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Classic very close pass and pull in (HF18 TZW) 0-9 screenshotNear Miss of the Day 595: Classic traffic island Must Get In Front driver then left-hooks cyclist
Another case today in our Near Miss of the Day of a driver who simply had to get in front of a cyclist deciding to do so at a pinch point due to a pedestrian island - and in the process, making an extremely close pass on the cyclist, and then turned left immediately afterwards.
It happened on Upper Bristol Road in Bath to road.cc reader - one of whose videos we featured earlier this week - who told us he had reported it to Avon & Somerset Police.
"No doubt a warning letter will be sent (that seems to be the default action now)," he said.
"The last one I sent had a 'positive outcome' from them (letter, points or prosecution)," he added.
> 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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34 comments
"The last one I sent had a 'positive outcome' from them (letter, points or prosecution)," he added.
My personal definition of a 'positive outcome' does not include the joke letter.
Give this a try, it works about 75% of the time for me.
When approaching a pinch point and I can hear a car approaching that sounds like they are about to do a close pass, I look back at the driver. Most times they slow up.
It may be due to eye contact being established?
That trick is in my armoury too. Like you it works a lot of the time.
Yes, that and raise to arm to signal - only needs to be 45o for horizontal (that way you won't get your arm hit), then they see that I intend to change position
I tend to signal with a pretty forceful "I am intending to move THERE" of my hand, well ahead of making the actual manoeuvre.
I figure I am in front, that makes it my priority if I choose to manoeuvre (so long as I am not causing anyway and they can damn well wait.
No namby-pamby, "Erm, I'd quite like to...".
To stop vehicles overtaking at pinch points like this, the usual tactic is to take primary position on the road. Sometimes as has been said this gets an aggresive response as it is seen as being obstructive.
Eye contact often helps if you can manage it, as does giving a (false) hand signal.
Another trick which sometimes helps is to deliberately wobble as you are riding along the road. If you are riding in a dead straight line like a team sky rider you are being totally predictable and the following driver is confident he can squeeze past. Throw in a few wobbles and he has to actually decide how to get past. I think the wobbling technique means the driver just thinks you are a poor cyclist and not deliberately being obstructive.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could just ride the bike instead of playing road chess every time we go out, where the price for losing could be your life?
+1 for wobbling, especially if you've got grey hair. Also works on narrow country lanes especially going uphill.
Cheers
I thought I was the only purposeful wobbler, I've now found a couple of others.
The other technique I have found works quite well is going over blind bridges.
We have two railway bridges in our village with double white lines and blind summits. I get into prime position, but drivers still think it is a good place to overtake. If you get out of the saddle and throw your upper body around when you sense thay are about to pass it puts them off a treat
I've done that in the past (nowadays I try to be bolder with taking up space on the road when appropriate) and another trick is to do a sudden swerve as if to avoid a drain cover just before they start their overtake.
Best combined with: a flat cap, an oversized gardening body warmer/jacket (even in summer), a basket on the front of the bike. Throw in an "ay-up Mavis" every few hundred metres for added authenticity...
Sounds like you know what you are talking about
My basket is on the back, does that count? I've tried the flat cap. Works for driving but gets blown off cycling I find.
Ay up Mavis.
It has to be on the front, and made of wicker, or at least have a big plastic flower on it.
I have one of these situations on my daily commute, an island at the entrance to a mini roundabout. It is such a frequent occurence of a car driver wanting to squeeze past that it no longer even causes me anxiety and I bale out with a left turn rather than go straight ahead. The only time it becomes a real problem is when they also want to go left which happens around once a year. Somewhere there's a red corsa, number plate ending LSU with a nasty bar end shaped ding in the rear quarter panel but I didn't have my camera that day. I did try for a time taking primary, but that resulted in horns and other aggression, also it is sometimes difficult to make that line change from the comedy cycle lane into moving traffic when the drivers leave too little space.
This is typical from a few years back and one of my first attempts at creating video. It is a bit wobbly.
https://youtu.be/BmvLZR51JV8
Had that the other day with a taxi driver. When he stopped to find out my problem I told him that he's the professional driver he should be able to figure it out and I've footage done he could walk the police through his actions then rode off.
it stops most opportunistic overtakes by riding centrally. On rare occasions, some nutter will still attempt a dangerous manoeuvre. But, by riding centrally you have nearly 2 metres to your left to get away.
If you ride in the gutter there is no safety escape area only a kerb or verge, which would lead to a fall
Here is the incredible CycleGaz, with almost 6 minutes on why "Telling others to "Ride in Primary" isn't always helpful"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppTM9GYt_uQ
In fairness, that's just 6 mins of the 'nutters' that will close pass you whatever you do. As CycleGaz says in the description, it buys you some breathing space to the left. It's not a panacea.
Classic example in the last one, driver close passes the cyclist in secondary (does CycleGaz too?), but as CycleGaz is further out, he at least gets a beep and a warning that there's a bad driver behind. This gives him time and space to take evasive action if required.
ooh, and this one is an absolute classic of the benefit of primary in slowing down an approaching vehicle. If Gaz had been riding in the gutter, what's the chances the motorbike would have not slowed down at all?
MOST of those examples would have been bad if not riding primary anyway, but it does dete the majority of thoughtless drivers who will try and pass you in the pich point because they don't see a problem.
It's good to remember that riding primary isn't just about the motorists behind you (I've probably said this here before). Amongst other things, it makes you a lot more visible (i.e. visible sooner) to drivers who are emerging from junctions - and it gives you a chance to react when pedestrians step into the road without warning.
As Stono says. Doesn't always work. I've lost count of the number of motorists still pulling a MGIF at traffic islands no matter how strong your road position. I've even had motorists pass me on the other side of the island!
I had one the other week, big car, loud, could hear nothing but acceleration, we would never have both fit, but he kept coming and then went the wrong side of the island. The noise was terrifying.
Yep certainly had one of those too,,even had a driver once try and use their car to bump/push me out of the way, had a frank exchange of views on that one
Had cars pass me the wrong side of pedestrian islands twice on one ride recently. Both reported to the Met. Nothing heard back.
I've had cars overtake me on the wrong side of islands a couple of times. This is the most recent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOChDlS4p7I
Wasn't able to read the numberplate, so I couldn't report it.
If they go the other side of the traffic island, it _is_ working.
its not working as they just commit a more serious offence. Anyone on the island is focused to their left when crossing. They don't anticipated some petrol head accelerating hard coming from the right. Anyone crossing to the island isn't expecting a motorist coming from their left. If they step out the results are going to be catastrophic to say the least. The motorist is also so focused on passing the cyclist that they don't see peds on that side of the island.
I'd much rather they learn to abort the pass and hold back all of two seconds. I've also found a shoulder check and pointing to the back wheel helps.
perfectly happy for them to keep doing this as I am not in danger at all, and if the police catch them they are far more likely to take action against this that the dangerous close pass within the pinch point.
I would pretty much agree with you there. Just need the police to be around at that time or respond to any cam footage. Worst case scenario is them dealing with a fatality due to some petrol head desperate to make up two seconds and passing wrong side of an island. Best case is the driver getting a fine as I'm nearly sure that it isn't an endorsable offence.
Not seeing any video, just a still photo.
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