Near Miss of the Day 406: Articulated lorry driver in frightening close pass on cyclist (includes swearing)

It's a terrifying road to cycle on. I've had to travel between Pinewood studios (further along this road) and Cardiff regularly, and even though I could have cycled, I've chosen to drive instead, simply to avoid this stretch. A depressing decision to take, but there are no practical alternative routes, and the area has quickly become heavily industrialised, and has long exceeded the capacity of the country lane infrastructure. I'm a very experienced (*old*) bike rider, once a london courier, etc; and the aggression and intolerance I've encountered the few times I've cycled here put me off. HGV's, soil trucks, scaff trucks, scrap trucks, delivery vans (various depots up the road), arsey commuters, everyone angry. Sadly, this video footage is not exceptional. Horrible. 

Please report this Graeme. I've had a few unpleasant passes on that road, but that one was shocking.  

I ride this road about 3 times/week (well, I did before lockdown and probably will again after lockdown) as my commute. The number of c*ckwomble HGV drivers is staggering. In more normal times they only get 1/4 mile down the road before hitting the tailback for joining the A48/M4 and any overtake is therefore entirely pointless. Have to confess, I tend to ride bang down the middle of the lane on that stretch to try and discourage drivers from even attempting an overtake if there's an oncoming vehicle. The (poor) quality of driving on that stretch was also the reason I bought a helmet cam. WIsh Cardiff Council would put a proper segregated route along there (as in a proper mini bike 'road', not a crappy shared-use pavement) because it's the only vaguely direct route between Cardiff and Newport that isn't a socking great A-road or a 35 mile bimble through poorly maintained backroads

DEFINITELY needs reporting! The guy started overtaking with traffic coming the other way as if he was driving an Astra not an artic.

HGV driver needs to be reported. Graeme, please do so and let us know the response.

Plenty of impatient driving going on near me, despite the roads being pretty much dead. You'd have thought halving journey times would be enough for everyone, but no, there are still some people for whom shaving five seconds off their journey is more important than someone else's life.

I'd have been hard on the brakes once that lorry was beside me (you may have been On the video it deson't look like it). I had a similar thing with an artic near Finsbury Park and hard braking was a life saver.

That's how I broke my collarbone. Or rather took the option of crashing left onto the pavement rather than right under the wheels.
I hope you get joy from the police. In my case (in NZ) there was no prosecution and blamed me because he spoke to a friend who said 'i wouldn't cycle on that road'.
I discovered when reviewing crash stars some years later that the copper reported it as 'only the cyclist involved', I assume because it saved him the hassle of trying to trace the truck.

Welcome to NZ policing.

can we have a comparison here please:  https://rate-driver.co.uk/YT15FOV

Glad you're here to tell the tale Graeme.

Like others have commented, I do hope it was reported, Operation Snap is usually good with these cases.

Stay safe

Had this happen to me about 15 years ago. Lorry overtook on a busy country A road  but didn't have time to complete the manouvre before a car approached from the other direction. The driver just pulled in on me as he didn't want a head on collision with a car. Luckily for me there was a nettle filled ditch which I rode into, it hurt like hell but not as much as going under the wheels. The driver of the lorry didn't stop, neither did any of the following cars when the saw me climb out the ditch.50 yards further on there was no ditch. Never rode a bike on that road since, and never will. Like the cyclist in the video, you know it's coming but you can't do anything about it. Glad he survived to tell the tale!

There was a fatality similar to that in Southampton 3 or 4 years ago where there was perceived widening of the road due to a tarmac driveway. Camber of the road  caused the cyclist to move too close to the edge of the road, artic driver tried to squeeze by, road narrowed, cyclist went under the back wheels, killed instantly. Completely avoidable and treated by the courts as "just one of those things" I believe.

My first thought was 'that is not an artic' followed by 'shit that one is'

The mentaility of these drivers is beyond me.

I had to drive somewhere on Saturday, necessary honest, and came across a few cyclists, which I overtook with as much room as I could and only when safe to do so.  One of them was on a relatively narrow and winding road, so I hung back until it was safe to overtake, much to the annoyance of the following driver, who sounded his horn to tell me to stop blocking the road and overtake godammit.  I ignored him and waited until the road widened and I had sufficient forward view to know I could overtake without having to pull in suddenly, and as soon as I did, the following driver overtook the cyclist and me in a flash.  I don't know how fast he was going, but I was doing near the limit as he flew by.

Seems like the whole amount of this Golden Age of cycling money could be spent on more traffic cops in unmarked cars and bicycles to get these dangerous drivers off the road.  As has been pointed out many times, it isn't fear of punishment that makes people obey the law, it's the probability of being caught, and that probability is currently insignificant.

Glad Graeme got out of that with life and limb; one gust of wind, one pothole, one stone in the road.......I do hope he reported this incident.

Wow, that was close! Rider did well to hold onto that one.

IME, one close pass will usually result in another. The driver of the lorry has seen the flatbed squeeze through there and thought, "well if he can do it..."

I had it yesterday with cars - a BMW squeezed through and the avoiding swerve, combined with a bit of wind pushed me left and then right as I regained my balance. The car behind was also trying to squeeze through - precisely because he'd seen the BMW do it - but had to hang back because of my movement outwards. He hooted, I was screaming and gesticulating at him like where did he expect me to go, the road is not wide enough. Anyway, around the bend it opened up and I waved him through - credit where it was due he did actually pass wide but the passenger screamed some abuse (couldn't hear due to wind noise). Yeah, if you get one close pass, you're probably going to get a second as the driver behind goes "oh yeah, it does fit..."

Terrible driving by both drivers.

Why didnt the rider occupy primary centre of the road on his side.  This would have blocked the van overtake and subsequent. 

When there is no centre line ride central, when there is a centre line ride central too

And that is how people die, folks. So close to going under that artic there, and if that had happened the driver wouldn't even be proesecuted. It'd be in the press as "Cyclist killed in tragic collision with lorry". This is why cycling rates are so low in the UK.