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Near Miss of the Day 643: Police officer pulls out on cyclist

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

One of the more niche sub-genres in our Near Miss of the Day series comprises incidents in which the perpetrator is a police officer – there’s some examples here –and it’s always a bit of a head-scratcher given that they tend to be better trained than the average driver as well as being, you know, the people tasked with upholding the law.

So while today’s offering, which happened on Lilford Road in Camberwell, South London just after 8am this morning is by no means the worst example of driving we’ve featured in the series, we thought it was worth sharing.

As Rendel, the road.cc reader who posted the footage to Twitter says, “It’s not exactly a near miss (could have been if I hadn’t kept aware) but if the police can't be bothered to look for bikes or indicate before pulling out ...”

He added that he has lodged a formal complaint with the Metropolitan Police regarding the incident. 

> 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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130 comments

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
15 likes

I wonder if its just possible they had a reason to not use their indicators? Budget cuts maybe? Pay-per-blink?

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Captain Badger replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
16 likes
nicmason wrote:

I wonder if its just possible they had a reason to park thats side and hadnt read the road cc guide on how to drive without affecting the cycling snowflake community.

No need to consult RCCG. HWC 239 1st bullet is clear

"Rule 239

Use off-street parking areas, or bays marked out with white lines on the road as parking places, wherever possible. If you have to stop on the roadside:

  • do not park facing against the traffic flow"
nicmason wrote:

Save your venom for seriously bad driving it'll be more effective.

Yeah, facking snowflake cyclist not wanting to get hit by highly skilled and trained negligent drivers...

 

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nicmason replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

And as the police hating trusty roadcc lawyers dust off their legalese for some reason I have the elephant march from jungle book as appropriate backing music   

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Captain Badger replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
8 likes
nicmason wrote:

And as the police hating trusty roadcc lawyers dust off their legalese for some reason I have the elephant march from jungle book as appropriate backing music   

Oh Nic, I was quoting the HWC, that's all. Anything more than ad-hominem?

Of course not, otherwise you'd have already brought it forward. Silly question.....

Have a great day dude

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nicmason replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
0 likes

nothing more at the moment. 

You too.

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
15 likes
nicmason wrote:

And as the police hating trusty roadcc lawyers dust off their legalese for some reason I have the elephant march from jungle book as appropriate backing music   

Lol, classic troll's gotcha. Challenge people to prove what's wrong then mock them when they do. 
 

What is the point of you?

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Captain Badger replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
6 likes
Wingguy wrote:
nicmason wrote:

And as the police hating trusty roadcc lawyers dust off their legalese for some reason I have the elephant march from jungle book as appropriate backing music   

Lol, classic troll's gotcha. Challenge people to prove what's wrong then mock them when they do. 
 

What is the point of you?

A friend first, and a troll second, probably an entertainer third.… 

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nicmason replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
0 likes

Thats quite a philisophical question.  whats the point of anyone ?

But in this case I am am mocking the endless play back of rules and regulations .

I wonder how many of these people follow every highway code regulation to the letter. I'm going to guess thats a big fat zero.

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TriTaxMan replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
5 likes
nicmason wrote:

But in this case I am am mocking the endless play back of rules and regulations .

I wonder how many of these people follow every highway code regulation to the letter. I'm going to guess thats a big fat zero.

No you seem to be judging the rest of us by your own standards there.

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
6 likes
nicmason wrote:

But in this case I am am mocking the endless play back of rules and regulations .

I wonder how many of these people follow every highway code regulation to the letter. I'm going to guess thats a big fat zero.

Unless you are a genuine anarchist the flaw in your logic should be glaringly obvious to you. Laws and regulations do not cease to have any meaning simply because they are not always obeyed.

Further, the only reason anyone needs to quote the regulations at you is because you pretend to be obtuse enough not to see the careless driving that is present on the video as plain as the nose on your face. 

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Hirsute replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
10 likes

It's legalese now to know the highway code?

How does anyone pass their driving test without knowing the basics of the highway code? Or even how to drive with regard to other road users?

Of course instead of labelling everyone police haters, you could just acknowledge it was a poor piece of driving that was mitigated by an experienced cyclist.

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wycombewheeler replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
6 likes
Captain Badger wrote:
nicmason wrote:

I wonder if its just possible they had a reason to park thats side and hadnt read the road cc guide on how to drive without affecting the cycling snowflake community.

No need to consult RCCG. HWC 239 1st bullet is clear

"Rule 239

Use off-street parking areas, or bays marked out with white lines on the road as parking places, wherever possible. If you have to stop on the roadside:

  • do not park facing against the traffic flow"
nicmason wrote:

Save your venom for seriously bad driving it'll be more effective.

Yeah, facking snowflake cyclist not wanting to get hit by highly skilled and trained negligent drivers...

 

amazing the powe that roadcc has, being able to get our driving whims incoporated into the highway code.

Also worrying that police officer/police fanboy NicMason is unaware of the perfectly sound guidance provided in the highway code to make the roads safer for everyone. Doesn't like he people being criticsed for below standard drving, sounds like a bit of a snowflake.

There was no venom from me, I was just pointing out where driving could be done better and the likely cause of the police officer not seeing the cyclist, a much more likely reason than his after you, no after you scenario.

There was hardly a shortage of spaces on the opposite side where they could have parked safer. or maybe they were all full before this single police car raided a house party, and 50 guys ran from the building and jumped in their cars to drive away, freeing up spaces that had previously been occupied.

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belugabob replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
4 likes
nicmason wrote:

I wonder if its just possible they had a reason to park thats side and hadnt read the road cc guide on how to drive without affecting the cycling snowflake community.

Or maybe they hadn't read the highway code...

https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/parking.html

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
17 likes

You do indeed get lots of traffic on roads in cities, that's why you have to look in your mirrors to see if there is any traffic coming which you will impede before you pull out from a parking space into their path. If there is, you are supposed to stop and let them through. You should also indicate your intention to pull out from a parking space by using your indicators. This is not rocket science. Professional police drivers who have gone through at least the basic police driving course should be capable of not making errors that would get them a fail on a driving test.

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nicmason replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
0 likes

If thats the worst you see cycling round London you are blessed. But thanks for sharing.

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
11 likes
nicmason wrote:

If thats the worst you see cycling round London you are blessed. But thanks for sharing.

It's not even the worst I saw on this morning's 25 km commute, however it is extremely concerning that a professional police driver is not capable of driving to a standard which would allow him/her to pass their driving test. This is a driver who will be allowed to drive on the sirens/lights at very high speed through crowded urban areas. If they're not capable of accomplishing the most basic low-speed manoeuvre in a safe and legal manner, they need to be spoken to and their driving addressed.

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nicmason replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
0 likes

"This is a driver who will be allowed to drive on the sirens/lights at very high speed through crowded urban areas."

not necessarily. not all drivers of police cars are trained for blue light driving and as such aren't allowed to.. 

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
3 likes
nicmason wrote:

not necessarily. not all drivers of police cars are trained for blue light driving and as such aren't allowed to.. 

So there are police officers driving emergency response vehicles who are not allowed to use the emergency response capacity? If that's true it's a terrific waste of money then, why don't they just have ordinary cars with the paintjob but no lights and sirens (which doubtless, knowing government procurement, cost many thousands extra) for those drivers?

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
2 likes
nicmason wrote:

"This is a driver who will be allowed to drive on the sirens/lights at very high speed through crowded urban areas."

not necessarily. not all drivers of police cars are trained for blue light driving and as such aren't allowed to.. 

Spare us your tedious playback of the endless minutiae of police rules and regs. Do you claim no police officer has ever used blue lights when they shouldn't have? If not your entire post is, by your own standards, irrelevant.

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nicmason replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
0 likes

"Do you claim no police officer has ever used blue lights when they shouldn't have?"

no  don't claim that. 

 

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
4 likes
nicmason wrote:

"Do you claim no police officer has ever used blue lights when they shouldn't have?"

no  don't claim that. 

Then why did you bring it up? Again, by your standard it's clearly irrelevant whether or not the driver is allowed to use the blue lights since they might use the blue lights anyway.

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nicmason replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
0 likes

All things rules etc are surrounded by a certain amount of uncertainty . Thats because we are humans . Some of us are anyway. 

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
3 likes
nicmason wrote:

All things rules etc are surrounded by a certain amount of uncertainty . Thats because we are humans . Some of us are anyway. 

So again the question, why bother mentioning the existence of the rule in the first place if it is uncertain and irrelevant?

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Steve K replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
10 likes
nicmason wrote:

If thats the worst you see cycling round London you are blessed. But thanks for sharing.

That's a bizarre take.  "Lots of drivers drive dangeously around London, therefore it's ok for the police to pull out in front of a cyclist?"

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wycombewheeler replied to Steve K | 3 years ago
4 likes
Steve K wrote:
nicmason wrote:

If thats the worst you see cycling round London you are blessed. But thanks for sharing.

That's a bizarre take.  "Lots of drivers drive dangeously around London, therefore it's ok for the police to pull out in front of a cyclist?"

"yes your honour, my driving was not in accordance with the highway code, but at least 50% of drivers do worse things" isn't the sort of technicality that will get you off.

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mdavidford replied to wycombewheeler | 3 years ago
5 likes
wycombewheeler wrote:

"yes your honour, my driving was not in accordance with the highway code, but at least 50% of drivers do worse things" isn't the sort of technicality that will get you off.

It shouldn't be the sort of technicality that will get you off, but...

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
13 likes

I knew which someone would see that video and take it as they saw the cyclist (saw him enough to indicate intention, no thought not). And no, they did not slow down to let him through. (nice thing called brake lights indicate that) which don't come on at any point after they made the decision to cross into the cyclists path. 

Still as you regularly defend bad driving and actually admit to going the "wrong way around roundabouts as it is easier init", then I think you telling us what IS good driving is laughable.  

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IanMSpencer replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
14 likes

The test the police use for driving without due care is "Did they cause a road user to slow down or alter course?"

Clearly they did, so an offence has been committed.

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TriTaxMan replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
5 likes
nicmason wrote:

Nothing to see. Looked to me like they started pulling out and slowed because of the cyclist who also slowed so they went. Its called traffic and you find a lot of it on roads especially in cities.

Of course there is nothing to see, because you can't seem to see anything.

The police car slowed down not because of the cyclist, they pulled out slowly so that they could see what traffic was coming in front of them, then when they saw a car coming towards them they braked and pulled into the gap in the parking bay to let the oncoming car past.

The oncoming car then let the police car past the parked cars.

But yes given your previous comments about how you are simultaneously a better rider than everyone here but drive your motorcar with reckless abandon of course you will try and blame Rendell for the ineptitude of the motorist.  

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Hirsute | 3 years ago
3 likes

I would have been highly tempted to make the left and follow them to give them a piece of my mind.

I'd say that was a near miss too.

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