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news
Near Miss of the Day 428: “I thought she was going to die” says cyclist who filmed driver almost hitting another rider
A cyclist who filmed the moment a driver turned right at a junction and almost hit a woman on her bike has said of the other rider, "I thought she was going to die."
The driver, who eventually pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, was waiting to turn right at the junction by Tooting Bec Underground station in South London. with the female cyclist positioned ahead of the vehicle.
Both begin to turn right as the traffic lights change, the driver however swinging around far too fast and very nearly taking out the cyclist's rear wheel.
The footage was captured by road.cc reader Adrian, who told us: "I’ve just had a letter from the Met saying that this has been successfully prosecuted after the driver pleaded guilty to driving without due care.
"Initially, they denied it and I was asked if I’d be prepared to go to court. Having said yes, the next thing I heard was that the driver had clearly changed their mind, and picked up three points, and a small fines and charges that amounted to £178 with some credit for pleading guilty.
"Anyway, this is now public domain. I thought she was going to die. My guess is three inches."
Adrian added: "For the avoidance of doubt, I went slightly early on the light because of the lorry that had encroached into the ASL and the uncomfortable position I subsequently had."
> 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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22 comments
I know that junction well. It is a bad one. In this case the incident happened in the southward direction. But in case anybody goes that way, I reckon the junction is even worse when you're heading north.
Anyway, it was entirely avoidable. The Mini driver was turning right and therefore was allowed to make the turn. Just a little less pressure on the accelerator would've made it safer for everyone. Perhaps the driver isn't experienced and doesn't appreciate wet roads are slippery?
The cyclist filming goes on red, before the lights change. The mini had been waiting to turn and then hurried the turn. Probably too busy looking at the camera bike to notice the other one slip around. Once again its impatient londoner vs impatient londoner...
You are Donald Trump and ICMFP
If only it were explained in the body of the article.
That's a new one. If you can't blame the cyclist who was nearly knocked down - find another cyclist to blame! Pesky cyclists distracting drivers just by their existence!
Maybe the driver was momentarily thinking about Lance Armstrong?
How does that work, the rider that was so very nearly hit had been directly in front of the driver for 13 seconds as they both queued to turn right, the very patient rider hadn't filter past anyone
I realise this is going to sound like a dick head comment to make, and I'm not trying to make any excuses for the driver.
But when I'm cycling around, I see other cyclists who seem to ride without a care in the world. Not realising how dangerous road cycling can be.
If I were the female cyclist, I would be cycling as fast as safely possible (i.e. wet road) away from the junction onto the straight section of road, not taking my time about it.
I always try to go quickly through junctions to minimise the risk, too. However, cyclists have wildly varying amounts of experience, so maybe she wasn't aware of the risk or maybe she was feeling tired. Either way, the focus has to be on the driver performing a dangerous manoeuvre (the cyclist wasn't endangering anyone else by going slower than we might choose to go).
yep, you were right
possibly the biggest dick head comment this year
Naaa. Dickhead of the day at best :). I've been guilty of worse
Thank you.
Is there an award ceremony and do I win a trophy?
Victim. Blaming.
No, not at all. As I mentioned above.
Perhaps they were going as fast as they felt confident on a wet road.
Do you say "I'm not racist but..." as well? There is absolutely, 100%, no blame for this incident, direct or indirect, on the cyclist. I sometimes comment on these vids saying they don't look that bad to me, but this one's a shocker.
well I often struggle to get moving quickly from a standing start like that, so that would be as fast as safely possible for me as well from that position, certainly in those conditions, but then I wouldnt have expected the numpty in the car directly behind me to then understeer and screw their turn so badly around the corner they nearly knock me off in the process. It was a MINI, not a flippin tank, it shouldnt have had any difficulty making that turn safely, so I cant help think the motorist took their frustration at being held up by a mere cyclist by attempting to give the cyclist a punishment pass as payback, and almost got it horribly wrong as a result.
At least the first sentence of your response made sense! The rest, not so much.
I do like how the Mini driver does their best to speed away from the situation.
I suspect this is another case of pleading "not guilty" until told that there's a video witness who's willing to go to court, at which point they change their plea...
Well done for reporting this Adrian, my thanks. Thanks also to every cyclist/road user who reports dangerous driving, and to the Met for taking action in this case. With police resources always at a premium, it is pretty much up to the citizens to police our roads.
Given the number of convictions using videos, I'm rather surprised that the message doesn't appear to be getting through to the drivers yet.
And yet if Adrian had been in Northamptonshire the Police wouldn't have informed him as to the outcome of the case, due to data protection and him only being a witness.
How can an institute such as the Police, have different views across the country? I understand that local areas may need specific targetting of offences etc, but for something such as informing witnesses the outcome of a case, that should be standard across the board.
Good point!
Here in South Wales (and the same applies to all the Welsh forces) I won't hear anything at all about the progress or outcome of my submission unless I am called to give evidence in court. Apparently because they are too busy processing the reports to give any updates!