Near Miss of the Day 614: “Maybe he actually needs to put me in the hedge” asks cyclist as police send warning letter to close pass truck driver (includes swearing)

Same tactic deployed here too. But I keep an eye on the approaching vehicle in my mirror and am ready to swerve into the verge if they've not seen me.

My default position is down the middle of the L of the SLOW marking. I can then move out between the LO at pinch points or left between the SL to encourage a car to pass.

You do get the odd idiot, but generally, it at least slows them down and gives you space to move away from them.

Bungle_52 wrote:

Like sensei below I will continue submitting but I've changed my cycling behaviour recently. I had been riding single file and .75m from the kerb as I didn't want there to be any excuses for not acting when I submit footage of inconsiderate driving. Following Rendell Harris's experience of the driver being acquitted in NMOTD 549, I now realise that it is difficult for the police to provide the protection we need, even when they decide to act, and I have reverted to cycling "assertively". I now cycle at least 1m from the kerb until I hear the car behind slow down. I then I move in slightly when I think it's safe for them to pass. In the main drivers have stayed behind longer than before with no complaints but I have had two punishment passes. In the one that didn't slow down I had plenty of room to move in and the other had already slowed before overtaking so that potential injury was reduced. I have also started cycling 2 abreast as the default choice when out with a friend. On the section of road in NMOTD 594 this resulted in no close passes at speed but a few choice words from a couple of drivers as they passed after having had to slow down.

I shouldn't have to do this but I feel I am left with no choice. If I had been the cyclist in this NMOTD I would either be OK, if the driver stayed behind, or dead if he'd continued anyway. In the latter case though may be the police would take action after, hopefully, viewing the footage on my camera.

Last time i started riding assertively, after reading a recommendation from someone here, it resulted in a huge increase in road rage, dangerous, and punishment passes. I full on block some lanes of my journey now for my own safety, but other times have to stay close to the kerb. There is no ideal solution. Shit drivers are everywhere, and aided by our motoring culture.

Plus if you ride like that, you can't afford a momentary lapse or mistake.

I was close passed by a supermarket delivery van last week through a pinch point that I've ridden thousands of times before, mostly without incident.

This one time I wasnt absolutely blocking the pass, by no more than a foot, because I didn't think anyone was going to be daft enough to try passing.

There's no point reporting it to the police,because they'll only send a letter, no point reporting to the supermarket because they'll ignore it, and even if they didn't what good will it do anyway, it won't change anything.

stonojnr wrote:

Plus if you ride like that, you can't afford a momentary lapse or mistake. I was close passed by a supermarket delivery van last week through a pinch point that I've ridden thousands of times before, mostly without incident. This one time I wasnt absolutely blocking the pass, by no more than a foot, because I didn't think anyone was going to be daft enough to try passing. There's no point reporting it to the police,because they'll only send a letter, no point reporting to the supermarket because they'll ignore it, and even if they didn't what good will it do anyway, it won't change anything.

I'm convinced a lot of these people don't know how to drive. For example:

https://youtu.be/azNLaXPhG-w

No one could reasonably think that was a good place to overtake, especially for a "professional" like a bus driver...The driver can't see ahead, and if they did somehow successfully overtake, i'd have been crushed, as the bus stop is about 20 metres away...

Not too impressed with the audi driver either.

Taking the lane does give you space to escape, although as you say, there is no ideal solution.

hirsute wrote:

Not too impressed with the audi driver either.

Taking the lane does give you space to escape, although as you say, there is no ideal solution.

 

Funny enough i've only just clocked the VW Arteon in that video is the same one i reported last weekend for close passing me. Video is scheduled to publish on youtube in 5 weeks. Shit driving epidemic round here and no enforcement.

"Why were you riding through the middle of that bit there?  I couldn't get past!"

"I didn't imagine that anyone seriously thought that they could overtake me going through there, so I didn't think it would be a problem for anyone."

"But I couldn't pass you!"

"I know.  There isn't space for you or anyone else to pass me while I'm riding through there. So not really my fault - blame the universe or something..."

note - this might be a fictional conversation

Well assuming the driver had enough braincells to even have that kind of fictional conversation, is it that unreasonable on my part, not to expect a 3.5 tonne, 2metre wide,4metre long van to try to fit through here alongside me ?

TBH I've given up trying to understand what some motorists think is reasonable/unreasonable...

Edit: but you've reminded me I need to buy a copy of the Highway Code at lunchtime, to put under the windscreen wiper of my nemesis (you mean you haven't got a nemesis?  everyone should have at least one...) White Van Man.  After only avoiding being head-on wiped out at speed by him this morning by swerving so far over to the left that I'd braced myself for coming up against the kerb and coming off.

stonojnr wrote:

Well assuming the driver had enough braincells to even have that kind of fictional conversation, is it that unreasonable on my part, not to expect a 3.5 tonne, 2metre wide,4metre long van to try to fit through here alongside me ?

Yes. But there's an epidemic of shit driving. Is it reasonable to expect Royal Mail drivers to pass properly on an empty road? And yes, in ~8 years i've never once been able to use the cycle lanes on this road.

If it is fictional, it is eerily close to an actual conversation I had two weeks ago. Basically ...

Him: "You were so far across the road I couldn't get past". 

Me: "Erm yes ... what's your point?"

It isn't being sent to the driver. Just the registered owner of the vehicle which is a company who don't have to do anything. 

OnYerBike wrote:

Colour scheme looks like Travis Perkins - it's not a lot to go on, but you could enquire and if they say it's not their van no harm done?

They sell off their older vehicles regularly and just take the names off, not the livery - I suppose they might tell you to whom they sold it but I'd guess they'd probably quote GDPR.

that needs to change very soon

Except it's not changing in the slightest. The police are highly unsympathetic because so few of them really know what a bike is, so after all these years and all these NMotDs we're no farther forward. The joke Highway Code consultation which mooted the idea of more recommended passing distances was utterly worthless because the police will continue to ignore it. I urge anyone who achieves a proper prosecution with a real penalty (not the ultra-joke 'words of advice', the super-joke 'warning letter' and the joke online driving course) to let us know about it!

I should add that today I received an email from Lancashire Constabulary that a really close passing driver (classic case, oncoming bus so driver decides to squeeze the soft-body instead) was to receive a new variant joke penalty: this a new dodge LC have come up with, in which the driver receives the 'educational material from the Highway Code' without the tiresome 'warning letter'.

wtjs wrote:

that needs to change very soon

Except it's not changing in the slightest. The police are highly unsympathetic because so few of them really know what a bike is, so after all these years and all these NMotDs we're no farther forward. The joke Highway Code consultation which mooted the idea of more recommended passing distances was utterly worthless because the police will continue to ignore it. I urge anyone who achieves a proper prosecution with a real penalty (not the ultra-joke 'words of advice', the super-joke 'warning letter' and the joke online driving course) to let us know about it!

I should add that today I received an email from Lancashire Constabulary that a really close passing driver (classic case, oncoming bus so driver decides to squeeze the soft-body instead) was to receive a new variant joke penalty: this a new dodge LC have come up with, in which the driver receives the 'educational material from the Highway Code' without the tiresome 'warning letter'.

I don't disagree, I don't think it will change anytime soon. It will take a gradual build up of public pressure, especially with increasing participation rates to start to push the government into making the changes necessary. If we know one thing about this government, it's that they tend to be influenced/even led by public consensus. It is completely defeatist to just give up and the more people that do so, the longer it will take for things to change for the better. Until then, we ride to ensure our own safety as much as possible. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!

to be fair to police, when they pass cases to the CPS and it gets prosecuted but magistrates then aquit the drivers it's hard to see the motivation for the police to do anything beyond sending warning letters.

sensei wrote:

There needs to be more pressure put on the government to legislate properly against these offences, to be seen as a crime and to have absolutely clear guidance on what the punishments are for offenders. Run a National campaign to educate motorists on the required standards and factor in additional resources to support implementation of the new measures, for instance, a centralised panel to review close pass footage and set recommendations for action. Considering the potential costs, punishments should begin with part fine/part points and be factored into greater criminal proceedings the more serious the offence. 

Something like a comprehensive review of road laws to make them safer for vulnerable road users?  The same thing that the government announced all those years ago, but only implemented the new law about causing death by dangerous cycling, that one?

Maybe we could put pressure on the government to actually implement the thing they announced, but to be brutally frank, this government doesn't give a flying flamingo about vulnerable road users.  They are full of great announcements, followed by either sinking without trace or gradually revised down targets to something meaningless, and there is no way of making them accountable, especially since there is no recognisable opposition.

eburtthebike wrote:

sensei wrote:

There needs to be more pressure put on the government to legislate properly against these offences, to be seen as a crime and to have absolutely clear guidance on what the punishments are for offenders. Run a National campaign to educate motorists on the required standards and factor in additional resources to support implementation of the new measures, for instance, a centralised panel to review close pass footage and set recommendations for action. Considering the potential costs, punishments should begin with part fine/part points and be factored into greater criminal proceedings the more serious the offence. 

Something like a comprehensive review of road laws to make them safer for vulnerable road users?  The same thing that the government announced all those years ago, but only implemented the new law about causing death by dangerous cycling, that one?

Maybe we could put pressure on the government to actually implement the thing they announced, but to be brutally frank, this government doesn't give a flying flamingo about vulnerable road users.  They are full of great announcements, followed by either sinking without trace or gradually revised down targets to something meaningless, and there is no way of making them accountable, especially since there is no recognisable opposition.

Again totally in agreement, the government and police forces alike speak a good game but fail absolutely to follow it up with the actions/changes necessary. Therefore, it is a long road ahead but one that I am certainly prepared to travel down.

The law already exists - dangerous driving. We simply need a re-interpretation of what constitutes it. If an evidenced, apparently-deliberately close pass of a cyclist was considered de facto dangerous driving until proven otherwise, and penalised accordingly, that would go a long way. The minimum sentence is a 12 month ban. It also means if a serious accident results, that accident would be considered to have been caused by dangerous driving, making a custodial sentence hard to avoid for the driver.

You could give the police discretion to pursue less egregious instances as careless driving, and issue a £100 fine and 3 points.

Perhaps this is all hopelessly naive - and of course, it will probably never happen - but the actual mechanisms required don't seem to me very complex.