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news
Near Miss of the day 745: Impatient van driver waits...but only for a second
Today's Near Miss of the Day will be a familiar to anyone who's spent time out on the roads...
A road user turning onto a main road from a side street creeping out — are they coming? Will they wait for me to pass?
In this case, the driver did wait...but only for a second.
road.cc reader Daniel was on his usual commute when "the van driver obviously underestimated how quick I was going (about 25mph on that part).
"Once he realised he hesitated for a second then decided to carry on regardless. I've only just started recording my journeys due to many incidents like this, unfortunately as he came side on I wasn't able to catch the licence plate."
> 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
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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10 comments
Who hasn't had the hesitant motorist seeing you and then waiting until it would be the worst possible timing for you before pulling out?
If he'd waited, he'd have ended up behind that HGV and who knows how many other vehicles. His journey would have been delayed. All remaining events in his day, indeed the rest of his life, would be affected by the delay. Who wants to take that chance?
Have this a lot round here, drivers don't think it's an issue.
If I have the opportunity to challenge them I ask if they'd carry out the same move on a police motorcyclist. Drivers usually shut up then.
Had exactly this a couple of years ago, definetly unnerving.
Didn't help when it was a nieghbour who had been so pished the day before he had passed out in the front garden, and this was him driving back from the corner shop (500 yds from home) at lunchtime the next day
The van driver pulled out into the opposite lane to give the rider space to pass on the inside. He/she then accellerated away. Seems fair enough to me.
No vehicle should pull out from a side road unless there is time and space to complete the manouevre without imposing on any vehicle on the main road. This doesn't look that bad but starting to pull out like that puts doubt in the rider's mind - he can't know the driver is going to turn and leave space on the inside, nor whether/when that space is going to be closed down - which increases the level of danger. It's not "fair enough", the driver should have waited.
Also it seemed lucky that the cyclict was turning because even though there was acres of space, the van looked like he was about to punish pass him.
All very nice after the event but in real time ?
How do you know the driver has seen you? How do you know where they will go next ?
The cyclist was only less compromised due to them turning off the road. Going straight on, what you have said ?
Exactly, having to second-guess what drivers are going to do plus also hoping that they have seen you (while formulating a Plan B in case they haven't) massively adds to the stress of a bike ride.
I had that last month, driver pulled out of a side road as I was on a narrowish main road. I shouted "OIIIII" to which the passenger replied that he had seen me !
And the driver ?
Other times when I have had this, the driver told me he saw me.
And I'm psychic ?
You saw me but failed to give way but because in your head you saw me, that makes it ok.