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news
Near Miss of the Day 637: Cyclist receives a very fast and close pass
The rear-facing footage in the video featuring in our Near Miss of the Day series today shows just how close a fast-moving driver came to hitting a cyclist from behind on a fairly wide country road, the B311 near Lightwater in the Surrey Heath area.
It was sent in by road.cc reader Keith, who said: "I reported this one to Surrey Police but we're past the 6 week window now and, yet again, I've heard nothing so assume they are taking no action.
"The still photo shows just how close the car got, it's not clear if they did this deliberately or were just didn't see me (with 2 rear lights on a bright sunny day)."
The full front and rear facing videos each clock in at 5 minutes and show plenty of other motorists giving Keith ample room.
It's also worth noting that after the motorist who makes the close pass is beyond the cyclist, they have now moved way over towards the centre of the road, and stay there as they head off into the distance..
A case, then, of a distracted driver who only noticed the cyclist at the very last moment then pulled out towards the middle of the road then remained there once they went back to whatever had been occupying them beforehand?
It's impossible to know, but it's one potential explanation.
It's worth noting too that Surrey Police's road policing unit is among the most proactive on Twitter when it comes to flagging up examples of poor driving, as well as dispelling myths held by some motorists about the Highway Code, including how it applies to cyclists and how they should drive when sharing the road with them.
If indeed no action is being taken against the driver in this case, given the speed and closeness of the overtake, that does make us wonder if the unit was made aware of this incident, or whether the decision was taken elsewhere within the force without referring it to them.
> 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
Until bad drivers are hit in their pockets I don't see behaviour changing. Is anyone aware of a way of submitting videos to the insurance industry - surely they have a vested interest in reducing claims against people they insure?
I report a lot to Surrey (115 over the last 12 months)... generally I hear nothing but occasionally get asked to load the video to different systems (NICE or SERIP) although I have no idea the significance of either. After a particularly bad close pass a few weeks back, I emailed them a couple of weeks later when I hadn't heard anything and they told me a NIP had been sent out the day after I reported it. So it does seem that they action the reps but just don't update you. I'd always assumed no action if I hadn't had a NICE / SERIP request but seems that is not the case. If you have the confirmation email from your submission (usually from !CJ Online Allegations (Surrey) team) just reply asking for an update ... the couple of guys in the unit have been quite helpful on email.
I reported something like over 200 incidents to Surrey RPU over 3 years - they generally don't provide any updates unless you specifically ask them by phone/email (in which case they get a bit mardy).
In any case, I discovered that, in general, most of my reports were dismissed as no further action - even when showing clearly dangerous driving. I was invited to see the "manager" - who told me that as there was no minimum overtaking distance specified in law - then a close pass would not be prosecuted.
An incident involving other issues (road rage, forcing other motorists to change direction/brake etc) would cause them to take further action if they thought it neccesary.
The Surrey RPU twitter account appears to have nothing to do with the people who actually make the decisions - so twitter says 1.5metres, the real RPU says "no minimum distance".
Same in Gloucestershire. Unless you have to take avoiding action it's NFA. As I have said before, I suspect the law needs to change before prosecutions for close passing can take place but I see no reason for not sending out warning letters other than a lack of time. At least Gloucestershire give feedback which in the long run has saved them time as I am a lot more selective about what I submit now. May be Surrey could learn from that.
An incident involving other issues (road rage, forcing other motorists to change direction/brake etc) would cause them to take further action if they thought it necessary
I really hate the police for this exceptionally stupid notion that 'a real close pass would force you to take avoiding action' when the BMW driving b*****d has just gone past at 50 mph 10 cms away, and the first you know of it is seeing him disappearing into the distance. It is difficult to underestimate the intelligence of whoever can bring themselves to deploy that dodge.
I moved onto indisputable offences like red-light crashing and they try to dodge prosecuting those as well- generally by just not responding and hoping you will forget about them. The complaint to the PCC proceeds glacially slowly but the motto is 'don't let the b******s get away with it!'
If you look at the thumbnail / still image of the video before you play it, no way would you assume the grey car in the distance was the close passer.
That's not a near miss, that's near death
Surrey Police's policy is "We are not in a position to give individual updates and any decision reached is not subject to review."
So I wouldn't expect to hear anything unless you're called to court. A FOI request is probably the only way to determine if any action was taken.
Crikey, if the driver hadn't have looked up at the last second that would almost certainly be a nasty KSI.
A hyundai again... same as the shouty nutjob in Wales. I wonder if Hyundais are becoming the new Audis...
Busy texting would be my speculation.
Deliberate close-passes tend to cut back in front as soon/close as possible to make a point, or else maintain totally unchanged line to emphasise their perceived right to drive as if the cyclist wasn't there.
Definitely distracted by something.
I'd agree about the driver spotting the cyclist late and suddenly swerving.
Not getting a response from the police is very poor - maybe follow this up with a complaint. They should at the very least respond with "no further action" if that's their opinion, though that looked like very distracted driving to me and some action should be taken.
Wow, massive difference in the front and rear view.
Perhaps this explains NFA by many forces ?
Yeah, watching to the front, I thought when is the close one coming, then watched from the rear - Holy crap that was close
I hate riding on my own on wide roads like that because there is so much space drivers can get past regardless of oncoming vehicles or visibility without crossing the white line so are less likely to slow down. It is very difficult for the rider to be in control by taking the lane
It looks unpleasant but not awful from the front - presumably because the driver is still drifting out at that point.
Absolutely appalling from the back mind.
Drunk/Drugged/Hungover driver given the late and continuing lane straddling?
I've noticed this happening to me more and more. I can tell from where the car is and where it is heading that it was damn close to my back wheel, but by the time I actually see it, the pass doesn't seem so bad.
That one was horrendous, I'm surprised Surrey Police haven't taken it up.
Perhaps a link of this story to the surrey road cops twitter account might get a response even if it is an acknowledgment that it falls below the standards they they are regularly calling out. (I don't have twitter or I would be tempted)
They do a great service to highlight and educate on twitter, perhaps it needs to go a bit further and educate their officers.
On it - will report back if any response.
Weirdly I felt the front was worse as the car seems to literally come out of the space the rider was occupying
Whereas the rear it feels like the drivers spotted the cyclist but doing what I call a triangle overtake. In that they start to pull out at the last moment but have completely misjudged your relative speeds, so end up close passing you but carry on still heading further right for several car lengths past you so give this nice empty bit of road the space they should have been giving you, and then they cut back in so it draws like a triangle.
Yes! Glad someone else has noticed this too - drivers who don't get to the widest part of their overtake until long after they're already fully past me! I've always considered them well-meaning but incompetent. Whereas this looks at best distracted, at worst deliberate.
Sometimes known as an aftertake.