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news
Near Miss of the Day 535: A new twist on the classic left hook
Today’s near miss is a variant on that timeless classic, the left hook. Rather than merely turning across the cyclist, forcing him to slow, this driver starts to turn but then comes to a complete stop in his path.
The reason for this – as you can see – is a pedestrian crossing a side road.
We have clearly uncovered the precise level of urgency of this motorist’s driving. They are in enough of a hurry that they’ll merrily turn across the path of another road user, but not in quite such a rush that they’d drive straight into a child.
The incident occurred on September 3, 2020, on Constitution Hill Road in Poole, Dorset.
“A case of I'll just left hook the cyclist or run the child down,” said Gary who submitted the footage.
> 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
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 17 min 16 sec ago
Yeah ... but remember: e.g. not speeding is (presumably still) taught to learners, then having passed the test a very high percentage leave that...
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I take the point, but road.cc periodically surveys its readership on income, bike spend etc. I suspect the answers indicate there is an audience...
- leaway2 1 hour 10 min ago
£12 million for 6km, crikey.
- Miller 1 hour 20 min ago
Got to love Pogacar, always diplomatic and sensible. Not in his racing style though.
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That's true enough. But doesn't address my point that the chainset you get as a replacement will not physically fit chainrings from the chain set...
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In all fairness, it almost certainly NEVER happened…
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1) I'd love to see anyone tell an EV driver that they shouldn't be on the road or move out of the way because they pay less VED....
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Many of my fellow Tories sincerely hate bike schemes, and our friends sincerely hate these schemes, and road changes create enormous noise on...
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Norfolk Police said the woman has since been reported for driving without due care and attention. Motorists charged with the offence face a fine of...
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31 comments
cyclist taps car after failed overtake - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YshbN0zJrG8YouTube
if anybody else wants to see an abismal overtake instead of waiting behind, this is yesterday approaching christchurch. Driver beeped and wound down window to threaten the two riders for his own error. Why overtake then come left just before the roundabout??
That youtube video shows the stupidity of most cycle lanes in the UK. That road hasn't enough room for a cycle lane but the white paint makes the driver think 'lane, I'm in mine so can be as close as i like'
Highway Code Rule 167 bullet point 9
● stay behind if you are following a cyclist approaching a roundabout or junction, and you intend to turn left
Has this been reported?
no. last time i had anything to do with the police here they were driving alongside me on canford magna hill when i was going 30 mph in a 40 zone, with one copper hanging out the passenger window pointing and telling me there was a cycle lane on the left. I told him it was a pavement and i was too fast, then left them in traffic seconds later. No way am i reporting to people who employ such lunatics.
Not very encouraging I agree but I doubt it will be the same policemen who deal with submissions. I still feel that if we don't report incidents things will not improve and I would still urge you to submit it despite the frustrations.
If you do get a result and if the driver tells friends then a few more drivers may treat us with a little more respect next time. A forlorn hope may be but one I cling on to.
Did you report that incident? If not, you can hardly expect them to improve if nobody points out their mistakes.
Looks to me like the driver thought about passing the pedestrian on the opposite side of the road too, but thought better of it.
If I was the cyclist I would have turned left at the junction (legally undertaking the stationary car) and then assumed primary.
Where was the new twist
They stopped !
Yeah, but not because of the cyclist, because of the pedestrian. If they've read the bit of the HC about not killing pedestrians as you turn off, why haven't the read the bit about not killing cyclists?
Stop being hysterical, you undermoine every legitimate case of harrasment when you use language like that
Really? Why?
Burt's made a valid point - the motorist was happy to drive dangerously around the cyclist and yet driving dangerously around the pedestrian was seen as being beyond the pale.
Burt was drawing attention to this discrepancy? / discontinuity?
What language?
Esperanto?
And even then, because the pedestrian was crossing into the wrong side of the road, that they were trying to turn into.
That's not new
OK new for NMOTD !
If this is Gary of Gary's bike channel then his experience kept him safe, someone else it may have had a different ending.
The car driver just saw the cyclist as an irritant to their progress, with no legitimacy, just something in "their" way. The choice was to slow down (oh, the injustice!) and turn behind the cyclist, or overcome the obstacle. Instinctively they took the second option. The calculation was that the cyclist would be forced to brake, and that was a natural consequence for being in their way.
They had doubtless not seen the pedestrian when they committed to the manoeuvre. Had it been an adult pedestrian, who would have looked over their shoulder and made eye contact, my bet is the driver would have driven on in the expectation that the pedestrian could - and should - stop and yield. But it was an oblivious child.
In this case no one was injured. But these are the situations, multiplied time upon time, which eventually lead to injury and death. Prosecuting the fatal accidents is little condolence to the bereaved. Prosecuting the behaviours that pave the path is what's required.
I agree with you, though I must add a couple of things to your first point.
Most drivers have no concept of the speed that cyclists can move. The last time some of them were on a bike was as a child and they moved little more than walking pace, which for a motorised vehicle capable of over 100 miles per hour is relatively stationary.
And when a motorist when passing a cyclist (overtaking is only the properly performed manouvre), in their mind the cyclist ceases to exist the moment the rider is behind the front bumper.
thats probably what looked so odd to a car driver i passed at 35 mph in a 40 zone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8GrOUobRv4
also what i find so irritating with the shared path symbols all over the place and drivers expectations we should use them. Most adult cyclists are holding around 20mph on the road, too fast for sharing with pedestrians. But councils, well they seem to enjoy putting us on the pavement, even though pedestrians complain about speeding cyclists on the pavement.
The pedestrian was already in the road when the vehicle began to turn, so the pedestrian had priority and the vehicle should wait until the pedestrian has crossed to the other side. Rule 206 "You should give way to pedestrians who are already crossing the road into which you are turning."
I think they were simply presenting a driver's incorrect understanding not the actual position.
Possiby one of the most ignored highway code rules in the book. brave pedestrian who doesnt make sure the road is quit clear before crossing a side road.
If I see a car indicating but some way from the junction have they "begun to turn" do i take a chance. No way.
I usually check for any indicating vehicles before crossing a side road and give them priority. I think of it as a reward for them using their indicators correctly.
It is bad in America for Pedestrians when they allow right turns at red traffic lights.
yeah this is me. By far , this isnt the worst cycling experience ive had in BCP area. Still annoying though. I would suspect a lady driver heading down to pick her kids up as there's a school at the bottom of consitution hill where this was. If it had been a kid on an mtb with non too great brake pads though i suppose we could be looking at a case of the bmth echo'' range rover driver has child cyclist drive into them at junction''.
Whoa! Considerably enormous assumption, isn't it? It couldn't be a man going to pick his kids up? Or a man driving along that road for some other reason?
it could be, but you dont see many red range rovers driven by men. Most are black.
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