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news
Updated Near Miss of the Day 671 – and “it’s not good news” from the police
A road.cc reader whose video we featured recently in our Near Miss of the Day series has been in touch to tell us of the outcome with police – and in his own words, “it’s not good news.”
Andy, who reported the very close pass on him by a lorry driver towing a trailer to Kent Police told us: “It would seem that I may need to move just over the border to neighbouring Surrey if I want to stay safe because Kent Police seem to view a dangerous close pass from a vehicle towing a trailer with incorrect number plates as not worthy of investigation due to their being no offence being committed.
“This is despite me providing the evidence from both a front and rear camera for at least three minutes before the incident to prove there were mitigating circumstances from a prior incident (something which I find hard to agree with and which suggests a prior incident could in some way negate a second regardless of the outcome).”
In their response, Andy was told: “After reviewing your call to us, there are no offences for Kent Police to record at this time; however if you access the Kent Police website, you can report such incidents there,” before informing him that if he wished “to report any further updates to this incident,” he could do so via email or on the non-emergency number 101.
Here’s our original article.
Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a motorist in Kent being given a close pass last month by the driver of a flatbed lorry, who also happens to be towing a trailer with a mini digger on it.
Towing a trailer is something we often see contributing to close passes, with the driver typically pulling in before the rear of the trailer has passed the cyclist being overtaking.
In this case too, the situation is exacerbated by parked vehicles on the road and as the title of the video alludes to, is it really too much to expect the driver just to wait a couple of seconds until it is safe to overtake?
This one was submitted by road.cc reader Andy, who told us that he reported the incident to Kent Police six weeks ago.
“However, I've not had a response beyond confirmation of the report and it's their policy to not respond to reports after 6 weeks if they've been unable to take any action, so I guess that's the case with this one and it's OK to publish it now,” he said.
> 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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52 comments
Unfortunately the comment will probably be along the lines of
" it is our procedure not to comment on individual cases".
They could then be asked about general guidelines used by the force which would be even more useful. If road.cc don't ask we'll never know.
Looking at that layout, one for taking primary to also discourage drivers from the other way squeezing you out.
Primary position was taken, the driver pretty much forced his way through
I wouldn't have said the cyclist managed to reach primary position at any point - primary position would have been right in the centre of the lane. The rider stays out of the gutter (which is good) but still is always in a secondary position.
I phrase that slightly awkwardly because after the box van goes past, we can see the cyclist start to move to the right - it's possible the cyclist tried to move into primary position but the lorry forced its way through before he could.
I think we have different ideas of primary. If primary had been taken, there would not have been enough space between the prked cars and the cyclist.
Looks to be a secondary (unless there is some camera fov effect).
Yes, primary, adopted immediately after the oncoming van passed, would have prevented the Hooper driver from passing as he did.
This demonstrates the lesser addressed features of Cyclecraft and NSCT, those of observation and negotiation.
We can't see the cyclist's actions, but continuing rear observations are vital approaching a situation like this, where the outline of the available carriageway is continually changing, and features such as shops and other traffic make for a dynamic environment.
The rear obs should be full, turning the body from the waist (not just a neck-turn glance). That enables a proper, effective observation; and it telegraphs to drivers behind that the cyclist is aware of their presence and may be about to reposition himself. Often, the cyclist may move their hand out in a partial signal while twisting - not a full right-turn signal, but a gesture that nevertheless conveys a message (negotiation) that the cyclist is moving out or needs space.
I actually got a mini driver to brake last week when they were about to barrel though at 40+ mph with 2 oncoming cars. I put my arm out and down and shouted 'whoa' (not they would have heard !) and they then waited until it was clear.
Of course, they could have just scrubbed off a bit of speed earlier for a smooth overtake.
Perhaps we'd all like to call Hoopers & Sons tomorrow and comment on their driver's level of respect for other road users.
Better thing to do is hammer them on trustpilot. Happy to start the ball rolling. They do care about their reviews.
Update: Apparently they're not on trustpilot so scrap that idea.
Not on TrustPilot, but they do have some Google reviews?
You do know that the video was submitted to the police over 6 weeks ago, therefore it is fair to assume that a 6 week window is time enough for a private business to respond. No?
Also, looks like a "Family Business" from their website so quite easily could have been one of the 2 generations of Hoopers that own the business that perpetrated the dodgy overtake so they quite possibly wouldn't respond in any case.
Please don't feed the troll.
You think that the police ever contacted the company concerned? Not even an NIP I suspect.
My God, I actually agree with you, this is surely a sign that the end of days is nigh. However, what you can attribute blame to is idiotic road design that prioritises people's "right" to have free storage for their private property taking up at least a third of the road width to the severe detriment of road users' safety.
Nope - this was a close pass as soon as the driver started it (check positions of cars). It just got worse when they pulled in. And as stated, saving precisely 3 seconds when you check this on the map.
It's as logical to point out that this kind of thing is made worse (or more frequent) because we currently generally allow people to stow their properly along the sides of the roads* as it is to say that a factor is a driver "forgetting" that they have a trailer. A "professional" driver insofar as this appears to be an employee of a company towing their equipment.
You're quite correct about "forgetting" one sense. But what is forgotten is anything that drivers have passed - as soon as they've got their door beyond it. That appears to be rather common.
* On this road this is clearly such a problem that - unusually - the council have not just put in double yellows but marked parking bays. Our UK malaise - you can park anywhere you're not specifically prohibited - although it's wider than this given pavement parking. The real problem here though is that this should clearly be a "street" - minus through traffic - but it looks like it's a road (for through traffic to get somewhere) namely the start of the A227.
So isn't it just a fantastic idea that the government is going to start allowing anyone to tow a 3.5T trailer without an additional test?
Given the skills of some of "the professionals" I think the additional carnage will be in the same ballpark regardless. I'd say without elevating driving to the level of flying a plane the calculation runs:
number of humans driving x hours driven x hazards in the environment x constant human accident factor *.
Paid motor vehicle drivers are held to entirely different (lower) standards than those paid to drive a train, a boat, a plane. Yes a direct comparison is unfair as most drivers have additional duties or the driving is secondary to their main role (e.g. crane driver). Note though that navigational officers on ships also have other duties.
* I think suggesting there is a constant human factor is reasonable. There are certain specific factors - which e.g. insurers note! Outside of those, because no-one treats driving like flying a plane everyone fluctuates wildly in their degree of focus. People will definitely have different levels of training / ability but they're all zoned out at some point. Particular risks are associated with youth, demonstrated recklessness / prior wrecks, certain health conditions and possibly age, being male (insurers noticed that being female is associated with fewer accidents). But the numbers of these are reasonably constant. Without the much greater training, focus and environmental prompts / support that we provide to pilots / train drivers then people are on average going to hit stuff at a certain rate, more or less.
Not only a shit driver but illegal rear number plate as well. I suspect it was a with-holding the name of the driver which flummoxed Kent Police if they have done fuck-all action on it.
MacMichael strikes again!
and also
It wasn't a lorry either, looks like a 3.5 tonne tipper.
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