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news
Near Miss of the Day 607: Driver pulls out on cyclist going downhill
Today in our Near Miss of the Day series we have a video showing one of those adrenaline-inducing moments any cyclist will be familiar with, as a driver pulls out on a rider coming downhill.
It was filmed close to Weybridge Railway Station in Surrey by road.cc reader Laurence, who told us he was riding at around 30kph on the 2 per cent descent.
“Looks like the rider didn’t see my front light blinking,” he added. Or indeed, the rest of him.
> 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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75 comments
Classic A pillar blocked view situation.. I always presume the driver doesn't see me, ease off and cover the brake levers; some drivers don't even see cars in their blind spots, so what hope with cyclists?
Don't think so. Rider had a clear view into the car to drivers seat, and therefore obverse is true too. This is smidsy or mgif
Edit: not that A-pillar is any excuse, still driver responsibility
We can't know what the driver saw/didn't see, but my interpretation - based on the delay between the van passing and the driver pulling out, and the line the driver took whilst pulling out - is that the driver saw the cyclist, had a brief mental debate, then decided there was no way they wanted to be stuck behind a cyclist and so pulled out in front (whilst taking a slightly tighter line than normal so as to "give the cyclist space").
https://road.cc/content/news/11085-ctc-rejects-calls-back-minimum-passing-distance-what-do-you-think
This link shows how long people like us have been on this site droning on about close-passing, people pulling out immediately in front of cyclists etc., to a complete lack of effect. We're making the same complaints, the police are still refusing to accept the existence of these offences against cyclists (Lancashire, anyway), there are still joke penalties for killing cyclists with vehicles, we still have really stupid hyper-junk press campaigns against us. We're not obviously not taking effective action as 'the collective body of cyclists'.
Yep - Just to save other readers checking out the link it's dated 2009!
At every cafe stop you get cyclists moaning into their lattes about being on the wrong end of bad driving.
No one apart from the cycling bodies thinks there is a problem, and they have been pretty ineffectual.
Any Ideas?
Join cycling UK. At least they are trying and I've had positive dialogues with Keir Gallagher. They also have the cyclists defence fund which appealed the removal of the Shoreham bicyle lane.
Did you use the link I posted earlier to write to your MP. Here is the link again :
https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/2021/06/2106_cycl...
Carry on submitting footage. Write to your PCC. Write to your councillors.
Or you could just take the easy option and carry on moaning.
Written to my MP, Local Paper, Village magazine, Complained to police, Parish councillors. I do Speedwatch in the village and have campaigned for a local 20mph speed limit.
None of it made any difference
I think it's just got me labelled as the local nutter
I left Cycling UK for British Cycling when they removed the senior discount.
I'm entitled to be a miserable old git
I can see why the actions in your first paragraph would make people think you're a nutter, and you remove all doubt in the penultimate sentence.
So what have you done that HAS made a difference?
I think you should share it with us so that we can follow your lead
OK then. Fair enough. One last idea then : encourage road.cc to contact police for comment following NMOTDs which have been submitted, should have had some reaction from the police but have had no further action.
They have contacted forces for comment on previous occasions, the most recent being NMOTD 602 and they got a response when the individual didn't.
I think your experience tells us that acting alone will probably not achieve the desired result and if you don't believe Cycling UK is the correct body to stand up for us then may be road.cc could step in with some encouragement from us.
Good Points
It will only change if new drivers are required to cycle on the roads for experience before being allowed to drive cars. But of course sucha system is clearly to dangerous to implement.
"Bicycle=Slow", innit?
Just the other day a car waiting to cross in front of me waited untill i got nearer then moved, and stopped again positioned right across my ride line in the middle of the lane, i swerved wildly to avoid going over the front of the car...
Pedestrians often do something similar at Traffic Lights in City Centre's, they'll wait until the Lights turn to Amber and then Green before beginning to cross. I'm sure it's completely accidental and it's their right of way regardless
Never pull out until you see the whites of their eyes
Happened twice to me yesterday going down hills, even caught up with the second one about three miles along the road at traffic lights. Arsehole knew they had done wrong as they tried to climb inside their ashtray to avoid me passing by whilst shaking my head at them, I saw them in the wing mirror.
Routine behaviour around here- therefore not very worrying because I expect it and have cable discs! Even I don't bother sending these in.
“Looks like the rider didn’t see my front light blinking," Surely you meant the DRIVER?
I had a cyclescheme email today telling me to use lights front and rear at all times !
I love PPE as the first choice of risk control.
I particularly like being reminded to make myself visible. The number of times I've left the house with my cloaking device still engaged.....
Signed
JTK
If it's anywhere like where i ride, you'll no doubt have seen the occasional cyclist at night, without lights on, and dressed head to toe in black clothing...Organ donors on wheels...
Or vulnerable road users (albeit unwisely breaking the HWC and law) who are still visible (or how did you see them?)
As in your area this is a regular occurrence, drivers will no doubt be driving to the prevailing road conditions, and taking account of this likely situation.
A bit like I take account for (example) kids darting across the road unexpectedly (I'd not want to refer to such a child as a donor on foot). Ideally should they do it? No, but I know that they do, therefore I'd be negligent if I didn't take account for it.
I wish I could claim this was me but it was actually another rider I was behind recently, dressed in head to toe black Castelli (bright sunny day 4pm), being berated by a cabbie (in all all-black London cab, ironically): "You're farking invisible you are, why da fark you wearin' all black, you're farkin' invisible, I literally can't see ya!"
"If I'm invisible, who are you talking to?"
Was the cabbie wearing a NZ rugby shirt ?
Remember Rendel, there are a number of motorists and pedestrians that no matter what you wear, what lights you have on etc they will still have a go I've had the following said to me at various times in the last 5 years or so:-
These complaints have come from pedestrians (on shared use paths) and drivers who have stopped to remonstrate with me for their inability to use their fecking eyes
https://road.cc/content/news/hi-vis-jacket-blended-trees-277019
'hi-viz blended in'
Oh I agree.
Hi-Viz at night time especially Hi-Viz Yellow and Hi-Viz Oorange had a tendency to blend in under sodium street lights in urban areas. That was particularly why I chose black with reflective trims as opposed to Hi-Viz colours for night time riding
It's almost like the only time you can ever been seen on the road is if you are safely cocooned in your 1.5 tonne plus metal box
I did laugh at the 2 proviz references
I have taken to wearing pink or orange in the summer (but no lights)
Rear Red Reflectors, Amber reflective Pedals, Front and Rear Lights (not pointing directly into Drivers Pupils if possible), a Hi Vis can still be important on a bright Summers Day as the Sun is bright and creates more darkness (mostly in Mirrors, I may never be able to explain that in detail, also a flash of bright colours in the bulky Frame of a Windscreen in some Cars etc), Flashing Lights were illegal a decade or two ago before being decriminalised (lol), these are just my opinions apart from roughly the first 3 which are in the Highway Code. Traffic Free Cycle Routes are better as you can verbally communicate with Pedestrians, having to raise the voice over Car Engines can be more easily misconstrued as confrontational
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