Near Miss of the Day 566: Royal Mail van driver nearly hits pedestrian then cyclist

Parcel Farce maybe especially the trucks, but most posties in vans that I encounter at least, are usually quite refreshingly friendly towards cyclists, Ive always assumed because the majority of them are themselves cyclists.

so something like the above would feel very out of character for them.

so something like the above would feel very out of character for them

When Hannah Marriner at Royal Mail Customer Services refuses to do anything, you know that driving like that is approved by Royal Mail management

North/south? 

lukei1 wrote:

Does the close pass law not apply in both directions?

Unfortunately there's no such law. You have to rely on interpretations of 'due care and attention' or careless/dangerous driving.

I agree. I don't want to be close passed at speed by a driver overtaking me, nor by one travelling in the opposite direction.

My tactic is to stay central to force the driver to slow down, then move to the side at the last minute. Doesn't always work though.

.

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree that the driver of the RM van was using his vehicle to bully his way through and should have slowed down, driven with more caution & respect for others, it is not unreasonable to expect the cyclist to have read the road ahead, slowed down and pulled into one of the gaps between the cars. To continue to ride headlong into a situation where there little room for two is foolhardy a best and fatal at worse.

More annoying is when you know there's a car coming up behind you and you indicate and pull into a gap in the parked cars - knowing that if they touch the accelerator then they'll pass you and you can swoop back out without any problems - but then they don't anticipate or react to this and you end up stopped and having to get back out into the traffic.

TBH the cyclist probably thought the van might have also slowed down because THERE WAS A PEDESTRIAN IN THE ROAD. It was only when he realised the van was not slowing for the ped that he pretty much had no where to go. I'm surprised at the Police Reposnse there as they might have decided both at fault for the vehicles but the Ped appeared to be well established in the road well before the van decided he can give that person one inch of room as well. 

In any case, the natural passing point - where both vehicles could have pulled aside to pass with minimal impeding of the progress of both - would have been the gap between cars that the cyclist didn't quite make it to, had the postie not decided to just floor it and bully their way through regardless.

So are you suggesting that we should give in to bullies?

Bungle_52 wrote:

So are you suggesting that we should give in to bullies?

Most bullies in cars and vans expect cyclists and peds to get out of the way and are liable to have a hissy fit (or even a spot of road rage) if the interloper doesn't move of the carriageway and doff their cap respectfully.

And I think you'll find that it even happens when they drive onto a pavement to park, regardless of what the law says.

So are you suggesting we give in to bullies as well?