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Near Miss of the Day 423: HGV driver overtakes cyclist ... into path of another lorry

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Sussex...

One type of close pass we often see in submissions to our Near Miss of the Day feature is when a driver overtakes a cyclist and has to pull in immediately because there is another vehicle approaching. Today's video takes that to another level, with the driver of an HGV having to pull back in because another lorry is coming towards them.

The footage was shot last Wednesday by road.cc reader Chris, and you can see him wobble due to the downdraft from the lorry as it passes him around a minute into the video - never a pleasant feeling. 

He said: "Not only did the HGV overtake me on solid double white lines he also chose to close pass me so that he could avoid hitting another HGV head on.

" am sure the oncoming HGV driver must have been a little worried."

"I reported this to Sussex Police and all they have done is send ‘an advisory letter’ to the driver."

Solid white lines are covered by Highway Code Rule 129, which says: 

Double white lines where the line nearest you is solid. This means you MUST NOT cross or straddle it unless it is safe and you need to enter adjoining premises or a side road. You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less.

Rule 163, meanwhile, provides more general rules on overtaking:

Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should

not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake

use your mirrors, signal when it is safe to do so, take a quick sideways glance if necessary into the blind spot area and then start to move out

not assume that you can simply follow a vehicle ahead which is overtaking; there may only be enough room for one vehicle

move quickly past the vehicle you are overtaking, once you have started to overtake. Allow plenty of room. Move back to the left as soon as you can but do not cut in

take extra care at night and in poor visibility when it is harder to judge speed and distance

give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road

only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so

stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left

give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car.

> 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.

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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8 comments

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Harmanhead | 4 years ago
0 likes

That was a long vid for what I would call not that close pass of the day. But if I was the oncoming lorry I'd of been really pissed off. Think it was a case of get past the cyclist and not really look at what's ahead of the cyclist. 

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NZ Vegan Rider | 4 years ago
0 likes

Frightening ;-(
Needs fined not just a letter.

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Fishpastesarnie | 4 years ago
0 likes

Vehicle showing up as untaxed at the moment too.

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mrb | 4 years ago
0 likes

Good luck with trying to get Sussex Police to action road safety, it's too much work for them.
From my personal experience they don't give a toss!
I honestly wish they would prove me wrong but I won't hold my breath.

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Awavey | 4 years ago
2 likes

Worthy of a NIP at least that one imo,you can tell also how bad it was by how the van,who passed straight after the lorry gave the cyclist the whole lane when they overtook, that's a very common response ime following bad close passes.

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carlosdsanchez | 4 years ago
3 likes

I'd of though driving without due care would be more appropriate. Looking at the highway code the driver has broken rules 165 and 166 which are "DO NOT" and "MUST NOT" rules

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Daveyraveygravey | 4 years ago
4 likes

You should see what you can do to escalate the incident, the police should not be letting that go with a letter.  The driver and his employers should have everything thrown at them.

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lukei1 | 4 years ago
5 likes

Advisory letter, how appropriate. Obviously we cannot expect a professional driver to know when and how they should be overtaking vulnerable road users. Sigh

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