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Near Miss of the Day 484: Must Get In Front bus driver cuts up cyclist at pinch point

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

We've all come across drivers who simply 'Must Get In Front' of anyone riding a bike - and often, they happen to be driving a bus, which is bad enough, but when you add in a pinch point just where the overtake happens, it can be a frightening moment for the cyclist as they get squeezed between the kerb and the passing vehicle, and that's what we have today in our latest Near Miss of the Day video.

This one was sent in by road.cc reader Anthony, with the incident happening as he rode into Derby last month.

"I had both front and rear lights flashing but it was a light evening, so I was visible," he told us.

"Riding into Derby on the A514 in September I was at a particularly rubbish bit of road where a cycle lane ends and the road then eventually narrows creating a pinch point. I have ridden his pieces of road a lot and am always aware of the road narrowing.

"On this occasion an Arriva bus driver decided that he would use the opportunity to get ahead of me as he was desperate to join the queue of traffic ahead.

"Had I not been very alert and sensed the bus coming alongside me and ultimately taking all of the road ahead of me I would have been under his wheels, or if he had swerved, he may have hit the bus coming the other way.

"I was so incensed I caught up and asked the driver what he was doing, he seemed to suggest I should have given way to him, despite me being in front of him on the road.

"Complaints to Arriva have got nowhere with replies only coming after multiple emails. I offered them the footage and they have ignored my offer and I received a standard 'we have spoken to the driver' response, despite them not having all the information available.

"I can’t prove it, but doubt anything has been done or anyone has been spoken to. If they took it seriously, they would ask for the footage or want more information.

"The fact the driver seemed to think he was in the right and did nothing wrong is even more worrying," 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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12 comments

Avatar
NZ Vegan Rider | 4 years ago
4 likes

Terrible, dangerous driving  2

I would've told the driver the complaints and video were going to their manager and Police.

I hope you did a Police complaint too.

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wtjs | 4 years ago
3 likes

Standard features- oncoming traffic, bus has no mention of slowing down. OP is right- 'we have had a word with the driver' from the company or police means they have no intention of doing anything but filing the complaint most efficiently in the bin. Lancashire Constabulary didn't even bother with the 'having a word' dodge with this- there was no response at all. I am not surprised at the information concerning WMP- I have bored people with this many times, but to the police close passing is not an offence unless there are buckets of blood on the road.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to wtjs | 4 years ago
3 likes

Maybe that's what the next campaign for cyclists' safety should be; buckets of blood on the road.  It would certainly be an interesting experiment to try, and it would get a lot of publicity, but how would you measure the other effects, like drivers' attitudes?

Avatar
wtjs replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
3 likes

That's a description of what the police attitiude is, not what it should be. 

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eburtthebike replied to wtjs | 4 years ago
2 likes

wtjs wrote:

That's a description of what the police attitiude is, not what it should be. 

Quite right, so let's show it up for what it is; blatant bias against cyclists, who die as a result.  A few bottles of Aldi's cheapest tomato sauce splashed about the place will get plenty of media coverage and a chance to explain the issues.

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brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

Maybe that's what the next campaign for cyclists' safety should be; buckets of blood on the road.  It would certainly be an interesting experiment to try, and it would get a lot of publicity, but how would you measure the other effects, like drivers' attitudes?

Isn't that similar to those "die-in" things that American cyclist groups seem to engage in?

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Jenova20 | 4 years ago
5 likes

If they don't care then forward it to the police.

Coincidentally, i was just reading about how West Midlands Police is doing with this. For anyone interested - their own crime figures show that in 234 close passes of an officer they didn't fine or prosecute a single person for their driving. They managed a few education courses and prosecutions for other things, but the fact they've decriminalised dangerous driving and close passes of cyclists is ridiculous and needs bringing up urgently with MPs. Source below.

 

https://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/686A_Atta...

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hmas1974 | 4 years ago
3 likes

I wouldn't expect Arriva Midlands to do anything. Bad management from the top down in that company.

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HarrogateSpa | 4 years ago
6 likes

Dangerous overtake, commendably calm reaction. The bike lane is crap, which doesn't help.

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Ants replied to HarrogateSpa | 4 years ago
4 likes

Hi all, this has been submitted to the Police and have have no doubt they will do absolutely nothing. I have also emailed the council about the really crap road layout, but had little response, other than an acknowledgement. Arriva didn't respond until I chased them up several times. I am not sure they even viewed the footage before 'speaking to the driver' so have no confidence in their complaint handling. From now on I am taking the lane on this bit of road and will deal with the fallout as it will be less risky.

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nikkispoke replied to Ants | 4 years ago
0 likes

It may be worth submitting your complaint and video to the Health and Safety executive (HSE) and asking Arriva what measures they have in place for protecting vulnerable road users (inculding any risk assessments) and what internal process they should follow to correct driver behaviour when a complaint is made and proof that this has been followed. It may also be worth getting your MP or councillor involved (if local) as Arriva are a public service provider and do not like publicity that may show they are putting the general public at risk. Most of the bus drivers I find are OK around Derby but I have noticed an odd issue with Arriva buses as they do seem to leave less room (a generalisation so not exact) and would guess that Arriva only pay lip service with regard to their responsibilities 

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Ants replied to nikkispoke | 4 years ago
1 like

Thanks for the comments, I might just do this. Having previously tried to report a really close pass on the A6 (also on NMOTD) and the crap response from the Police, I have become disillusioned that anyone gives a toss. Perhaps if they realised the cost of investigating a fatality they may start to take this sort of thing seriously.

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