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Near Miss of the Day 749: Close passing driver stops vehicle to tell cyclist she was "all over the bloody road"

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Aberdeenshire, where someone needs to brush up on their Highway Code...

For today's instalment in our regular series we'd rather not have to run, a dangerous driver doesn't appear to grasp that what she did was dangerous and illegal - even stopping to tell the victim that she'd brought it on herself. 

Dr Hanne Bruhn was cycling in Aberdeenshire, and moved out to overtake a row of parked cars. You'd think the other option would be pretty ill-advised... however that appeared to go over the head of a driver who still decided to overtake with inches to spare while Dr Bruhn was avoiding the obstacles. 

Stopping her vehicle, the driver can be heard saying: "You're cycling all over the road. Cyclists are supposed to be in at the side.

"Yes you are. You're all over the bloody road." 

Dr Bruhn tells the driver she is recording the incident. The driver replies: "I haven't got an issue with that, I haven't done anything." 

When asked on Twitter how she was supposed to avoid the parked cars and stay at 'the side' of the road, Dr Bruhn replied: "I'm a superhero and can fly". 

She also told road.cc it is unlikely she will be involving the police, saying that her local force "are probably struggling as it is and usually not much help up here." 

> 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

Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story). 

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24 comments

Avatar
Rome73 | 2 years ago
11 likes

saw something similar in London recently. Except the car was a Police vehicle. As the cyclist pulled out to pass the parked vehicles the Police vehicle seemingly sped up to block (I was cycling behind) The cyclist panicked a bit and swerved and then remonstrated with the Police - who had to brake due to the traffic. The cyclist was saying 'why did you do that you knew I was going to pull out?' . I also drew up to the Police vehicle and looked at the smug officers and said - I saw what you did. I didn't have the camera on unfortunately as I would definitely have reported it for the petty, vindictive automotive gesture it was. What annoyed me even more was that the cyclist wasn't a 'hoodie' cycling erratically (not that that would have excused the Polices' manouvre)  but a nice gentleman on a Brompton going to work, neatly dressed and riding safely and with consideration. And of course we both cycled off to our respective jobs whilst Plod sat in traffic. 

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HoarseMann | 2 years ago
9 likes

The police need to start treating instances of careless driving in a similar way to parking and littering fines.

It's just not right that a driver will pay for parking because they're very likely to be fined if they don't, yet will drive carelessly to and from their parking space because the chances of any punishment are desperately remote.

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Safety | 2 years ago
3 likes

Comments about prosecutions, NIPs and 14 days etc are immaterial in Scotland as Police Scotland still have no facility to easily accept video evidence and no inclination to provide one.

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OnYerBike replied to Safety | 2 years ago
3 likes

Supposedly Police Scotland are building a portal for video evidence (https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release/new-police-camera-footage-report...)

That said, the lack of a convenient portal does not actual prevent submitting video evidence in Scotland as I have done several times - albeit the current approach requires officers attending in person to take a statement which does seem like an inefficient use of everyone's time.

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Oldfatgit replied to OnYerBike | 2 years ago
3 likes

Last one I reported, I had two officers from my local station (Livingston) do a home visit to watch the video.
The incident happened in Kirkliston, so they had to hand over to an officer from Corstorphine, who had to drive out here to Livi to watch the video and take away a copy on a memory stick.

Inefficient - yep ... But at least I knew that the video had been watched and that action (of some kind) was being taken.
(In that particular case, there were irregularities with the records on DVLA and they couldn't trace the driver/ owner at the time)

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ktache | 2 years ago
8 likes

Remember, it's always our fault.

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Mungecrundle | 2 years ago
9 likes

Obviously, anyone with more than half a wit would observe cyclist, observe parked car, and make the mental calculation that cyclist will move out to overtake car. They may even understand what the door zone is.

However, some people, as amply demonstrated in this NMOTD, are so fuckwitted that you need to think for them. So observation and an arm signal before manouvere would be gold standard.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Mungecrundle | 2 years ago
9 likes
Quote:

So observation and an arm signal before manouvere would be gold standard.

And could well have happened here? Camera wouldn't have caught either. 

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AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
8 likes

The driver would get on well with Rockhopper because they both feel that cyclists should just travel into parked cars and moving out to overtake them is cyclists "deliverately moving into passing cars paths to make the pass seem closer".

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swldxer replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
2 likes

"PEDAL"

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eburtthebike | 2 years ago
7 likes

Great to see the HC revisions having such a massive positive effect so quickly.

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swldxer | 2 years ago
19 likes

In so much of a hurry, but then has all the time in the world to argue the toss. Idiot driver's usual stupidity.
 

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David9694 replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
12 likes

It's not about safe convenient personal transport, is it, always time to stop for a chat.

Driver failed to anticipate obvious move but since they can't be wrong about anything decides to take out their incompetence on the VRU. 

Too late here now, probably, but don't be put off a making police report by the driver "snitch" branding. 

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nosferatu1001 replied to David9694 | 2 years ago
4 likes
David9694 wrote:

It's not about safe convenient personal transport, is it, always time to stop for a chat.

Driver failed to anticipate obvious move but since they can't be wrong about anything decides to take out their incompetence on the VRU. 

Too late here now, probably, but don't be put off a making police report by the driver "snitch" branding. 

the requirement to serve a nip withi 14 days doesn't apply if the police couldn't do so despite reasonable diligence. Submitting the footage after 14 days isn't a bar to a police prosecution, as THEY couldn't have possibly supplied the nip in 14 days. 
 

why forces don't use this I dint know. 

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Jetmans Dad replied to nosferatu1001 | 2 years ago
10 likes
nosferatu1001 wrote:

the requirement to serve a nip withi 14 days doesn't apply if the police couldn't do so despite reasonable diligence. Submitting the footage after 14 days isn't a bar to a police prosecution, as THEY couldn't have possibly supplied the nip in 14 days. 
 

why forces don't use this I dint know. 

 

Because it is easier not too ...

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nosferatu1001 replied to Jetmans Dad | 2 years ago
2 likes

Indeed.  It's a mildly harder argument to make. I say mildly, it takes one line on the officers statement to cover it. 

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David9694 replied to nosferatu1001 | 2 years ago
2 likes

I was thinking that don't you reduce your chances of success with the police if you've shared your footage?

I didn't know that about the 14 day limit, which is clearly treated as an absolute and a get-out. Certain things like "don't post images of car number plates" get to become rules in people's minds. 

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nosferatu1001 replied to David9694 | 2 years ago
2 likes

There's be an argument around taint, however as this is a summary only offence, with no right to a jury trial, that's minimal. 

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David9694 replied to nosferatu1001 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Thanks. When I visited Operation Snap (Dorset), the site was very clear that the footage should not be on social media. 

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lesterama replied to nosferatu1001 | 2 years ago
2 likes

Could you point me towards the relevant guidance/ legislation? Thanks

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nosferatu1001 replied to lesterama | 2 years ago
3 likes
lesterama wrote:

Could you point me towards the relevant guidance/ legislation? Thanks

"

Section 2(3) RTOA 1988 provides that a failure to meet the requirements shall not prevent conviction where the court is satisfied that:

it arose because the name and address of the accused or the registered keeper could not with reasonable diligence be ascertained within the statutory time; or"
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/road-traffic-summary-offences

 

rememebr the reasonable diligence is a requirement of the police, not an individual 

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brooksby replied to David9694 | 2 years ago
11 likes
David9694 wrote:

Driver failed to anticipate obvious move but since they can't be wrong about anything decides to take out their incompetence on the VRU. 

This morning, riding with my son, me behind him and slightly further out (defensive positioning as he is not confident or skilled, yet).

Approaching two parked cars on our side of the road he moved to go around them, and I had to move out even more to dissuade the WVM who'd thought that was definitely the best place for an overtake surprise

He braked, waited for the few seconds it took for us to pass the parked cars and move back left, and then screamed away with genuine wheel spin...

Some people, eh?

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David9694 replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
3 likes

Yes, I've been out today with mixed results. It's all about power and little to do with transport with the sort driver you describe.

New and quite common at the moment is cars I meet pulling into the side for me - Topeak or someone else gadgety need to invent something that makes my raised right-hand fingers a bit more obvious for driver consumption.

I've heard relatively good things about Dorset police and my route clips their area, where I was intimidated by a Rage Rover on a narrow uphill who close-passed, as I knew he would. I mention him because earlier I met mad horse lady when I was on a slight ascent, reasonably wide road who was yanking the reins into the nearside and saying (I think) "twenty".

Quite what she'd have made of Mr Rage Rover, who knows.  But I hate this sort of thing with horses as we are not natural enemies, we have a far greater commmon foe!

 

 

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wycombewheeler replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
5 likes

Always the way, incredibly I've seen worse by drivers on other drivers.

Two cars going straight on at (mini) roundabout gap between them less than 10metres. Driver on road to their left decides to show his superior skills by inserting his car into that gap.

But of course has time to stop and offer a fight when the rear driver (unsurprisingly) reacts.

Don't like being beeped? then stop driving like a knob

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