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news
Near Miss of the Day 456: Bus driver almost sends cyclist into grass verge
Buses pop up regularly in our Near Miss of the Day feature, with one common issue being drivers overtaking cyclists with just inches to spare, which is what we have today with a rider subjected to a very close pass last week on the A259 near Eastbourne in East Sussex.
The road.cc reader who submitted the clip, Richard, said that the driver "Almost had me in the verge, I was lucky to stay upright.
"I let the video run on to show that there were gaps afterwards in the oncoming traffic which the bus driver should easily have been able to see and then given me much more space.
"I reported it to Operation Crackdown and a formal warning letter has been sent. It was apparently considered for prosecution but not thought appropriate in this case," he added.
> 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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9 comments
Is that black thing at the top of the video a boom mic?
Glad the rider is okay. Astounded there won't be a prosecution though.
That is the Sun, something rarely seen in this part of the world.
Unbelievable that this is seen as "not appropriate for prosecution" - it seems that some forces think that until someone is actually knocked off (a matter of pure chance in this case) then no material action needs to be taken.
This should have been driver improvement course at minimum - there's no way that someone should be driving professionally without re-training after that.
Awful pass. Particularly given the speeds involved and likelihood of injury had the cyclist come off, let alone being hit.
We see these so many times.
Would the proposed revisions to the Highway Code be enough to eliminate, or ensure prosecution for, this proximity.
or is it still not strong enough ( "as a guide.." ) and if so what is the point in even bothering revising it then.
Awful, how can that not be prosecutable, they could not have got any closer.
Perhaps put the camera on your righthand side with the right handlebar visible to make it look even closer?
Nasty.
Did you get a response from Sussex's Operation Crackdown? I thought that they had stopped updating people on submissions.
Did you report it to the bus operator?
Only to Operation Crackdown. I figured a formal warning from the police would probably be enough to get internal measures moving.
I'd submitted a few videos of incidents previously with them all just sitting on the website noted as "Case pending", but I actually followed this one up with phone calls as it was pretty terrible. Although I didn't manage to get through to anyone who could give me a definitive answer, it seems to have made them look at the case, and now all of my submissions have had responses (such as "Advisory letter sent to vehicle keeper" etc)