1