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news
Near Miss of the Day 741: Good driver, bad driver ...
We’ve got quite the juxtaposition for you in our Near Miss of the Day series today – it’s not the first time we’ve featured a motorist overtaking a cyclist with plenty of room to spare, immediately followed by a driver who makes a close pass, but due to the width of the road in this example and the absence of other vehicles, the difference is particularly stark.
Doric Cycling, who filmed the video, told us: “I only cycle this small stretch of the A92, as it links Stonehaven with the back roads of the National Cycle Network Route 1.
“These poorly thought out links are typical of my area of Scotland.
“Close passes are pretty regular on this stretch, but this one on Tuesday the 29th, seemed closer than normal.
“It did not seem to matter to the motorist that they had the full width of the road to overtake, or the car in front of them gave me plenty of room.
“Pointless reporting, as from past experiences, South Aberdeenshire Police are not interested in this sort of thing,” Doric Cycling 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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12 comments
Welcome to my 'everyday' occurrence..Irish roads...80kph at this point...and oncoming traffic, and potholes at side , and loose chipping surface.
I thought this was some busy dual-carriageway, but it's not. It's a single carriageway A road and this section is a designated cycle route according to the cycle layer in Google maps. Could do with a speed reduction and some warning signs for cyclists on the main road.
Also has a very odd bus stop, seemingly isolated in the middle of nowhere and served with no pavements! Perhaps it is mainly for changing buses?
https://goo.gl/maps/NyvwMqp6ZKYERcMm6
There are many and various explanations for why the first driver passed properly but the second didn't; I'll go with the first being a cyclist and the second an angry, DM-reading non-cyclist.
Is it just safer to cycle in the middle of the lane as standard?
ordinarily yes, but perhaps not on a 70mph dual-carriageway such as this — as demonstrated by the inattention of the driver in the volvo
That's the dilemma - a central position is advised for visibility, but if they aren't looking...
If they aren't looking, the only difference it is likely to make is which part of the front of their vehicle will hit you.
Thought for a second it would be the common "follow my leader" effect. However there's a more pronounced time gap between the vehicles. So not just careless but dangerous driving.
“Pointless reporting, as from past experiences, South Aberdeenshire Police are not interested in this sort of thing,” Doric Cycling added
I'm sure you're right, and they will do everything possible to deter people from reporting so that they can claim their statistics show 'it's not a problem here'. You can also be sure they'll have the 'insufficient evidence' report out almost before you or someone you know 'hits the deck' on being struck by such a motor vehicle and killed- and the only surviving participant claims the cyclist 'shot out in front of him and he didn't stand a chance'
When that does happen, you do have to wonder it the second driver is deliberately passing like that, or just distracted by some electronic device.
I've mentioned before about drivers who don't seem to even want to cross the lane markings even on dual carriageways. Here is another example of that mentality.
Off topic, but twice yesterday I saw cars being driven erratically (one actually bumped against the kerb near me as I was pedestrianing, one drifting over to its right as it came toward me on the Clifton Suspension Bridge (I was cycling!!!)).
On both occasions, as the cars were close enough I could see the drivers suddenly look up. In both cases, the drivers were holding phones in their right hand and looking down at them until the last possible moment.
I don't use a camera, but I imagine they were both using Tinder...
A bit of both, perhaps. There's nothing wrong with 'offsiding' providing the road is clear. The first driver did it, so the second should have followed similarly......Absolute no reason for this close pass - just ineptitude.