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news
Near Miss of the Day 508: A classic pinch point close pass by 'Must Get In Front' driver
A classic pinch-point close pass by a "Must Get In Front" driver graces our Near Miss of the Day series today ... but the cyclist on the receiving end has so little faith in Cambridgeshire Constabulary that he didn't submit the footage to them.
This one was sent in by road.cc reader Mike, who said: “Yet another ride and yet another near miss.
“After previous reports to Cambs Plod I do not bother sending any in as they are taken seriously enough unless a cyclist dies.”
Referring to the death last month of Edward Frome, he said: “This one is 100 metres from the death of a cyclist two weeks ago, I had passed that at the time.
“The location is Huntingdon Road, Banks End, Wyton on the A1123, the big issue here apart from the MGIF driver is the incident was at the crossing pinch point, the crossing installed to allow crossing for the shared use infrastructure, which crosses back in 100 metres rather than a continuation route from the shared use facility in place.
“Anyway … I was doing around 32 km per hour on my gravel bike after a morning ride with some pals and 1.5 miles from home, as can be seen I was approaching the pinch point and the MGIF Fiesta driver close passed.
“If I was going to slow down and join the horrid cycle path which is mainly used by pedestrians then I would not be here to write this,” he added.
“It is an infrastructure and design problem which was called out from construction as well as lack of policing and poor driving standards.”
> 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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15 comments
This is the sort of pass I put down to ignorance. They probably didn't realise they hadn't left you enough room and a warning letter from the police would probably do the job in stopping them doing it to someone else. Submit it - but in the description ask them to send out a warning letter. That lets the police know it's little work for them, and the driver details get logged, so if it does happens again they can take it further.
Trouble is, there's a lot of these ignorant drivers out there. I had to properly take the lane to stop someone trying to squeeze past me along a line of parked cars the other day. Their tyres were almost rubbing the opposite kerb they were so intent on trying to get past. Typically, it was literally seconds before they then turned right into a side road - pointless.
Totally agree with it being reported in any case but also agree with comments that positioning by the rider should be addressed. I've been fortunate enough to have had training from one of the UK cycling bodies and now a ride leader. I constantly preach about road positioning with primary and secondary positioning especially at pinch points. Self preservation is most important. Don't let drivers have a free pot at you ... move to the centre of the lane (primary position) when riding towards any such pinch point. Ride safe, plan ahead, get into position early and preserve your life.
no Im not going to criticise the cyclists position for this one, they could have been fractionally further to right, but would it really have impacted the drivers behaviour that much in that instant ? riding prime doesnt erect some magic Gandalf thou shall not pass bubble around you, you are asking people to put their bodies in the way of vehicles that can crush & kill them, self preservation actually encourages you to stay kerb side, furthest out of the firing line, not parked in front of something like a truck whose driver you hope recognises their very next decision could literally change your life forever.
and Ive been close passed plenty of times whilst attempting to hold prime through pinch points, some drivers will just drive over them to get through you,or around the other side, or try some very aggressive intimidatory driving both through and after the pinch point, I dont believe its the silver bullet solution its alluded to be.
and as I said earlier on my route to work, you try holding prime through 4 consecutive pinch points in rush hour traffic and see how successful you are at it.
Exactly this. I ride central all the time and cede road position when its safe for me to let a vehicle pass.
Riding more central gives a much wider escape route to your left.
It sounds contra to safety, but my experience is that it improves your safety, by eliminating, what I call 'follower drivers'. These are drivers that ignorantly follow the path of the vehicle in front, almost always too close to the vehicle, that their field of view is so limited, they can't see what is approaching in front of the vehicle that is in front of them.
By creating a rolling road block, drivers have to plan to overtake. But in the instance where a driver thinks to punish with a close pass, you have your wide left side escape area.
I find that more drivers are respectful when I ride central.
In the piece the rider says that he has given up sending in video evidence to the local police force. I think this is a mistake. I know it's frustrating but if we all keep submitting and keeping copies of the footage then a body of evidence is built up which could become useful in the future.
May be when a collision occurs here it can be used to show that the police failed to act. May be an email to the local PCC with a collection of videos that the police have failed to act on. May be the local MP the could be involved.
In my opinion we all need to keep the pressure on if driving standards are to improve.
If only Road CC could collect the footage from these near misses and send them to the relevant PCCs for comment they may be shamed into taking action.
Totally agree with reporting this.
it is a close and fast pass at a pinch point and preceded by no passing lines.
it goes against all guidance so should be put to the police and if no action up. Chain to the PCC.
we will never get safe cycling until dangers like this are addressed
But I can understand that frustration, theres a road I cycle to work on that has about 10 of those pedestrian refuges,with 4 in a row in a sequence, and good luck to anyone trying to hold prime through them all. And passes like that are two a penny ime, I've literally collected terabytes of video footage like that and I'd be submitting at least one video,if not videos, per ride on that road as a result.
But it doesnt change anything, the reaction from drivers is still they see cyclist, they see pinch point, theyve got to get in front at all costs, regardless of any other consideration, because it doesnt create a collective memory or experience for them everytime someone gets a letter from the police about it.
well if you just used the awesome pavement, sorry, ''cycle lane'' right beside the road, you wouldnt have forced the driver to have come so close to you. I wonder what would happen if someone went around and spray painted over the bicycle symbol on shared paths, just left the pedestrian part on there. That way if you get close passes or told to use the cycle lane, you could say well there's no sign to say i can use it, are you going to pay my fifty pound fine for riding on the pavement?
I pull into the centre of the lane at pinch points to deter that sort of behaviour.
So do I, but that does not absolve the driver of being a complete and utter effwit. It is clearly dangerous to overtake a cyclist at a road narrowing.
If it was me, I'd submit it to the police, and if they took no action, I'd complain and complain and complain until they damn well did.
i had some old lady do this to me, she actually scraped her car against my right leg. I submitted that to the police and he actually did something, went round to her house and played her the footage, gave her a stern talking to. Thats the only good police officer ive come across as a cyclist sadly.
That's it. Check your shoulder and get into the Primary Position when approaching a road narrowing.
Or just wobble a bit*
If you drift slightly right, then left, then right, it might give the motorist pause for thought and they might back off. Most motorists really don't actually want to kill someone...
*(c) Grant Peterson, Rivendell
Or just wobble a bit*
No, the Essex Constabulary rules (as demonstrated on here) are that you have to wobble AND brake before they will accept that the driver has performed a PROPER close pass!
Really? <face-palm> Oh good grief...