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news
Near Miss of the Day 485: “You should know better” – 4x4 driver carrying road bikes makes close pass on cyclist
There's something particularly frustrating when you get a close pass by a vehicle that turns out to have a couple of bikes on the roof rack or on the back, telling you that the motorist who did it is a cyclist themself - and that's what we have in today's Near Miss of the Day video.
The footage here was shot in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire by road.cc reader Alex who said it came from "someone who looks like they really should know better."
Alex continued: "I wasn't too bothered about the Proton - yes, much less than 1.5 metres but it didn't feel close.
"The Qashqai, on the other hand ... passed within inches of me and then I see two decent bikes on the back - obscuring the number plate and lights just for good measure.
"When I caught and passed him 30 seconds later at the inevitable traffic queue, he told me he thought he'd given me enough room!
"Reported to Thames Valley Police, but they seem to have stopped giving updates as a matter of course since June," 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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17 comments
Terrible driving. That was a totally inapropriate place to overtake with oncoming traffic.
What would have happened if the driver braked hard at 12 seconds?
Knobbish driving but referring to a Qashqai as a 4x4 is the same as the papers saying someone's been hit by a racing bicycle rather than a bike. It's only there to cause an inflamatory response. If anything the vast majority of them are 2 wheel drive so likely factually incorrect too.
Reported to Thames Valley Police, but they seem to have stopped giving updates as a matter of course since June
I am repeating myself in saying this means they're filing them straight in the bin. They used to say 'if only we had the evidence- it's your word against his'- those were the Good Old Days for the police. Now they're confronted with Grade A evidence and they don't like it- they seem to be coalescing onto the combined 'you're only a witness' and 'we don't give any information about what has been done' as a means of doing nothing at all. Harden your hearts! The police are acting directly to harm you and your interests by encouraging anti-cyclist driving- treat them as your enemy because they are.
I don't believe this to be true. Not least because I've had a response to other reports after specifically requesting, and in one case was called by a real person on a real phone to clarify matters.
I have also in the last month had TVP call me about a close pass submission.
Did they also tell you where Sid Barrett lives?
I bet the driver did not appreciate their extra width either.
What happened next ?
Did the cyclist remove the wheels, throw them to the side and say 'now I can see your numberplate '?
No. He went home, reviewed the footage, realised it was even closer than he'd thought and only then noticed the obscured plates so reported it to TVP
Should we really consider them to be cyclists themselves, they have slacken the stem and turned the handlebars for mounting on the carrier
This 4x4 driver is probably just a thrill seeker/social rider and not a serious cyclist.
Obscuring rear lights and number plates are, in itself, serious offences that cops are obliged to procecute without excuse, on top of the dangerous and uneccessary overtake on a vulnerble group.
Cops neglecting their public duty and failing to uphold public safety laws, is becoming of them, appearing to represent an anti-cylist movement by favouring dangerous drivers, acting as their free defence team and excusing their dangerous driving.
These cops, neglecting their jobs, should be persued and sacked - if only!
Where does one apply for Serious Cyclist certification? What is the accreditation process?
"No true cyclist..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
mdavidford
Have you not 'processed accreditation for Cyclist certification?'
You are lagging behind.
Nope. I'm also proudly unlicensed....
Lanterne rouge, if you don't mind
The bikes are obscuring the numberplate and are badly mounted on the rack - a big bump and the front wheels would ground.