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news
Near Miss of the Day 550: Unmarked police car driver weaves through cyclists
Here’s an interesting entry in our Near Miss of the Day series – the driver of what we presume is an unmarked police car starting to overtake a cyclist and thinking better of it due to a couple of other riders; as well as another motor vehicle, coming in the other direction then after weaving through them, flashing their blue lights.
The footage was filmed in northwest Kent by road.cc reader Philip, who said there was no apparent reason for the driver to have flashed the lights other than because “that for some reason excused and justified their bad driving.”
He told us: “Having just cycled up Hogtrough Hill (just next to the better known Brasted Hill in Kent) I was heading down a quiet country lane. I started taking a left turn, arm out in a clear signal with a car still approaching on the opposite side of the road. The car then continued to turn as I turned but onto the wrong side of the road, towards an oncoming car and two other bicycles.
“The car then had to stop sharply but couldn’t pull over because by this point it was parallel to me and had nowhere to go. It pulled in behind me, allowed the oncoming car and bikes to pass and then continued to pass me. While I was fine and nobody came close to me, had the oncoming traffic been faster or closer we could all have been seriously hurt.
“As I gave my usual disappointed shake of my head that I reserve for this sort of thoughtless driving the car lit up its blue lights. I can only assume that this was to show me that it was an unmarked Police car and that for some reason excused and justified their bad driving. There was no reason to light up its lights after passing the other vehicles and while passing me and at no other point were their blue lights on and almost as quickly as they passed, they turned off their lights again. (Note, in the video their side lights appear to flicker but this is just a side effect of the camera’s frame-rate).”
He added: “I find in general road users’ lack of consideration for cyclists disappointing but it is really sad that I often find that the Police are just as bad as any other ‘regular’ driver.”
> 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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104 comments
A fwiw.
Haven't a clue about the law around this, but I DO know that emergency services drivers can be subject to disciplinary action if caught out abusing their emergency signals.
In my case, it was an NHS emergency driver. He abused his siren, close passed, and pulled a really nasty cut in front of me. I complained to the relevant service. Initially, they pooh-poohed it ... "Didn't happen. Our drivers are highly trained blah-blah-blah ..."
Until they saw the video; and THEN they took it seriously.
It went right to the top, with senior managers inviting me in for a couple of meetings. Something tells me said driver won't have pulled the same trick again
.
I'd report, registering my concern that the use of the blue lights appears to be unusual (as well as pretty stupidly ineffective, given folks on bikes don't generally have mirrors
). The timing of switching on, and switching off again, is (at least) ... "odd".
And let the report run its course? IME, emergency service managers take driving standards VERY seriously.
It happens everywhere. I live in Greece. A mate was riding along Poseidonos in Alimos on the south coast of Athens when the police, who often ride two-up on motorbikes, almost knocked him off his bike as they rode, via a pedestrian crossing, into the carriageway. When he challenged them, they shrugged and said 'But we're the police.'
Having read the 'pile on' in the threads…please OP submit the footage
I'd love to know what was actually going on!
The Gardai...a class of their own...
Reminds me of a time I had a near miss with a cop car whilst driving
Approaching traffic lights at junction and I am from the side road. To my right, the main road is set slightly back, has a high wall and a tree, so I have no visibility. I wish to turn right.
The lights are green for me. I then notice a reflection of blue lights from a window and I stop. The next thing I see is a cop car travelling rather quickly through red on the main road coming from where I was about to turn into. Good job I was observant as there were no sirens.
I was persuaded by a retired officer not to report it but I wish I had now.
The way they drove into the junction was crazy and it was a close call with the Land Rover, but looks like no cyclists were put in danger
C'mon, that's rubbish and dangerous driving:
Plod should be better than that!
Complete non story. Police or fire on blue lights going somewhere in a hurry may get quite close to you. I'll put this in my file of "I'm a special cyclist and my journey is vital" videos.
Lol, yep
You were quite happy with the way they drove into the junction on completely the wrong side of the road then with no clear view of any traffic approaching the junction? As I said earlier, good job the 4x4 was late to the show.
Junctions are good places to pass. there's bit of extra road width usually and everyone has slowed down. The car turning in had a look and changed his/her mind. If the 4x4 had been further back he or she would have passed as it is they braked tucked back in well behind the bike and then passed when it was clear. Wheres the problem ?
"The car turning in had a look and changed his/her mind"
At the point they committed to fully driving on the wrong side of the road, how could they know it was safe to do so? How did they have a view that no one was coming?
Do you think you would have passed your driving test if you turned into a junction like that?
" If the 4x4 had been further back"
And if the 4x4 had been further forward then what would have happened?
Please tell me you don't drive if you think it was all ok.
I do drive thanks.
I'm curious .
All the critical responses to this . How many are by drivers trained for response driving.
BTW the only thing that would count would be video from the red car driver POV so you could see what he/she can see.
What I see is the usual roadcc group think pile on.
You drive?
Do you think you would have passed your driving test taking the corner like that?
"BTW the only thing that would count would be video from the red car driver POV"
So in order to refute the criticisms, you have decided that visibility was ok even though you dont know that.
There are hedges on both sides with a very restricted view of what is approaching the junction, there are also rules 166 and 167 but despite all this, it some sort of group think and that posters should assume it was a safe manoeuvre until proven otherwise.
I know you like to take a minority postion, but this one is ludicrous.
No I'm pointing out that theres a lot of criticism of the police based on a poor quality video including a car that may not even be a police car. thats group think.
the driver may have thought he could turn in and get by before the oncoming vehicle and then changd his/her mind as they turned in.
As I said happy to hear criticism from trained reponse drivers not so much from armchair video clip warriors.
In that case I'm happy to concede that the term emergency services should be used.
How does that affect the terrible driving?
"the driver may have thought he could turn in"
They had no view to make that decision and no knowldege of what was oncoming, and for the third time - do you think you would have passed your driving test taking a corner like that ?
"armchair video clip warriors."
You mean cyclists who use the roads and have been on the end of many, many poor driving incidents who are fully aware of actual and potential accidents and who have developed hazard awareness and defensive road use?
Those that are are responsible for a staggering number of injuries to the public
due to their driving position they were not able to see what was coming round the corner. Hence the interaction with the 4x4. That's why junctions are not a good place to pass
If by that you mean it's f*cking obvious to most people that this was a crap piece of driving.....
"Those that are are responsible for a staggering number of injuries to the public"
how many ?
heres some numbers . not very staggering at all IMO
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
That link's got some extraneous characters - should be: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/329259/FOI-30835_Road_traffice_casualties_and_collisions_involving_police_vehicles.pdf
Your lnk doesn't work
Try this one, which details that 2018-19 out of 42 deaths, 30 were during pursuits, and 10 the victims had nothing to do with the call. Considering teh low number of miles driven in this manner, this is a staggeringly high death toll, and absolutely not worth it
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-custody-deaths-uk-car...
Here's a more qualitative piece, which details the general incompetence of police when it comes to dynamic risk assessment during pursuits. (not that I blame them, they're human. But it points out that engaging is rarely justified)
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jul/02/deaths-uk-police-pursuits-c...
Excusing shit driving with blue lights is not acceptable. A fully trained and competent driver will understand that high-speed response is rarely of ever justified.
And in the case at hand, at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, the driver was being a twonk.
HAving just reviewed these figures (thanks HP) are we looking at the same list.?
Over 2 years 40 deaths and the best part of 200 serious injuries, the vast majority being to members of the public.
Hope it was worth it.
Nic, back in the day I was, in the words of my examiner, a 'very good (police) advanced driver'.
Trust me, that was a shit manoeuvre at the junction and if I'd pulled the same stunt on my Advanced Driving Couse I would have expected to have had to pull the car over, being bawled out by my instructor and made to sit in the back whilst someone more competent took over
Proviso: despite the above, I'm still quite capable of making bad decisions with my driving and for that matter, my cycling. Hopefully just inconsequential ones. (Apart from the time I thought that I was Peter Sagan. I still can't straighten my finger without wincing!)
Well I'll respect your opinion. OTOH all this opinion is based on one poor quality video.
Nevertheless you managed to give your opinion as
"Complete non story. Police or fire on blue lights going somewhere in a hurry may get quite close to you. I'll put this in my file of "I'm a special cyclist and my journey is vital" videos."
Not
"no one can tell anything from the video."
I suppose you can't see the white lines or junction from this poor quality still
Its still a non story.
As it seems to upset you so much I'll file it under "inconvenient . could do better"
Because cutting the corner blind has no consequences
https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-501-hgv-driver-had-cut-corner...
I suppose that one is poor quality footage too.
And thats nothing like this is it.
Another example of a driver turning into a side road with no visibility of what was coming. So yes, it was like it. Although you seem to think that cutting a corner isn't an issue at all.
For a fourth time - if you cut the corner like that on your test, would you pass?
LOL I refuse to answer on the grounds I may incriminate myself.
You know you really might want to get over yourself.
Nic, you're wasting your time trying to explain mate. These lot are all experts on everything and nothing. Very happy to sit behind a keyboard and give their expert opinions, but not got the bottle to actually go and do the job, but will moan like hell, when it takes the Police longer than 30 seconds to turn up to the call they've made. I just usually read their opinions on everything and enjoy the entertainment and comedy factors they have in their lives.
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