Near Miss of the Day 589: Angry driver brakes and swerves in front of cyclist after close pass

An impatient driver overtook a cyclist in busy traffic coming within inches of his handlebars - and then decided to swerve and brake in front of the rider before shouting at him for cycling 'in the middle of the road'. 

The driver of the red Jaguar launched an angry tirade after performing the dangerous overtake, all while a young child sits next to him in the passenger seat. 

The cyclist who submitted the video said he was concerned about the example being set and added the driver 'only needed to wait five seconds' to have overtaken safely.

He provided road.cc with a copy of the statement he sent to police.

It read:  "I have been using a helmet camera for a few years and have reported over 200 incidents to the police.

"I have attached a video showing one of the worst incidents.  Below is the redacted statement that I provided to the police.  The driver received a Fixed Penalty Notice, which he did not contest.

"I was cycling along... away from [a] junction.

"There was traffic queueing on the other side of the road.  

"After the junction the road gradually narrows and it became unsafe for vehicles to pass me but a car overtook, passing within inches of my handlebars.

"The driver could have passed safely about five seconds later. I hit the side of the car hoping that the driver would give me more space, which he didn’t.

"Fortunately I was able to move into a bus stop. After passing me, the driver swerved in and braked sharply in front of me. I pulled alongside cautiously.

"He falsely accused me of cycling in the middle of the road and gestured obscenely.

"This is the worst driving I have encountered for a long time and I am also concerned about the example being set to the child in the car.

"Six minutes later I caught up with him... where he was queueing and driving in a cycle lane, completely blocking it.

"I hope that this will encourage other cyclists to use helmet cameras and report dangerous driving."