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news
Pickup driver chases cyclist after close pass (Jay McSerk, Twitter)Near Miss of the Day 839: Pickup driver screeches to a halt and chases cyclist on foot after rider slapped vehicle during close pass
This story was updated on Monday 12 December 2022 after the cyclist involved released a statement explaining how the incident had been resolved via a Community Resolution, something he described as "the best option for me and the other individual involved".
The original video had been deleted from social media and another uploaded in its place with the driver's number plate blurred following people "harassing another individual associated with this vehicle". However, the cyclist told us due to the unsavoury nature of the replies he has chosen to delete it off social media for good, hence the lack of video below.
Jay McSerk took to Twitter to say: "The police have been in contact with the driver who voluntarily admitted to being behind the wheel.
"They are apologetic about the incident and the case will be closed via a Community Resolution. This is the best option for both me and the other individual involved.
"Unfortunately, a few people have gone out of their way to harass another individual associated with this vehicle. Because of this I've deleted the original tweet/video and now posting this one with the registration blurred out.
"If you have shared information derived from the original post, please remove it."
A Community Resolution is a fairly unsevere punishment often used by police to resolve low-level ofending. If a person accepts a Community Resolution they are not prosecuted so are not required to attend court, but accept they committed the offence and may have to engage in reparation, ranging from an apology to attending a course.
Orginial story:
Sussex Police have come in for criticism after a motorist, who close passed a cyclist through a busy town, before reacting to the rider’s retaliatory slap to his vehicle by slamming on his brakes and chasing him on foot, escaped punishment for the dangerous overtake.
Cyclist Jay uploaded the footage of the terrifying incident to Sussex Police’s Operation Crackdown portal, but was told that the pass failed to warrant a prosecution or even a warning letter.
1/2
Reuploaded video of original video with blurring pic.twitter.com/3ac4bGfro7— Jay McSerk (@JMcserk) December 12, 2022
In the clip, the motorist, driving a white pickup truck, squeezes between the cyclist and a queue of traffic in the opposite lane. After Jay hits the rear of his vehicle – the universal signal that a driver is too close – the motorist then comes to a screeching halt right on a pedestrian crossing, before getting out of his car to confront the cyclist. Realising what is about to happen, Jay turns and flees, as the drivers shouts forlornly behind (ironically holding up traffic in the process).
Posting the video to Twitter, Jay wrote: “This driver is clearly a danger to everyone using the roads, using their vehicle like a weapon.”
The driver’s manoeuvre and reaction – and Sussex Police’s subsequent inaction – has been widely condemned on social media.
Guardian journalist and active travel advocate Peter Walker wrote: “Amongst everything else, bringing their pick-up to a tyre-screeching halt *on a pedestrian crossing*, seemingly to start a fight. And no action? Baffling.”
Time trial specialist and cycling author Michael Hutchinson also noted that Jay’s encounter with the angry pickup driver is certainly not an uncommon occurrence for cyclists across the country.
“So apparently driving like this is fine,” he said. “Rider lucky he could escape. I’ve lost count of the number of times I've had to take refuge in gardens, shops, etc.”
Much of the online ire has also been reserved for the attitude of Sussex Police, who contacted the cyclist on social media to tell him that he should simply re-report the incident. Responding to Jay’s tweet, the force told the cyclist that “if you do not believe the decision by Op Crackdown was correct you can contact them again and appeal this” – a reply described by one Twitter user as “mealy-mouthed”.
After Jay queried how best to appeal the original decision, Sussex Police again replied: “Although we have no say in the outcome they give so cannot comment on this, I would still suggest you re-report this as if it were a new report and express your further concerns. You may get a response.”
The police, however, later phoned Jay to inform him that they were looking into the case again, which sounds somewhat more promising.
> 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
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
Latest Comments
- giff77 41 min 26 sec ago
I would have expected the organisers when doing their recon to have flagged issues to the road authorities and to have hazards that were concerning...
- OldRidgeback 51 min 35 sec ago
If he'd been able to get hold of one of the rarer five speeds, it would've had a better choice of ratios. You can see it's got proper brakes, a big...
- David9694 1 hour 1 min ago
But whAT aboUT thE disable d? (Foreground left - pretty faded)
- belugabob 1 hour 9 min ago
If that's their bag...
- Rendel Harris 2 hours 9 min ago
On the other hand presumably those hoops are pretty sturdy so they could prove just the ticket for securing one's machine with a U-lock or chain...
- Rendel Harris 5 hours 21 min ago
Wasn't her quote something like "Any man who takes the bus after the age of twenty-five [maybe thirty?] is a failure?...
- andystow 8 hours 12 min ago
Based on my experience with the Hunt wheels, I might do a review on their durability in three or four years.
- Destroyer666 12 hours 39 min ago
"...the beeswax-based covering magically shuns off whatever might be lurking in the corners. Even after multiple rides, when the bars rattled about...
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72 comments
My guess, steroid junkie
Good point- in that case, tattoos
Companies house appears to have matters recorded correctly:
02 Apr 2021 Cessation of Grant Rovery as a person with significant control on 1 March 2021
His company has a useful automatic booking tool for servicing. Just sayin'
If you give them some feedback, you could win £250 worth of lifestyle vouchers - very generous! That would pay for a rear camera for a bicycle!
(link removed)Postcode lottery these days, depending on how proactive or inactive your local police service decides to be. Some would offer an immediate response, in the form of a warning letter or even prosectution whilst other do nothing.
Somebody should collate all these and pin to a map.
it's so obvious the driver was after that reaction. He deliberately provoked the reaction from the cyclist so he could slam on his brakes and initiate a confrontation. If the police actually started to react to these reports then perhaps people would think twice before intimidating people on cycles.
Jay should complain and keep escalating the complaint 'till he's satisfied. Complaints are as organisationally wearisome as they are painful for the complainant but it's the only way for some public bodies to learn.
Completely impractical as a tradespersons vehicle. Zero security for ones tools etc. Much less capacity than a van. And generally driven by twats. And far too big, aggresively styled etc. Crush the lot of them.
Totally agree. I had to drive one for a past job and it was a nightmare when having to navigate narrow roads with it. Had told the boss to change it but he insisted on keeping it due to its off road capabilities (that were never used). The worse part for such bad behavior is that it had immense accelaration for its weight and dubious cornering and braking abilities, so a guy used to drive it like a nut. Combine with occasional drivers like me who are not used to big cars and you have a great danger on road.
But this is very bad driving. The driver has to decide whether he is in a hurry or angry enough to stop and pick a fight. You can't be both and be a reasonable person.
This beggars belief. That was a horrible pass, an understandable reaction from the cyclist which did absolutely nothing to cause harm to the 3t metal box the driver was in, and the driver's response was then completely disproportionate. How does this result in no action from the police???
How does this result in no action from the police???
I'm amazed at all this amazement, but I have endured many years of desensitisation therapy courtesy of Lancashire Indolence Mode of Policing and Lancashire Idleness Associated Response- in which no action is ever taken over any traffic offences, and the officers just hang around out of the way in Garstang Police Station just over the road from their favourite Aldi. I'm showing this one again, because it's only been on once unlike MV57 GXO which I have featured many times over the last 7 months. Here is Transit P19 JTW, which must be the subject of an amazingly complex Lancashire Constabulary sting operation where they're really going to get round to doing something one of these days. In addition, anybody interested in finding out, in these days of hard-working hard-pressed motorists, how they too can enjoy 5+ years of VED-free motoring should follow the example of Simon Snowdon, kitchen fitter in DX13 OPM and come to Lancashire, the Motorist's Paradise
Institutionally anti cyclist.
also, if you are driving so close to a cyclist that they are able to slap your vehicle*, then that's a close pass
*unless you are driving past Mr Tickle
Another otherwise law abiding motorist, OLAM, being provoked by a cyclist. What did the cyclist expect? He had the temerity to touch a very expensive motor vehicle. The OLAM was a wee bit close and nearly hit the cyclist with the vehicle, but obviously commited no offence ; otherwise surely the police would have referred the matter to the CPS. Well unless the police are institutionally racist, sorry biased, against cyclists. Surely not, it must just be that the courts are overflowing, and the police have better things to do. Maybe the police could catch the OLAM speeding.
OLAM, nice.
Not surprised.
When I was hit by an insured and likely unlicensed driver (they had no clue what the road markings meant) their response was....
Well actually it's been 11 months and no response.
Those pick up tricks should be banned. What possible role could they play that other cars don't?
All they seem to offer is some kind of wild man of the outback fantasy with predictable driving style consequences.
They are massive, heavy, fuel inefficient and therefore fundamentally stupid.
Anyone disagree?
Certainly don't disagree; the purpose they serve is that by having a load capacity of over one tonne they allow anyone who owns a business that could claim has a use for it can get the VAT back. Ridiculous loophole, the vast majority will have the flatbed covered at all times. Very few genuine tradespeople would have one, it's a tax dodge.
Not only that, if the owner buys it through their company and provides it to themselves as a company car, these crew-cab pickup trucks are classed as a commercial vehicle if the payload is over 1t, so payroll benefit in kind (BIK) tax is same as a van, a fixed £3500. Therefore BIK tax is 20% or 40% of £3500 per annum. Compare this with BIK rates of a non-commercial vehicle or car, this can be up to 37% (emissions based) of the new RRP. So, for a £40k car (not unreasonable to assume), the BIK is £14800, the annual tax is 20% or 40% of that. Just under 4x more. This is the main reason one sees so many pickup trucks on the road. The fact is that they
"have reclining leather seats, go really fast and get really shitty gas mileage"drive like a car, but qualify for the same BIK as a van.Not just if they provide it as a company car. All pick ups are classed as a commercial vehicle full stop.
The only downside for these twats running them as a private vehicle is that the VED and insurance is high, as they are a commercial vehicle, primarily used for commercial reasons.
My point being if it's a company vehicle, the benefit in kind tax on payroll is up to 75% less on a "commercial" than a it would be for a car. All the purchase/lease and running costs are also put through the business.
I agree and I'm sure that is generally the case but, just to prove there may be exceptions... in 2007 my next door neighbour (a very skilled bricklayer & builder) got rid of his van and bought a Nissan thing and added a hard cover on the back. It became their main vehicle, used for transporting his other half and 2 children as well as for work, his regular home improvement project and other jobs. He kept it for 10 years before replacing it with another one.
But the driver in this video is most likely just an aggressive arsehole who deserves to be taught a lesson.
Yes, absolutely I'm sure there will be the occasional genuine user but the latest "double cab" models are really taking the piss, they have all the luxuries of a high-end SUV that would be totally impractical for a genuine tradie. To be fair I have seen a few out in Kent, Sussex and Surrey that appear to be in use by the more genteel type of tradesperson - landscape gardeners etc - but in London I've honestly yet to see one (and I see plenty) with a speck of mud on it or a load on the flatbed.
Amazing. At the very least, one would expect Sussex police to notify the driver that if he pays attention to the rules for safe passes, he won't have to worry about cyclists being able to touch his precious truck. Think of all the angst they could save him.
In my best Worms voice : run away !
Under the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 a person may not be convicted of an offence unless they are served a Notice of Intended Prosecution within fourteen days of the alleged offence, so what the blazes do Sussex Police mean "re-report it as a new report"? Unless they're encouraging the victim to perjure themselves by lying about the date they must know that advice is worthless.
Maybe they weren't referring to the traffic infringement, but the getting out of the car, swearing and chasing him down the street. Not sure what offence that would amount to, but probably something.
A vehicle to watch out for if you ride in that area, handy that it has a vanity plate:
(obscured by request)
... actually very handy it's got a vanity plate - the white pickup model may change but the plate stays the same? It might not be the same business that the plate was previously registered to, so some caution, but wise to be alert if riding on the roads
around this garage:(obscured by request)
Road CC could give a call and ask for comment
"
Response from the owner 3 days ago
Leaving reviews without explanation only gives us suspicion that you’re the individual that caused criminal damage to one of our vehicles recently. Cold calling us late at night is harassment & attacking our business is considered defamation. I will be forwarding your name to the police as a connection to this incident. We also have your IP address for the abusive email. Continuing to leave feedback that’s absolutely nothing to do with this business is low. But please feel free to visit our garage for a discussion if you wish!"
Bahahahahahah the irony. I hope he goes out of business forever and cannot afford to drive anymore.
Given the letters on the plate, and stitching together the info from their website and Companies House, it seems like the assailant was likely to be 39 year old Mr Grant Rovery, contactable on 07803 090409.
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