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news
Near Miss of the Day 489: Another driver turning across a cyclist (+ swearing)
It sometimes happens in our Near Miss of the Day series that a video we publish will nudge the memory of a reader who has suffered a similar incident, and that's what we have today, with yesterday's clip of a motorist turning across a cyclist on a shared use path reminding John of the time a driver pulled out in front of him when he was riding in a cycle lane in Glasgow.
John told us that it happened back in February 2017 on the A77 Ayr Road at the junction of Craignethan Road.
"In the video you can see the Audi driver pulls over the lines of the cycle lane to try and impede me, " he said.
"The car which almost wiped me out was sitting stationary and decided to move out of the line of traffic without looking in her mirrors."
"If I had to report close encounters to the police I would be calling them on 90 per cent of my rides.
"Drivers don't give a fig about cyclists, they see them as a hindrance. More support is needed from the police, the courts and better education for drivers," 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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22 comments
"If I had to report close encounters to the police I would be calling them on 90 per cent of my rides."
This is nice to read. I thought it was just me. I'm actually reporting the dashcam footage to the police when the close passes become dangerous though. About 2 a week.
This kind of incident shows what a game changer the online reporting tool is for the Met in my case, that is exactly the kind of moronic driving that needs to be reported and punished, but you wouldn't go out of your way to go to a police station to report previously. If this happened to me in London I would 100% report it and expect the Met would prosecute with the driver getting sent on an awareness course at an absolute minimum
I'm not convinced the Audi was doing anything deliberate, in fact it's not clear to me whether they could see the cyclist due to the curve of the road.
Shoddy driving in a bike lane, yes, deliberate blocking - just a maybe based on the video.
The Audi is not the subject of the video.
It's mentioned both in the text quote from the rider and in the comments.
RTM.
A letter missing surely?
Swearing always sounds better in a Scottish accent.
Wasn't there a line in the Peter Capaldi Doctor Who: "It's good I'm Scottish. ... I can complain about things, I can really complain about things now."
I think they had their eyes on the prize for that front nearside wheel!
Nicely avoided.
Interesting - was that trim in the road off that car?
Edit:possible but probably not
looks like the sort of vehicle bits would drop off of, either way, it's a win!
I thought someone was going to come through the gap.
Great stop though.
Succinctly put, John
The Audi driver being a bit of a twat, but does it help going as close as you dare to him, its the same mindset as the "Punishment pass" almost an I'll show him sceanario thinking he can block the cycle lane. Just use the rest of the lane to pass with no fuss and hassle and get on woth your day.
Or get on with being nearly wiped out by the next arsehole further up the Q in this case.
Scraping the barrel to find a criticism of the bike rider.
I simply haven't commented on the more serious incident with the Corsa (?) because it goes without saying the driver was useless and Jonh reacted well to avoid a collision, and didn't over react which is easily done when you get n Adrenalin hit like he will have had in this instance. The whole thing was so cut and dried there was little value in commenting.
Some folk come here for advice and tips. In this instance there was an earlier potential flash point which didn't come to anything but could have done. I only pointed out where he can potentially make life easier for himself
He's in the cycle lane, (difficulty to be certain exactly where - there may be some parallax amendment required for position of camera). So was the Audi....
The following car (gold VW(?)) really shows how it is done by giving space in spite of the magic white line.
Personally, I hate riding over manhole covers. I'd have probably adopted the same line. The Audi driver was being pr1ck (either deliberately or negligently)
Don't disagree that the Audi driver was daft.
There is no mnhole cover between the Audi and the kerb, so why ride as close as possible to his precious machine if not to "make a point" just as so many drivers do when they believe they see fault in someones riding (hence close passes when riding two abreast etc), just bisect the space and make life easy for yourself whenever possible in my book.
As a matter of interest, the cycle lane is marked with a dashed line so is there anything wrong with the Audi being there. By that I'm not suggesting it was good driving, just wondering if there is any offence or guidance on that positioning
So it's not a MUST, but you shouldn't be in it unless it's 'unavoidable', whatever that means. I've always found this a little odd, as it sort of implies that you shouldn't drive in a mandatory cycle lane, even if it is unavoidable.
Thanks, I was 2 lazy to look that up, and of course it is as clear as most of these things, since "unavoidable" isn't properly defined. Just some of the usual shitty driving
Ther are 2 on the approach, at several m intervals. Under some circumstances, I'll take a line to avoid having to deviate for hazards
Yes,
140
Cycle lanes. These are shown by road markings and signs. You MUST NOT drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation. Do not drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a broken white line unless it is unavoidable. You MUST NOT park in any cycle lane whilst waiting restrictions apply.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8
I doubt it can be considered an offence, however, the guidance is pretty well defined
Another driver turning across a cyclist (+ swearing)
I swore too. Excellent reactions from John, given the very little time he had. The driver did indicate, not very clearly, and not until John was close to the car. As for the twat in the Audi, shouldn't be allowed on the road.